Official: Heat make Playoffs!

[3thirty]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

It's not a 100% guarantee yet but it's pretty darn close that Abbotsford's first round opponent will be Rochester.

That's quite the commute.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by 3thirty

That's quite the commute.

Not only that, but they're one of the best teams in the league.

However, I'd rather them play Rochester than Hamilton. They always seem to do a little better against the Americans.

[johnnyluv]

Four points ahead of us? Doesn't seem like too great a gap. Backlund should (in theory) be a huge help to the Abbotsford cause as well.

[Ring of Fire]

Hopefully Backlund can tear it up and play valuable minutes in pressure situations for the Heat.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Sutter, like usual, will help the Heat tremendously.

I have to keep reminding myself that when Backlund got sent down during the playoffs he got 10 points (5 goals, 5 assists) during the two week period.

Looking at the lineup, I'm liking the looks of it (these are theoretical playoff lineups):

Forwards:

Stuart - Murray - Jaffray
Smolenak - Sutter - Latendresse
Cunning - Wahl - VDG
Grantham - Weller - Watt

Defense:

Kronwall - Seabrook
Mitera - Delmore
Baldwin - Palin

Goalies:

Shantz
Irving
Keetley

Leftovers:

Logan MacMillan
Carsen Germyn
John Lammers
Carter Bancks
John Armstrong
Tyler Spurgeon
Jon Rheault
Josh Meyers
Chris Breen

[Azure]

^^^^I'd assume you would stick Backlund in there too once the Flames season is over.

[jeremywilhelm]

Mitch Wahl with another assist tonight. Not as good of a game, he was -1, but he is pretty much playing on the 4th line, so you can't expect a whole lot I guess.

Played with Rheault (who?) and Weller most of the night. Got the assist with Stuart though, which is no suprise, put a good player with a good linemate, they usually produce (oh Iggy...).

[Ring of Fire]

Sutter and Backlund down to Abbotsford per Peter Maher. Hopefully confirmed soon.

[JFK]

Will there be any way for us to watch Heat playoff games on TV?

[Muta]

Just got back from the Marlies / Heat game. I'm just going to post what I remember.

Pelech played today, and he was clearly the best Heat defenseman out there, if not the best defenseman on the ice entirely. I don't think the dude has anything left to prove in the AHL... he's NHL ready. Solid, solid play. Pretty funny moment - he hopped over the boards in the second period to get on the ice, and he face-planted hard. That was about his only fault.

Mitch Wahl was all over the ice in a good way. You can tell he's trying the make things happen, but he seems a bit reserved. Looks like he's just trying to adjust to the game by watching the AHL game and how it plays out. This is awesome. You can tell he's going to be a force next season... he's learning the plays and absorbing it all in.

Cunning with another solid, if unspectacular game. Good grinder, mistake-free. Would like to see him get a cup of coffee in the NHL next season on the fourth line.

Irving was solid. Played with alot of confidence. Stopped a short-handed breakaway with a split save at the last moment, very impressive.

J.D. Watt is a super pest. The Marlies HATE him and were taking shots at him all game. Reminds me of Sean Avery a bit.

Grantham with two fights, which weren't really impressive. He didn't lose them, but I've seen more exciting fights.

Jon Rheault was quite the offensive threat today. He's a smaller guy, but lots of speed and tenacity. You could tell he was hungry for a point tonight, every time I saw him he was going full-speed into the Marlies zone with a goal in mind.

Tyler Spurgeon was another guy who played hard today. Again, he's a smaller guy, and got hit quite a bit (including getting pasted from behind into the boards, from which he just easily got up).

Chris Breen and Gord Baldwin played solid today too. Chris Breen is a monster. 6'7", 225 pounds. Solid, unspectacular play from him. He could have been a bit more physical, however. Him, Pelech, Cole, Baldwin and Palin are BIG boys. That is a scary defense on the Heat, if for nothing else than their imposing size. And this was without Kronwall, no less.

As a side note: the Marlies are talentless goons. They play really physical, really cheap. Any time they could get a head shot in, they would. They lack alot of skill, so they try and compensate by gooning it up. They tried to hit their way to victory, and it didn't work (obviously). The Heat are worlds better in the talent department than the Marlies are.

The Heat look playoff-ready. And this is without Backlund, Sutter, Chucko, Jaffray, Kronwall, Negrin, Seabrook, Germyn, Armstrong, Stuart, Delmore and Smolenak in the lineup. I'm serious... in fact, the only 'name' players that played tonight for the Heat were Wahl and Pelech. This is a goooood team.

