The Heat play the Chicago Wolves today – starting right now in fact – so here’s the hatily thrown together gamethread:
– Abbotsford still having trouble scoring. Not sure if Baertsch i will be back.
– The Wolves are the Canucks affiliare and are 10th in the conference with just 12 wins in 24 games so far. They are led in scoring by Brett Sterling (16 points), Zack Kassian (14) and Jordan Schroeder (14). Kassian’s 14 points in 22 games has to be a disappointment for Vancouver fans and management so far.
– No, I dont know why they are playing this game at 10am.
Enjoy!
“and Jordan Schroeder (14)”
surprise!
I wonder what attendance will be for this game.
Chicago scores 10 minutes in. Barry Brust is back in net…looks like he’s the incumbent starter now.
1-0 Wolves through the first period. Baertschi not back yet. Looks like Piskula is out which is why Tuzzolino was called up the other day.
Nothng but penalties in this tilt. Already 8 infractions and we aren’t even through the second period.
So many infractions that the ref’s gonna have an infarction!
Second period ends, still 1-0. Shots are 22-15 wolves.
Scratch that, looks like the Heat got 3 shots in before the clock wound down. Shots are 22-18.
Heat fall 1-0, their third shut-out loss of the month. They’ve only scored 3 goals in their last 3 games. Shots were 34-25.
Thanks for the coverage Kent! You’d think the Heat’s actual website would be a little more proactive during a lockout. I think I’ve seen them post the day of a game like once. Probably for a contest.
Brust stood in there fairly well, but this offense is so anemic that if they can’t develop something they are going to have a very difficult time down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Complaining about the penalties? Remember, this is the Canucks’ farm team. I see a lot of cross-checking and slashing penalties there.
Incredibly, Horak had 7 of the team’s 25 shots. That means the rest of the club accounted for just 18.
So what you’re saying is that Horak is the Heat’s very own Taylor Hall cardboard standie.
😉
Honestly though, that does bode well. If the rest of the team can’t get things going at least he is pushing things in the right direction. Even if it means he only ever tops out as a Radek Dvorak type player, it is still something from a bad trade scenario.
Yeah Horak has exceeded a lot of my expectations.
He seems to drive play, within his limitations.
What I like perhaps most about him is his versatility. His talent is somewhat limited, but his effort is good, and he seems like a plug-and-play kind of forward. Very useful.
He certainly seems to have become a salve for some of the sting from the Erixon debacle.
Once again, the Flames find a serviceable bottom six forward.
he seems to have a Lee Stempniak-like ceiling. A guy who, though perhaps best suited to the 3rd line, can fill in in the top 6, and who can play any forward position (actually, I guess it’s more David Moss in that respect).
Related: The Flames just may have a killer 3rd line in their future
Horak – Reinhart – Arnold
Horak reminds me of Dutsin Boyd, at least as an AHLer/fringe NHLer. I liked a lot of Boyd’s tools as well and expected him to become a capable 3rd line forward (at least) at some point.
It never happened. Which is to say, Horak still has a lot to do before we can even start comparing him to Moss.
Cancuks Army has a recap here: http://canucksarmy.com/2012/12/19/wolves-take-the-heat-to-school-continue-winning-ways