Tag Archives: Milwaukee Admirals

Three out of four ain’t bad

Hockey Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur poses with his Spawn Toys likeness during the Abbotsford Heat home opener Friday night. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Hockey Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur poses with his Spawn Toys likeness during the Abbotsford Heat home opener Friday night. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

The Abbotsford Heat took three of a possible four points in their home opening weekend, splitting extra time results with the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday and Saturday nights.

Six-foot four goaltender Reto Berra backed the Heat to a 3–2 decision on Friday, thanking Corban Knight for ending things 1:58 into overtime. In turn, the Admirals rode 6’5″ netminder Magnus Hellberg to a 2–1 shootout win on Saturday.

It was a familiar refrain of sorts of the Heat, who spent much of last season splitting double headers they probably should have taken outright. The Heat came out of the second intermission on a mission, breaking the zero-zero tie just 41 seconds into the third on Roman Horak’s first of the season. They carried the play for most of the period, but squandered consecutive power plays before giving up a late tying goal against the flow of play. It marked the second game in a row the Heat led going into the final six minutes of play but were unable to hold on for a regulation win.

Hockey Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur was in attendance Friday, shaking hands and signing hundreds of autographs; he is the latest in the Heat’s lineup of Hockey Legends to visit the Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre. The Man Who Scored The Goal That Sank Don Cherry’s Coaching Career looked great, and was great with the adoring fans who lined the stairwells for a moment with monsieur Lafleur and his blue Sharpie.

Unfortunately the Flower wasn’t enough to bring more people through the turnstyles. More than half the rink was empty for opening night, and game #2? Well, you can see for yourself:

Saturday's official attendance: 1,814. Saturday's actual attendance: judge for yourself. Weak iPhone panorama by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Saturday’s official attendance: 1,814. Saturday’s actual attendance: judge for yourself. (Hint: there were nearly as many people on the benches as there were in the stands.) Weak iPhone panorama by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

More pictures and game highlights after the jump.

Continue reading Three out of four ain’t bad

Photo Gallery – Abbotsford Heat vs Milwaukee Admirals

Abbotsford Heat - Ben Walter - 400
Abbotsford Heat all-time leading scorer Ben Walter gets his stick on a point shot during a 2-0 win over Magnus Hellberg and the Milwaukee Admirals on January 20, 2013. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

The Abbotsford Heat won their fourth game in a row with a 2-0 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre on Sunday afternoon. Barry Brust, fresh off being named to the AHL All-Star Game being played in a week’s time, collected his fourth shutout of the season.

It was a good end to a 10-game home stand for the Heat, who had at one point fallen from first overall in the American Hockey League to eighth in the Western Conference. With the perfect weekend against the Nashville Predators farm team, the Heat now have 49 points in 40 games, good for fifth in the West. They are tied in points with the North Division leading Toronto, but have played two more games than the Marlies.

The Heat got goals from forward Krys Kolanos and blueliner Brett Carson, the same two goal-scorers from the previous night’s 2-1 victory over the Admirals. Below you can listen to Carson’s post-game reaction from that game. It marks two goals in two starts for Carson, who took 34 games to score that many in the AHL last season. Both players were on the bubble of making the opening night Calgary Flames roster, but were late cuts in the shortened training camp once the NHL lockout ended 10 days ago.

More pictures and video after the jump.

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Continue reading Photo Gallery – Abbotsford Heat vs Milwaukee Admirals