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Justin Kirkland talks about playing Flames AHL hockey in both Stockton and Calgary
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Photo credit: David Moll/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Apr 15, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 15, 2026, 00:14 EDT
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The Calgary Wranglers have been officially in town for four seasons now. Prior to their relocation, this team was known as the Stockton Heat, based out of Stockton, CA. Over peak COVID-19 times, the Heat played a modified 30 game season in Calgary to make call-up’s easier without the need to quarantine players with cross-border travel. The recent history of this AHL squad has been interesting and not many players have seen both side of it. Of the active Wranglers roster, only Justin Kirkland and Alex Gallant have played in Stockton and Calgary. Kirkland took a bit of time to reminisce and compare the experiences between playing in the Flames’ AHL affiliates in the different cities.
The Stockton Heat were the Flames’ AHL affiliate from 2015 to 2022. This team was the first professional landing place for current Flames like Dustin Wolf, Connor Zary, Martin Pospisil and Yan Kuznetsov. After the challenges of the pandemic, a decline in attendance and local negotiations for the venue, the team was moved to Calgary in the 2022 off-season and announced in mid-summer as the Calgary Wranglers. 
Kirkland was on the Stockton Heat for three seasons between 2019-2022 and was in the top five in the major scoring categories in his last season with the team. Kirkland spent the next season split between the San Diego Gulls and Anaheim Ducks in the 2022-23 season then spent most of the season with the Tucson Roadrunners in 2023-24 with a couple of appearances with the Arizona Coyotes. In 2024-25, Kirkland re-joined the Flames organization and this season, he split time between the Wranglers and Flames. Kirkland has faced some challenges throughout his professional hockey career, including a serious car accident in 2023 and a knee injury in late 2024, but despite it all, he is still able to perform as a high level pro. 
When Kirkland was asked about some of the differences between the two AHL cities, he said:
“The weather. Obviously, it’s nice being close to the Flames team. Having the facility and stuff here too is nice. I think I guess the difference would be the travel. I mean in Stockton, you’re close to a lot of those Pacific teams where now we’re flying everywhere. So it makes travel a little more difficult. I think the schedule is a little tougher, but honestly the weather. That was the big bonus of being there.”
The hardest part about a relocation is the fanbase that gets left behind. All of a sudden season ticket holders or locals who made trips to Stockton Arena to see their local team are left without it. Some may still follow along or watch from a distance but even streaming every game isn’t the same as getting the in-person experience. Kirkland said:
“Yeah it’s hard. They showed up for us and the last year that we were there, we had a really good team and put together a really good season and they were behind us the whole time. Also, you feel for the support staff, the people who were around the rink, working hard for us. We had a great too that did an unbelievable job with all our meals and stuff. So yeah, you feel for everybody around the community.”
Playing hockey in California also gave the team other seasonal activities to get involved in, like golfing. Unfortunately for Calgary, golf season doesn’t really get going until the hockey season is done. Kirkland talked about this and said:
“One of the coolest things was the last year we had a team golf league. So when the schedule kind of allowed it, we’d all get out during the day and have a big golf. It was kind of like a season-long tournament going on. That was something that was really fun. Golfing is something I think really brought the team together and guys who didn’t play all of a sudden became golf fans and golfers. So that was something the guys always really enjoyed.”
The arena that used to host the Heat now primarily hosts the Stockton King basketball team and the Stockton Crusaders arena football team. In the Heat’s last season in Stockton, they clinched the top spot in the Pacific Division and finished second in the league overall with a 45-16-5-2 record. They were eliminated in the Western Conference finals by the Chicago Wolves, who went on to win the Calder Cup that season. Kirkland played three seasons with the Heat for a total of 135 games and put up 83 points in that time, consisting of 33 goals and 50 assists.

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