2013/14 General Heat Discussion Thread

[Drury18]

Originally Posted by EYE_Overstand

gordie how hatty for Ferland?

No, only got 2 for high-sticking

[EYE_Overstand]

*gordie Howe haha

[Drury18]

Due to the Tim Jackman trade, Blair Jones has been recalled to the Flames.

[thymebalm]

Blair Jones will be missed... he was automatic on the powerplay with that one-timer from the left circle. Hopefully he can balance out the bottom half of the Flames roster and get the 4th line some more minutes.

More chances for the rookies, maybe Steve Begin draws in or something.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by thymebalm

Blair Jones will be missed... he was automatic on the powerplay with that one-timer from the left circle. Hopefully he can balance out the bottom half of the Flames roster and get the 4th line some more minutes.

More chances for the rookies, maybe Steve Begin draws in or something.

Ol' man Begin is still injured. I'd like to see him draw in when he can, but you don't want to disrupt this lineup.

[Roof-Daddy]

Who have been the regular centers recently?

Jones on line 1? Street was playing mostly wing on Jones' line right?
Knight on line 2?

..and then who? Byron? Olson?

Should all get bumped up and see more ice time now I'd imagine.

I also imagine that Street will move to center on that 1st line in Jones spot. Maybe end up with Reinhart and Ferland as his wingers.

Probably a top six like this:

Ferland - Street - Reinhart
Granlund - Knight - Hanowski

??


Maybe Jooris can get a few more minutes here and there......what's with him anyways? Had an outstanding camp, then a decent start with the Heat, but as completely flat lined stats wise since.

[868904]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Who have been the regular centers recently?

Jones on line 1? Street was playing mostly wing on Jones' line right?
Knight on line 2?

..and then who? Byron? Olson?

Should all get bumped up and see more ice time now I'd imagine.

I also imagine that Street will move to center on that 1st line in Jones spot. Maybe end up with Reinhart and Ferland as his wingers.

Probably a top six like this:

Ferland - Street - Reinhart
Granlund - Knight - Hanowski

??


Maybe Jooris can get a few more minutes here and there......what's with him anyways? Had an outstanding camp, then a decent start with the Heat, but as completely flat lined stats wise since.

I think Conroy was saying that Jones was actually the RW on Street's line. He also thought Jones might be a better winger than centre. Will be interesting to see who he takes out of the Flames lineup. As for the Heat, I guess all the wingers just move up. We'll see which of them picks up the slack from Jones' departure.

[RyZ]

How old is Billins? Could he be our own Torey Krug type player? He seems to collect assists from the point where ever he goes.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by RyZ

How old is Billins? Could he be our own Torey Krug type player? He seems to collect assists from the point where ever he goes.

He's 24. Not old. In fact, some might even say he's approaching his prime.

[thymebalm]

Abbotsford Heat (15-5-0-1) vs. Iowa Wild (6-9-0-0)
Puck drop tonight @ 5:05pm PST and tomorrow @ 3:05pm PST

The Abbotsford Heat look to continue their winning ways against a new team and an old rival. The Iowa Wild are in their inaugural season in the AHL, after relocating from Houston, Texas, where the team was formerly known as the Aeros. Much like the Utica Comets, Iowa has struggled to put up the Ws in it's first season, though the team has played 6(!) less games than the Heat so far this season.

A Walk On The Wild Side
The Iowa Wild's leader scorer should be a name familiar to Heat fans, as defenceman Brian Connelly (15GP 0-11-11) played for Abby for half a season back in 11-12. Beyond the Journeyman AHL pro, there is little scoring to be had on the Wild. Recent Graduates Justin Fountaine and Jason Zucker leave the farm team without their two most potent offensive threats from a season ago.

Much like the Heat, The Aeros are a young squad, with their 2 top forwards (Erik Haula (15GP 4-6-10) and Zack Phillips (15GP 3-5-8) entering only their 2nd seasons of pro hockey.

Other names that Heat fans might recognize are former Nashville blueliner Jonathan Blum, former Flame Warren Peters, and former Hitman standouts Carson McMillan and Kris Foucault.

Goaltending for the Wild has been split between euro rookie Johan Gustafsson (6GP 2.37 .918% 3W 1SO) and recently reassigned Darcy Kuemper (10GP 2.97 .908% 3W). Darcy was the previous backup to Matt Hacket, who left the organization in the Jason Pominville trade. My guess would be Gustafsson and Kuemper split starts this weekend.

