[GDT] Heat vs Admirals - Friday February 21st @ 6pm MST

[Drury18]

Abbotsford Heat (32-15-4-1) vs Milwaukee Admirals(Nashville Predators) (23-16-6-5)

Friday February 21st at 6pm MST


Presumably the Abbotsford Heat's response to finding out that Cheap Trick will be playing to fans immediately following the game

Notes:

• This is the last meeting of the season between Abbotsford and Milwaukee
• All 3 previous games between the teams have gone to extra time or shootout
• Season series favours Abbotsford with a 2-0-0-1 record (3-2 OT, 1-2 SO, 4-3 OT)

Roster Notes:

• Oliver Roy expected to get the start as Joni Ortio is currently on call up to the Flames. Joey MacDonald appears to be the backup at this time Aaron Dell was signed on Thursday afternoon to backup Roy while Ortio is in Calgary
• Both Zach MacKelvie and Evan Trupp are expected to be available for the game after recall from Alaska
• Derek Smith has been recalled to Calgary
• NEW - Ben Hanowski has been recalled to Calgary

Standings:
As of Feb 20th Daily Report

• 1st in West Division (2 pts up on Texas Stars)
• 1st in Western Conference (4pts ahead of Grand Rapids)
• 3rd overall in the AHL
• 3rd best PP in the AHL with 23.0% (Down from 2nd last week)
• 28th in PK with 78.6% (Down from 25th last week)

Point Streaks and Notables:

• • Locke - 8a in last 8 games
  • Street - 4g, 5a in last 7 games
  • Granlund - 7g, 7a in last 9 games
  • Knight - 4g, 4a in last 8 games
  • Jooris - 5g, 4a in 8 games
  • Smith - 3g, 6a in 8 games

Injuries:

• Michael Ferland (Knee) – Out for Season
• Patrick Sieloff (Infection) – Unknown
• Joey MacDonald (Suspected Concussion) – Unknown
• Adrian Foster (Lower Body) – Week to Week
• Kane LaFranchise (Lower Body) – Week to Week

Suspensions

• Lane MacDermid

Preview from Abbotsford Heat Website: http://www.abbotsfordheat.com/news/?article_id=768

Listen Live : http://www.teamradio.ca/abbotsford-heat/

Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AHLHeatInGame[/QUOTE]

[thymebalm]

Couldn't wait until Friday, eh? I thought not. It's been a long week without Heat Hockey.

[Drury18]

Work actually wants me to work on Friday. Not sure where they get these crazy idea's.

[Drury18]

Aaron Dell will be backing up Roy in this weekends games: http://www.abbotsfordheat.com/news/r...article_id=767

He's a former teammate of Corban Knight and Evan Trupp for the UND

[FBI]

I'm like geez it's 7:45 Mountain time and still no goals / updates?

[Drury18]

Game is tomorrow (Friday)

[Freeway]

Based on the Charlotte lines...

Baertschi-Jooris-Locke
Reinhart-Granlund-Jones
Olson-Knight-Street
Trupp-Bancks-Gillies

Billins-Breen
SOB-Wotherspoon
Ramage-? (Lamb? Arsene?)

Roy
Dell

[Drury18]

I was starting to wonder when Arsene was going to play again. He's been out of the lineup since January 25th. Figured maybe he already half-retired or something.

[Freeway]

Who else is healthy in terms of extra bodies to rotate in?

Up-front: McKelvie and Trupp
On the blueline: Lamb and Arsene

[Drury18]

Wait, is Locke actually good to go? He got hit hard in Charlotte (head-ish area) and never returned, Hano took his spot on his line. I thought one of the callups from Alaska might have been a replacement for him? If so, then we have 12 healthy forwards to go with and that's all.

Defense would be just Lamb and Arsene.

Have to wonder if Foster and LaFranchise are getting close too. Both were listed as Week to Week injuries and have been out since January 11th. Not sure the extent of the "Lower Body Injury" but we are coming up on 6 weeks which is a common benchmark for alot of injury healing times.

[FBI]

Originally Posted by Drury18

Game is tomorrow (Friday)

Yeah figured that out eventually lol

[thymebalm]

Heat Hockey HQ Game Day Preview

...Granlund is a sure fire bet to focus on, as he has been every game this year. He will end the season as the best rookie in the five year history of the Abbotsford Heat, so witness history in the making. He currently has 5 points (2-3) in his last 3GP, and is 5-5-10 in 7GP in February...

...Just who are the Milwaukee Admirals?

For starters, they are the Nashville Predators farm club. They are a young club, it’s top three scorers all born 1991 or later. But they don’t score a lot. With 131 goals scored this season they are last of playoff clubs, and over 30 goals behind Abbotsford (165, two games in hand). And where Milwaukee has only 3 skaters with 30+ points this season, Abbotsford has 3 players with 40+ points, and 6 with 30+...

[MyFlamesFirst]

7 goals and 7 assists for Granlund in the last 9 games. That is ridiculous. You wonder if he deserved a call up more so then Hanowski. It is bitter sweet though, as I want the Heat and Granlund to keep rolling.

[thymebalm]

Originally Posted by MyFlamesFirst

7 goals and 7 assists for Granlund in the last 9 games. That is ridiculous. You wonder if he deserved a call up more so then Hanowski. It is bitter sweet though, as I want the Heat and Granlund to keep rolling.

The fact is the Flames don't play until Thursday. I think they could even swap Hanowski out for another guy if the don't have enough healthy bodies by mid week. It's an easy move, no waivers involved, no line up shuffling. I don't think he'll play any games though.

--

My preview for the game today is 800 frickin' words. Give it a read if you can boys and girls, cuz I think I worked harder on it than any of my university papers. haha.

[Da_Chief]

Hanowski was prob called up cuz he won't be playing for the Heat anyways.

[thymebalm]

Originally Posted by Da_Chief

Hanowski was prob called up cuz he won't be playing for the Heat anyways.

With MacDermid suspended Hanowski was very likely going to get time that will now likely go to Trupp on the 4th line

Rein-Granlund-Street
Baertschi-Locke-Jones
Olson-Knight-Jooris
Trupp-Bancks-Gillies

McKelvie is my guess for healthy scratch.

[Drury18]

Gillies is out with an upper body injury. Lamb will move to RW.

MacKelvie will be in the lineup on the 4th line

[Drury18]

Ward's Notes:

- Good week off. Guys had a night off in Chicago on Monday as a Team Building evening. Tuesday they had their own workout and did their own thing. Wednesday/Thursday were regular practice days. Team changed alot in a week, but they will be fine.

- Watched tape from Sunday and made alot of mistakes and got worse and worse during the game. Believe it was due to travel but disappointing.

- First game of three tonight. Focus is task at hand tonight. Saturday he will be mindful of player's minutes for Sunday so they aren't fatigued.

- Admirals are always a tight team. Has been for his 3 years as a coach. Good stick skills and can always make good plays. Expects an entertaining game.

- Roy has made the team in front of him play harder for him. He's a little different but the team has embraced his game.

[thymebalm]

Corey Locke injured from the hit last weekend.

[Drury18]

Scratches: MacDonald, Locke, Seiloff, Ferland, Foster, LaFranchise, Gillies (injured in warmup this morning)

Starters:
Roy
Breen-SOB
Reinhart-Granlund-Jones

Lines:
Reinhart-Granlund-Jones
Baertschi-Street-Jooris
Olson-Knight-Trupp
MacKelvie-Bancks-Lamb

Breen-SOB
Arsene-Billins
Ramage-Wotherspoon