2013/14 General Heat Discussion Thread

[devo22]

Right now, the Heat are winning a lot of games and our young prospects are part of a winning environment. I don't see anything negative about that ... as far as I can tell, Reinhart is getting a good opportunity down there, Ward has talked about finding more ice time for Granlund, and Ferland has seized the opportunity to play on a line with vets. To me, Ward has done very well to both ensure a winning environment and also find enough ice time for the young guys, and he should be applauded for that.

[GettinIggyWithIt]

Heat play OKC again tonight (5 MST). I wonder if Brossoit gets the start in the back to back. I would assume so.

Also - it looks like Olivier Roy had his first game with the Aces last night as well, stopping 26 of 30 shots in a 4-3 loss.

[thymebalm]

Street might not be a "prospect" but he's still an important cog in the organization. He played in the NHL this season so he's impacting the club. He's teaching the young guys how to be a pro. Ferland would probably still have no pro points if he didn't get the opportunity to play with a couple of older pros.

I mean, Hartley is giving the vets more ice than the rookies. That's the nature of the sport.

Ward has always seemed to me to be an extremely thoughtful and very good coach. All of the interviews with the opposing team's coaches, they always say "This is an extremely well coached club, they play their systems very well". If his peer group is praising him, that's good enough for me.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Ward is still playing non-prospects (Olson, Street, Jones, etc) way more than any other players on the team.

6 players have at least 6 goals - 3 of them are rookies

Of the top 10 in points, 5 of them are rookies (Knight, Granlund, Ferland, Reinhart and Hanowski)

Ortio is playing most nights and has a 7 game winning streak

Billins and Wotherspoon are leading the charge on D

They are playing a TON of rookies and are leading the league standings and in goals scored.

Explain to me what the problem is.

[Caged Great]

See, we have success and still there are complaints.

Yes, we do have some veterans playing. They are assisting in the facilitation of the kids development. If you run nothing but kids out there, the players don't have anyone reliable to play with. Look at Jankowski and his problems in Providence. His linemates suck in comparison to him and plays die on their sticks which makes his development there even harder (he has 6 goals but only 1 assist)

If you're trying to get players to develop, you need to have players that can accept a pass, and make one so that they can start to emerge and take that next step. Confidence is a huge thing for the kids because they can start taking more risks in their play, pushing the envelope a bit and seeing if it works.

Fringe NHL guys like Jones help additionally as a benchmark for the level of play it takes to be an NHL player. If Jones can't get into the NHL with any regularity it shows them how much their skills need to improve in order to actually make it.

[MacFlame]

I've watched the last few games. The "kids" are getting plenty of ice time. The way he's handling Reinhart and Ferlund particularly is excellent. He has Ferlund playing with Ben street (which is the top line) and you can tell that has really helped his confidence. He looks like a very solid prospect right now.

Ward is doing a fine job...people need to relax.

[djsFlames]

Ferland.

[MacFlame]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Ferland.

Thanks.

[djsFlames]

And I don't see why we can't consider Jones or Street prospects. Remember Street was "coincidentally" here for the duration of our 3-0-2 start, even playing on the top line. He's still reasonably young.

Obviously our coaching staff has some beef with Jones and it doesn't appear that he'll stick here, althoguh I think he's warranted another look on the big club (and almost certainly would be better than Jman or McG), but I see Jones as an asset we can move. If he's producing at a 1.5 PPG clip in the A for another handful of games, maybe he can fetch us a younger kid with some talent that could potentially be part of the big club later on. Even if you don't view these guys as prospects, the better they do, the more they drive up their value and that makes them assets we can move. Helping to surround the rookies in a winning environment honestly can't hurt, either... Also I like Blair and would want to see him get a chance elsewhere to crack the big league if it's not gonna be with us.

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

6 players have at least 6 goals - 3 of them are rookies

Of the top 10 in points, 5 of them are rookies (Knight, Granlund, Ferland, Reinhart and Hanowski)

Ortio is playing most nights and has a 7 game winning streak

Billins and Wotherspoon are leading the charge on D

They are playing a TON of rookies and are leading the league standings and in goals scored.

Explain to me what the problem is.

The problem is the posters who look for any little thing to complain about, whether justified or not.

[MacFlame]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

And I don't see why we can't consider Jones or Street prospects. Remember Street was "coincidentally" here for the duration of our 3-0-2 start, even playing on the top line. He's still reasonably young.