Keeping The Fire Burning
No doubt that this weekend's two clashes will be a solid test for the young Abbotsford Heat squad. The Heat face the challenge of losing their leading scorer, the bruising, sniping, Blair Jones (16GP 8-12-20). Say what you want about his play at the NHL level, Jones is an AHL all-star. Jones departure creates the rare occasion where leading scorers on both sides are defenders. Chad Billins (17GP 6-12-18) has been nothing short of a revelation for the Flames Organization. A free agent signing, Billins has served time with both clubs this season and casually continues a PPG clip at both levels. Somewhat short on stature at 5'10", height appears to be the only thing missing from Billins resume.

After Billins, the offensive load has been split fairly evenly between the rookies and the veterans. The top ten point producers include 4 rookies and 6 veterans. Freshly acquired Corbin Knight (21GP 6-11-17 +8) leads that rookie group that includes Ben Hanowski (20GP 7-7-14), Marcus Granlund (17GP 7-5-12), and Michael Ferland (18GP 4-7-11).

Veterans carrying the load include Heat cornerstone Ben Street (14GP, 9-7-16), Paul Byron (21GP 4-11-15), Max Reinhart (17GP 3-10-13), Brett Olsen (20GP 4-8-12), and Greg Nemisz (19GP 3-4-7). It's this long list of contributions that have helped propel the Heat to #1 in the AHL standings, as well as #1 in goals for with 72.

Balancing the attack and helping out Chad Billins is a backend somewhat more laden with vets, as McKenzie, Breen, Lamb and Arsene are known entities at the AHL level. Rookie Ramage has been carrying the load for the rookies, especially since the injuries to Sieloff and Wotherspoon.

Finally, we arrive between the pipes of the Abbotsford net, where Joni Ortio and Joey MacDonald are sharing the load. Joni Ortio was undoubtably unprepared when he made his North American debut, as he proceeded to get lit up like a christmas tree in his first ever AHL start. He fled back to Europe, and some wondered if Joni Ortio would ever cross the divide again. Well he's back, and whatever work he put in over there is paying off. Ortio has yet to lose a game this season. In 8GP, he has a 2.54 GGA and .921 SV% to go along with those 8 wins, meaning he's worked hard for those Ws. Joey MacDonald (4GP 2.46 GGA .918 SV% 3W) hasn't faired quite as well in the win column, but has been good in all of his starts as well.

Final notes on this weekend's matchup: Lane McDermid is the newest member of the Heat after he was acquired for a 6th round pick earlier this week. The Heat lost team toughness on the top side of their rotation when Jones was called up, and that grit looks to be balanced back out on the bottom half of the roster with McDermid being added. I can see him playing on a line with Bancks and Olsen, and providing some solid physical contributions.

It'll be a true test of this young squad's conditioning as they attempt wrap up this massive road trip with consecutive wins on consecutive nights. Listen live starting 15 minutes before puck drop @ http://www.teamradio.ca/live/music-p...rts_event.html or tune in to Chilliwack's 101.7fm CIVL radio on your smart device.

GO HEAT GO!

[Roof-Daddy]

Any updates on Wotherspoon? Listening to a recent Conroy interview, it sounded like Tyler had really been playing great leading up to his injury. Had gained the coaches confidence, and was playing well over twenty minutes a night.

I sure wish our defense prospects would quit getting hurt all the friggin time.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Any updates on Wotherspoon? Listening to a recent Conroy interview, it sounded like Tyler had really been playing great leading up to his injury. Had gained the coaches confidence, and was playing well over twenty minutes a night.

I sure wish our defense prospects would quit getting hurt all the friggin time.

I understand he stayed with the team. He didn't travel back to Abby. He's in good spirits.

[Alberta_Beef]

Speaking of Wotherspoon I want to address this comment since it is about the only one about the hit, even though I am about a week late. I do not blame the poster since I am not sure what they said on the Heat radio broadcast as I only saw it on AHL live with the Barons feed.

Originally Posted by thymebalm

Wotherspoon taken heavily into the board from behind by Ben Eager. Blood on the ice and Wotherspoon took a couple of minutes to get back up, needed to be helped by teammates. No call on the play.

This was NOT a hit from behind. It was NOT an illegal hit. The hit was a hard, 100% clean hit. Eager drove his shoulder into Wotherspoon's chest immediately after he released a pass, the back of his head hit the glass then he went down like a ton of bricks hitting his head/face on the ice. Eager stopped in his tracks after the hit and motioned for help.

[thymebalm]

Bloodfetish also commented on the hit, calling it boarding.

I was listening to the Heat's PBP guy Branden Astle. That's how he called the play. He was following the puck so the check was behind him. He likely wasn't focusing on the hit as it happened.

