ROUND TWO: The Toronto Marlies VS. Abbotsford Heat Preview

 

 

After sweeping the Rochester Americans in the opening series of the post-season, the Toronto Marlies are facing the hottest team in the AHL. The Heat won 7 last games of the regular season adding a 3-game sweep over the Milwaukee Admirals in round one of the playoffs.

Both teams won their home games of the regular season series as the Marlies went 2-1-1, outscoring the Heat 13 – 10. Here’s a quick run-down of what you need to know about the upcoming series

26/10/2011 Abbotsford 0 – 5 Toronto

04/02/2012 Abbotsford 2 – 5 Toronto

13/04/2012 Toronto 0 – 3 Abbotsford

15/04/2012 Toronto 4 – 5 Abbotsford OT

Game 1 – Tue., May 1 – Abbotsford at Toronto, 7:00

Game 2 – Thurs., May 3 – Abbotsford at Toronto, 7:00

Game 3 – Sat., May 5 – Toronto at Abbotsford, 10:00

Game 4 – Tue., May 8 – Toronto at Abbotsford, 10:00

*Game 5 – Wed., May 9 – Toronto at Abbotsford, 10:00

*Game 6 – Sat., May 12 – Abbotsford at Toronto, 3:00

*Game 7 – Sun., May 13 – Abbotsford at Toronto, 3:00

– The Heat are currently the hottest team in the AHL. They ended the regular season with 7 straight wins and extended it to a total of 10 after sweeping the Milwaukee Admirals in the first round in a best-of-five series

– Abbotsford has qualified for the playoffs 2 times in 3 years of their existence. They also made it to the second round both times

– Heat’s head-coachTroy Ward set a franchise record of whopping 42 wins this season and is considered as one of the candidates to fill the coaching position with the Calgary Flames this summer

– Despite an injury and call-up to the Flames, Krys Kolanos played 47 regular season games for the Heat this year, scoring 30 goals and adding 31 assists to. He eset the franchise records in both of those categories and was easily heir top-scorer of the season

– Kolanos had 4 goals and 4 assists in the first round of the playoffs

– In the regular season series Hugh Jessiman and Max Reinhart were the most productive Heat players against the Marlies. Jessiman had a goal and 3 assists in 2 games, while Reinhart scored 2 goals in his 1st pro game

– Heat players have a considerable advantage in Calder Cup Playoffs career games 384 to 102

– Abbotsford’s powerplay is 2nd best in the AHL after the first round (27.8%)

– Here’s some highlights of the Heat’s first round sweep over the Admirals:

 

– Jesse Blacker, who missed last 7 games of the regular season, is cleared to play and will likely join Stuart Percy on a defensive pairing

– Carter Ashton left Game 2 of the series against Rochester and hasn’t been on ice since. He isn’t expected to play because of a concussion. Marcel Mueller (LW) is likely to take Ashton’s place on the 3rd line

– Joe Colborne and Matt Frattin were the ones who played the sharpest against the Heat in the regular season. Colborne managed 2+3=5 points and Frattin had 4 goals in 4 games

– Before the start of the current post-season there was only one Marlie who played 10+ Calder Cup Playoffs games in his career: Mike Zigomanis

– Marlies are holding an attendance record for the post-season in the AHL. In 2 games at Ricoh Coliseum they averaged 7,030 fans

– Toronto’s penalty killing is 4th best in the league after the first round (91.7%)

– Jerry D’Amigo leads both the Marlies and the league in scoring this post-season with 5 goals in 3 games.