[mac_82]

^^ Were you wearing a Flames jersey at the game? There wasn't many fans there, let alone Flames fans. I did see 2 or 3 people with Flames jerseys, and a number of lil kids. I was rocking an Iginla Canada jersey.

The first 30 mins or so were pretty good hockey, with the Marlies out-chancing and out-shooting us, but we were up 2-0. At that point the Marlies just starting gooning it up, late hits, cheap shots, hits from behind, etc. Period 1 we were outshot something like 15-9. By the end of the game the shots were aprox. 30-23 in our favor.

I agree about Pelech and Wahl. Wahl looked dangerous at times, but definitley needs a bit more strength and looked a bit timid at times and coughed up the puck in our zone once to duck a hit. He looked good playing with Latendresse. He is still Vancouver property correct?

I think I was most impressed with Rheault. Is he our property? Never heard of the guy before but he was flying out there and making things happen. Fastest guy on the ice aside from the 10-year old races between periods.

Irving looked very confident out there, and that break away save was a beaut. Came very close to a shutout except for a blown coverage 4on4 and a goal in the last min of the game.

At the start of the game the announcer was listing all the injuries on both teams, the Heat could have filled a second team with all the injuries and scratches. Hope they do well in the playoffs.

[Vulcan]

Great news that Pelech is back and looking so good. I'm hoping he can win a spot with the Flames next season. What with White due for a pay increase and we being up against the cap, something's got to give on our backend. I vote for trading Sarich or Staios to make room. It should work out well as all three are right handed shots.

The other thing is Pelech is eligible for waivers next season, so we'll have to keep him or trade him. Trusting Sutter he'll probably get traded.

[HarveyWallbanger]

Just wondering if it is true that the Heat have scheduled their three home games in the first round head-to-head against the Canucks on the same dates and start times? If true, who is the bonehead who thought this was a good idea. Was Papa Sutter involved? Those stands will be empty. 95% of the Heat fans in Abbotsford are Canuck fans first and Heat fans second. Dumb, dumber and dumberer.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by HarveyWallbanger

Just wondering if it is true that the Heat have scheduled their three home games in the first round head-to-head against the Canucks on the same dates and start times? If true, who is the bonehead who thought this was a good idea. Was Papa Sutter involved? Those stands will be empty. 95% of the Heat fans in Abbotsford are Canuck fans first and Heat fans second. Dumb, dumber and dumberer.

First off, I highly freakin doubt that the Heat schedule their own playoff games.

Secondly, did you actually just find a way to slag the Sutters because of AHL scheduling issues?

"Oh frack!, I just stubbed my toe........stupid Sutters!"

[Canada 02]

turns out that all seven potential Heat 1st round playoff games are on the same night as all of the Canucks 1st round playoff games. Also, the poster is correct, all three Heat home dates have the same start time as the Canucks/Kings series.

I imagine the Heat may want to discuss the scheduling with the AHL, especially their home start times. Since they are the only major tenant, they should have flexibility to change the times if they wanted

[sevenarms]

Well they're going to have to win the first round to get that fan base building. Once the Canucks lose to the Kings they'll all turn to the Heat in round 2.

[Canada 02]

Heat are 3-1 vs the Amerks, but Rochester will have 7 players from Florida as reinforcements

Shawn Matthias, Jason Garrison, Keaton Ellerby, Steve MacIntyre, Victor Oreskovich, Evgeny Dadonov and Tyler Plante.

[604flames]

Originally Posted by sevenarms

Well they're going to have to win the first round to get that fan base building. Once the Canucks lose to the Kings they'll all turn to the Heat in round 2.

Unless the Giants are still in.

[johnnyluv]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Heat are 3-1 vs the Amerks, but Rochester will have 7 players from Florida as reinforcements

Shawn Matthias, Jason Garrison, Keaton Ellerby, Steve MacIntyre, Victor Oreskovich, Evgeny Dadonov and Tyler Plante.

Dadonov and Plante played 4 and 0 games respectively, so they hardly count. Not too mention we've gotten some guys back from injury very recently - including Palin and Pelech, I think the Heat's reinforcements are almost equal.

[Cheerio]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Heat are 3-1 vs the Amerks, but Rochester will have 7 players from Florida as reinforcements

Shawn Matthias, Jason Garrison, Keaton Ellerby, Steve MacIntyre, Victor Oreskovich, Evgeny Dadonov and Tyler Plante.

Is that the same Steve MacIntyre that used to play for the Oilers? If so, for Rochester's sake it would be better if Florida kept him up in the NHL.