Before we jump to conclusions and call the hit 100% clean, I'd like to bring the character of Ben Eager into question. How can we be sure this hit wasn't boarding with intent to injure considering Eager has flown completely off the handle this month?

56 PIMs in 6 GP this month.
1 - OKC Eager, 17:34 - Unsportsmanlike conduct, 2 min (PP)
3 - OKC Eager, 16:26 - Interference, 2 min (PP)
3 - OKC Eager, 16:26 - Misconduct, 10 min
3 - OKC Eager, 7:46 - Fighting, 5 min
3 - OKC Eager, 19:50 - Roughing, 2 min
3 - OKC Eager, 19:50 - Roughing, 2 min
3 - OKC Eager, 19:50 - Misconduct - Unsportsmanlike conduct, (75.4) 10 min
1 - OKC Eager, 16:39 - Roughing, 2 min (PP)
1 - OKC Eager, 16:39 - Fighting, 5 min
1 - OKC Eager, 16:39 - Misconduct - Continuing altercation, (46.5) 10 min
3 - OKC Eager, 10:33 - Elbowing, 2 min (PP)
1 - OKC Eager, 13:27 - Interference, 2 min (PP)
1 - OKC Eager, 13:27 - Unsportsmanlike conduct, 2 min

Looks like someone who's going out there to try and hurt people. Now the hit doesn't sound like it was from behind (Astle thought it was initally) but I'm not sure I believe it was 100% clean and legal.

The games against the Heat at home are the only times this month he hasn't been penalized. Not a single ref put up with his #### during an away game.

[moon]

It seems like a big stretch to say a guy has got penalty minutes in the past and had bad to hits so it must have been boarding and intent to injure when a guy who says he watched the game and is a Heat fan (and perhaps a bit of a homer) says it was 100% clean.

[thymebalm]

Originally Posted by moon

It seems like a big stretch to say a guy has got penalty minutes in the past and had bad to hits so it must have been boarding and intent to injure when a guy who says he watched the game and is a Heat fan (and perhaps a bit of a homer) says it was 100% clean.

That's not in the past, that's in every game surrounding the Heat games this month.

Let's see a replay.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by thymebalm

Bloodfetish also commented on the hit, calling it boarding.

I was listening to the Heat's PBP guy Branden Astle. That's how he called the play. He was following the puck so the check was behind him. He likely wasn't focusing on the hit as it happened.

Before we jump to conclusions and call the hit 100% clean, I'd like to bring the character of Ben Eager into question. How can we be sure this hit wasn't boarding with intent to injure considering Eager has flown completely off the handle this month?

56 PIMs in 6 GP this month.
1 - OKC Eager, 17:34 - Unsportsmanlike conduct, 2 min (PP)
3 - OKC Eager, 16:26 - Interference, 2 min (PP)
3 - OKC Eager, 16:26 - Misconduct, 10 min
3 - OKC Eager, 7:46 - Fighting, 5 min
3 - OKC Eager, 19:50 - Roughing, 2 min
3 - OKC Eager, 19:50 - Roughing, 2 min
3 - OKC Eager, 19:50 - Misconduct - Unsportsmanlike conduct, (75.4) 10 min
1 - OKC Eager, 16:39 - Roughing, 2 min (PP)
1 - OKC Eager, 16:39 - Fighting, 5 min
1 - OKC Eager, 16:39 - Misconduct - Continuing altercation, (46.5) 10 min
3 - OKC Eager, 10:33 - Elbowing, 2 min (PP)
1 - OKC Eager, 13:27 - Interference, 2 min (PP)
1 - OKC Eager, 13:27 - Unsportsmanlike conduct, 2 min

Looks like someone who's going out there to try and hurt people. Now the hit doesn't sound like it was from behind (Astle thought it was initally) but I'm not sure I believe it was 100% clean and legal.

The games against the Heat at home are the only times this month he hasn't been penalized. Not a single ref put up with his #### during an away game.

Dude, I watched it live. I also rewound it and watched it over and over. It was 100% clean.

You haven't seen the hit, I have and yet you want to argue about it?

[Alberta_Beef]

the Iowa feed has an on screen scoreboard and clock!!! I love Iowa

[thymebalm]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

Dude, I watched it live. I also rewound it and watched it over and over. It was 100% clean.

You haven't seen the hit, I have and yet you want to argue about it?

post the replay. All I can find is "big hit" and "late hit" and "dirty hit" when I search it. I'm willing to believe that it's none of these, but just post it for everyone's sake that's wondering what the heck happened, including me.

[Roof-Daddy]

Heat Goal

1-0 Heat

Hanowski from Lamb and Knight