Photo Credit: Clint Trahan

ON THE LINE:

Entering the final home stand of the season, the Abbotsford Heat looked to close out the campaign in winning fashion and give their fans a game to remember. Meanwhile, the Ben Walter watch continues as he inches closer and closer to the 50-point plateau for the seventh consecutive season.

THE FLOW:

The Toronto Marlies entered the game soured after their loss to the Heat in Friday’s match. Both teams came out of the gate and played mean, aggressive and physical with numerous post-whistle dust ups. Neither team backed down from the rugged play, which quickly became the hallmark of the game from the outset.

THE TURNING POINT:

Midway through the third period, Mark Cundari’s stretch pass found Tyler Ruegsegger breaking into the zone. Ruegsegger fired a deceptive wrist shot from the slot, which beat Drew MacIntyre on the blocker side. It proved to be the game winner.

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Photo Credit: Clint Trahan

ON THE LINE:

The Heat are now out of contention for the Calder Cup playoffs, but several young rookies are still looking to flaunt their skills at the pro level to show they have what it takes to take that next step in their career. Only three skaters have contracts for next season. 2013-14 jobs are on the line.

THE FLOW:

The Heat showed a lot of jump out of the gate by testing Marlies net-minder Drew MacIntyre. The Heat continued their torrid pace for the remainder of the game with physicality, speed and excellent puck movement while Danny Taylor held onto the shutout.

THE TURNING POINT:

Midway through the second period, Marlies defender Paul Ranger received a slashing minor. On the ensuing power play, Mike Testwuide shovelled the puck past MacIntyre to put the Heat up 2-0.

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Photo Credit: Clint Trahan

ON THE LINE:

The Heat began the second game of their back-to-back home set against Griffins in desperation mode. Just five games remain on the schedule and the Heat need to make every one count to keep their playoff hopes afloat.

THE FLOW:

The Heat came out of the gate strong and generated an abundance of scoring chances on Tom McCollum, but the Griffins held on. Both teams took turns applying pressure in each other’s zones with strong goaltending at each end. The score and the play remained deadlocked at 2-2 until the end of regulation.

THE TURNING POINT:

The turning point didn’t emerge until the shootout when the Heat showcased their skills beating McCollum three times on five attempts getting goals from Ben Walter, Krys Kolanos and Blair Jones – three veteran forwards.

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Photo Credit: Clint Trahan

ON THE LINE:

The Heat entered Friday’s back-to-back set with the Grand Rapids Griffins sitting in the eleventh spot in the West – three points out of the playoff picture. The Griffins lead the Midwest Division and are looking to secure their first playoff appearance in four years.

THE FLOW:

Both squads came out of the gate like they had a chip on their shoulder. A few early hits, spears and slashes set the tone for the game.

The Griffins buried three goals on Barry Brust in the first half of the game and chased the Heat with their 3rd of the night. At the other end Mrazek made some highlight reel saves.

Despite a third period marker by Krys Kolanos, the Heat couldn’t spark a comeback as an empty-netter sealed their fate.

THE TURNING POINT:

After Blair Jones received a tripping call six minutes into the second frame, Landon Ferraro cashed in on his second of the night on the power play

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FRIDAY APRIL 5 – 7:00 PST vs. GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS
SATURDAY APRIL 6 – 7:00 PST vs. GRAND RAPIDS GRIFFINS

Streaming: TeamRadio.ca – Friday & Saturday
*Pre-Game Show begins 15 minutes prior puck-drop

The Abbotsford Heat open their final home stand of the regular season this weekend with a pair of games against the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings). The Heat have just six games remaining in their regular season schedule, with the next four at the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre (AESC) against the Midwest Division leading Griffins and the North Division leading Toronto Marlies.

The Heat enter play this week in 11th spot in the Western Conference, three points behind the eighth and final playoff spot. All three teams above them hold a combined nine games in hand. After missing the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, the Griffins hold a nine-point cushion atop the Midwest Division Standings and are fighting for the second seed in the Conference.

Ben Walter enters play this week riding a four-game point streak. Walter has scored two goals and added four assists over the stretch that has seen the Heat earn five of eight possible points (2-1-1-0). The 28-year-old centre needs just seven points in his last six games to reach the 50-point plateau for the seventh consecutive AHL season.

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1. HOG-TOWN RALLY: Down by two after 40 minutes, the Heat surged out of the locker room in the third period to score twice, tie the game at 3-3, and subsequently earn a point for their efforts in Toronto. A Sven Baertschi power play marker and a Ben Street even strength tally came in the first 3:53 of the third and stunned the crowd of 7,119 blue-clad fans. You can’t help but admire the moxie show by the Heat this year when trailing. They never give up. Too bad they couldn’t earn the second point in overtime.

2. EASY STREET: Street entered this road trip without a goal since February 6th, but closes the trip having scored a goal in each game. Street now has 15 goals, just one shy of Roman Horak’s team-leading 16 bingos. Street got some strong play from wingers Greg Nemisz – who turned in his most physical game of the trip – and Brett Olson who earned his first assist since the month of January. Street’s goal tied the game at three and was a result of some relentless work on a scramble at the Marlies net.

3. WALTER WATCH: Ben Walter was named the 3rd Star of the game after posting an assist and providing the Heat with an offensive jolt. Horak, Walter and Baertschi continue to amass bunches of scoring chances – they could have had three or four goals on the night. Walter now has 43 points with six games remaning in his quest for a seventh straight 50-point season. Walter is riding a four game point streak and posted five points (1-4-5) on this three game roadie.

