The Heat square off in the final season meeting seeing them take on the Rivermen from Peoria who sport a record of 33-26-2-1.
They currently sit third in the Midwest Division with 69 points in the Western Conference and are playing in front of 2,369 fans.
The Heat moved the franchise from Moline Illinois to Quad City Michigan then to Abbotsford and are pleased with the move. They continue to work on attracting more of a fan base, and this alone is a work in progress.
Today’s game is dedicated to the focus on wearing Pink in hopes of awareness for Breast Cancer.
Players of the Heat were wearing Pink laces along with pink tape on the sticks in a show of support. Great cause and they should be congratulated on this undertaking. Very Professional!!!
This game see’s the Heat in a neck and neck race with the Charlotte Checkers and San Antonio in a race for forth place.
The Heat enjoy playing Sunday afternoon games, but for whatever reason, they are winless in the last five afternoon games.
These two clubs did not square off until the last part of February where the Heat paid a visit to the Peoria Civic Center for a game in which Walter scored a pair of games in a losing affair. Brett Sterling scored the SO winner. Head Coach for Peoria is former Heat Assistant Coach Jared Bednar who becomes the 17th Head Coach and the 5th since joining the AHL.
While the Heat started Taylor through two periods he faced 13 shots and allowed 3 goals, and some are questioning if a change should take place for the 3rd.
When you look at the talent of both teams, it’s not a shock that these players will soon take the next step in their career and finally make it to the NHL.
It is true that some of the players might be playing at a level below what they have played in, but for a development league (AHL) they can offer nothing but support and teaching for those on the way up. Jonathan Cheechoo is a fan favorite in Peoria and loves working in the community as do players of all teams.
The loss leaves the Heat in seventh spot in the Western Conference a point up on the final playoff spot and just one back of a home-ice seed; late Sunday night action in the AHL could see the Heat’s playoff position altered. Danny Taylor started the game for the Heat for the second time during the Heat’s six-game home stand.
The 25-year-old made13 saves on 18 shots in the loss, while the Heat outshot the Rivermen for the second straight game putting 32 on target over 60 minutes, and 72 over the weekend but they couldn’t score on Sunday after scoring once in Friday’s loss.
The Heat power play finished without a goal on three opportunities, while the penalty kill continued its recent struggle – allowing a goal on three Peoria man-advantages.
Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond had two fights in today’s contest totalling 200 in his career and talked about the game and looked forward by saying, “It’s not the result we wanted but there’s a lot of hockey left.
The good thing about this league is that we have a chance to bounce back right away; we just have to be ready against Houston.”The Heat now head to Texas for their final divisional road games.
Two (2) games with the Houston Aeros and one (1) with both the Texas Stars and San Antonio Rampage will see the Heat out of town for nine days. Following this stretch the Heat have eight of their last ten games on home ice.
Special “thanks” to the Heat in sponsoring Breast Cancer Awareness to the community as in most cases it has affected some of our Families. Thanks to the Rivermen for the photo.
