By Tim Ubels (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: November 27, 2013
With their 4-0 win over the Iowa Wild last Saturday, the red-hot Abbotsford Heat have stormed to the top of the AHL standings with a remarkable 32 points through the first 22 games of the season. Mirroring their rise to the top of standings in the early goings of last year’s season, this young Heat club went 11-1-0-0 in the month of November. Despite the recent call-up of goaltender Reto Berra and a trade that sent Roman Horak to the Edmonton Oilers, players like Michael Ferland, Blair Jones, and Joni Ortio have all picked up the slack to make the Heat the AHL’s top team in the early going.
Ferland had a particularly rough start to the season, failing to register a point in his first 11 games. A player with a history of poor conditioning, Ferland knew he had to be more disciplined and make an impression if he wanted to get more minutes with the club this season. With no option this year for the Heat to send him back to junior, it was time for Ferland to make his mark on the scoreboard.
Lately, he has done just that, picking up 11 points in his last eight games. The 22-year-old power forward is getting comfortable using his rare mix of skill and size, with his style of play falling somewhere in between NHL players like Boston Bruins tough guy Shawn Thornton and Vancouver Canucks forward Zack Kassian.
With Berra getting his first shot at the big leagues, Ortio has made the most of the time he’s been given as the Heat’s top goaltender. Coming off a terrific season in the Finnish Elite League, Ortio has fit right in at the AHL level, remaining undefeated through his first nine games this season and recording his first professional hockey league shutout with Saturday’s victory over the Wild. Before the year’s out, Ortio might be the one called on by the Flames to occupy their crease.
The Flames pulled the trigger on more minor transactions this past week, sending gritty forward Tim Jackman to the Anaheim Ducks for a sixth-round pick, then sending their own sixth-round pick to the Dallas Stars in exchange for forward Lane MacDermid, who was immediately assigned to Abbotsford. MacDermid, who wore number 21 in his debut with the Heat, is essentially a younger version of Jackman. Drafted in the fourth round by the Boston Bruins, MacDermid appeared in six games for the Dallas Stars this season, picking up a pair of assists and five minutes in penalties. Known for his tough play, the 24-year-old MacDermid has consistently hit triple digits in the PIM column over the course of a full season. While the move is minor, it remains consistent with the Flames’ mantra of getting younger.
With a Flames roster player being moved and the returning player getting sent down, it meant that another Heat player got a shot with the big club. This time around, it was leading point getter Blair Jones, who has potted 20 points in 16 games with the Heat this season.
The move paid dividends for the Flames, as Jones netted a goal against former Conn Smythe winner Tim Thomas with a nice setup from linemate Lance Bouma, helping the Flames to a 4-3-shootout victory against the Florida Panthers.
The Heat will return home for Friday’s match-up with the Vancouver Canucks’ affiliate, the Utica Comets.