Obviously our coaching staff has some beef with Jones and it doesn't appear that he'll stick here, althoguh I think he's warranted another look on the big club (and almost certainly would be better than Jman or McG), but I see Jones as an asset we can move. If he's producing at a 1.5 PPG clip in the A for another handful of games, maybe he can fetch us a younger kid with some talent that could potentially be part of the big club later on. Even if you don't view these guys as prospects, the better they do, the more they drive up their value and that makes them assets we can move. Helping to surround the rookies in a winning environment honestly can't hurt, either... Also I like Blair and would want to see him get a chance elsewhere to crack the big league if it's not gonna be with us.

although

[nightfx]

Glad Ferland has found his offense with the top line. The Flames really need a guy with his skillset to develop.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Ferland.

I don't know, I like Ferlund. The way he's putting up points lately, he's looking like a European.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by nightfx

Glad Ferland has found his offense with the top line. The Flames really need a guy with his skillset to develop.

More than most prospects in the system, he's one of the most important players the Flames need to try and develop into an NHLer.

He's a very unique player. He's got great hands and good feel for the game, BUT he can also destroy anyone in a fight and protect his linemates. That's a MASSIVELY important skill set, especially if you can put him on a line with someone like, say, Granlund. When Granlund plays on the same line as Ferland, he plays like he's 6'4".

That goes for any skilled player in the Flames system. If Ferland can play well alongside Baertschi, Klimchuk, Gaudreau, etc. then he may just be one of the most important prospects in the organization.

[djsFlames]

It's true. Not entirely sure but I think Ferland went undefeated in fights in juniors. Like I said he reminds me of Kassian when playing at his best. My greatest hope would be for him to develop into a Lucic-lite. He could be such a boost to the big team if he could reach his potential.

[Drury18]

GAMEDAY!

Abbotsford Heat (13-4-0-1) vs OKC Barons (Edmonton Oilers) (6-7-0-2)
6:00pm MST Start

Notes:

Abbotsford is on an 9 game winning streak
Ilya Bryzgalov will get his 2nd start in as many nights
Heat have back to back games with a player (Jones/Street) scoring a hat trick


Preview from Abbotsford Heat Website: http://www.abbotsfordheat.com/news/r...article_id=635

Preview from the OKC Barons: http://okcbarons.com/index.cfm?fa=ba...5-1CC4B4C73EC1

Listen Live (6:00pm MST): http://www.teamradio.ca/abbotsford-heat/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AHLHeatInGame

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

More than most prospects in the system, he's one of the most important players the Flames need to try and develop into an NHLer.

He's a very unique player. He's got great hands and good feel for the game, BUT he can also destroy anyone in a fight and protect his linemates. That's a MASSIVELY important skill set, especially if you can put him on a line with someone like, say, Granlund. When Granlund plays on the same line as Ferland, he plays like he's 6'4".

That goes for any skilled player in the Flames system. If Ferland can play well alongside Baertschi, Klimchuk, Gaudreau, etc. then he may just be one of the most important prospects in the organization.

I'm glad to hear Ferland is making his physical presence known. From what I saw of him last year, he seemed to be reticent. Maybe it was just the pro adjustment or it may have had something to do with his court case. The Flames could do with a few more prospects like Ferland.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

More than most prospects in the system, he's one of the most important players the Flames need to try and develop into an NHLer.

He's a very unique player. He's got great hands and good feel for the game, BUT he can also destroy anyone in a fight and protect his linemates. That's a MASSIVELY important skill set, especially if you can put him on a line with someone like, say, Granlund. When Granlund plays on the same line as Ferland, he plays like he's 6'4".

That goes for any skilled player in the Flames system. If Ferland can play well alongside Baertschi, Klimchuk, Gaudreau, etc. then he may just be one of the most important prospects in the organization.

Completely agree.

Please le him take that next step and put it all together.

Having a big, nasty, fast skating winger who can score goals and instill fear, is one of the greatest and rarest of assets. Many of the the great teams had one.

[Drury18]

OKC Lineup for Tonight:

Bryzgalov

Grebeshkov-Hunt
Marincin-Fedun
Davidson-Musil

Omark-Horak-Nesbitt
Hamilton-Lavoie-Ford
Fyten-Stretch-Miller
Eager-Ewanyk-Kessy

Scratches: Martindale, Lander, Lizon, Arcobello and Gernat.

As per the OKC PBP guy: Horak, who has played well in first 2 games with #OKCBarons gets promotion to top line filling in for Lander who is doubtful to play.

ABB Lineup for Tonight:

Starters:

MacDonald
Lamb-Wotherspoon
Jones-Street-Reinhart

[BloodFetish]

Uh oh. Ben Eager boarded Wotherspoon, and it took him a few minutes to get to his feet. Hope he's okay.

EDIT: referees missed the play. No penalty for Eager.