Boxscore

Highlights, Images, Video and Audio at AbbotsfordHeat.com/media

1. WALLY’S WORLD: Ben Walter’s three-point first period paced the Heat to an early 3-1 lead. The Heat Alternate Captain now has a team-high 42 points and needs just eight in the final seven games to reach 50 points. A model of consistency, Walter has reached the 50-point plateau in each of the last six seasons and is getting hot at the right time. Here’s to hoping he can reel in a seventh straight half century.

2. POWER PLAY POISE: Assistant Coach Luke Strand put the power play personel through their paces for an extended amount of time in Thursday’s practice in Hamilton and the results followed tonight. The Heat scored three goals on six power plays to earn their first win in Hamilton this season in four attempts. Abbotsford finishes the season series with four wins in eight games against the Bulldogs.

3. AS SVEN GOES…: Sven Beartschi recorded a goal and an assist in the win. The Swiss rookie has posted multi-point efforts in each of the last three Heat wins. The Portland Winterhawks grad has clearly been an offensive catalyst for the Heat who are (17-7-2-3) with the top organizational prospect in the line-up. Pretty impressive stuff… The kind of stuff that reminds you his time in this league will be a blip on the radar.

Boxscore

Highlights, Images, Video and Audio at AbbotsfordHeat.com/media

1. SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS!: Down 3-0 after 20 minutes, the Heat did not quit. The final 40 minutes saw the visitors pound the Hamilton net with 36 shots to the Bulldogs 12 on Barry Brust. That’s a three-to-one edge on the shot clock for the visitors over the final 40 and a staggering 45-22 final tally. There have not been many nights this season when Heat goaltending has been poor, but this may have been one as Brust replaced Taylor after 20 minutes. Yes, those two are human too.

2. TWO MUCH TENUTE: Hometown Hamilton boy Joey Tenute scored twice in the win, and seems to relish playing Abbotsford. Tenute struck in the first period to make it 3-0 Hamilton, and then after a quick pair from the Heat early in the third, he slowed the Heat rally with his second of the game. Tenute has three goals in four games against the Heat, that’s 37.5 % of his scoring in 27 games this season. You think he’s excited for Friday?!

3. WAY TO GO, SEIGO!: Steven Seigo recorded an assist in his #AHLHeat debut, helping set up Ben Street’s 13th goal of the season (and first since February 6th). The Michigan Tech product looked the part in the loss, playing a regular shift and showcasing some solid decision-making and mobility. Congrats to the Saskatchewan born rear-guard.

Boxscore

Highlights, Images, Video and Audio at AbbotsfordHeat.com/media

WEDNESDAY MARCH 27 – 4:30 PST @ HAMILTON BULLDOGS
FRIDAY MARCH 29 – 4:30 PST @ HAMILTON BULLDOGS
SATURDAY MARCH 30 – NOON PST @ TORONTO MARLIES

Streaming: TeamRadio.ca – Wednesday, Friday & Saturday
*Pre-Game Show begins 15 minutes prior puck-drop

The Abbotsford Heat will play three divisional games in four nights this week in Ontario. The Heat will face off on Wednesday and Friday nights against the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens) before playing the Toronto Marlies (AHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs) in a Saturday matinee at Ricoh Coliseum.

The Heat enter play this week in 11th spot in the Western Conference with 69 points in 67 games. Also sitting with 69 points are the Chicago Wolves (62 games played), the Oklahoma City Barons (62 games played) and the Rockford IceHogs (64 games played) who are seeded ahead of the Heat in eighth, ninth and tenth in the West. The Heat have played more games than any other team in the AHL and are projected to need 16 points in their final nine games to qualify for the post-season.

Sven Baertschi has recorded a goal and an assist in each of the Heat’s last two wins. The 20-year-old winger from Switzerland is leading the Heat with 0.814 points per game in his first season of professional hockey. Baertschi has found chemistry alongside centre Ben Walter who leads the Heat with 25 assists and 38 points. Walter needs 12 points in the final nine games to record his seventh consecutive 50-point season in the AHL.

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Photo Credit: Clint Trahan

ON THE LINE:

10 games remained for the Abbotsford Heat entering Saturday’s rematch versus the Chicago Blackhawks affiliated Rockford IceHogs. Unfortunately, the Heat know they will need some help from those teams around them as much of their competition have three to six games in hand. The Heat sat eleventh in the Western Conference, just one point out of the post-season.

THE FLOW:

The start of the game was best likened to a battle between the unstoppable force and the immovable object. Neither team allowed the other much room for any sort of offensive play. The score was deadlocked until midway through the game when Ben Walter potted his 13th of the season over Henrik Karlsson’s blocker.

Near the end of the second period, just as hundreds of International PeeWee Friendship hockey players began to chant Henrik Karlsson’s name, Tyler Ruegsegger intercepted an IceHogs pass and made no mistake as he collected his eighth of the campaign.

In the third period, Rockford staged a comeback to level the scoring at 2-2. With four minutes remaining in the third period, Sven Baertschi received a Max Reinhart pass in the slot to put the Heat ahead by one. However, Rockford had some late-game heroics of their own, as Rostislav Olesz tied it up with less than 10 seconds left in the game to force overtime.

THE TURNING POINT:

With roller coaster-like momentum swings throughout the game, the turning point didn’t happen until 2:17 of the overtime frame when Baertschi and Horak found themselves on a 2-on-1. Baertschi slid the puck over to Horak who made no mistake burying it five-hole on Karlsson.

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