By Michael Scoular (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: July 18, 2012
With the thin lines of free agency depleted and developmental camps in progress, the near future of the Abbotsford Heat is falling into place. The usual mix of junior and college tryouts in Calgary now and the unpredictable variables of what training camp might reveal in September mean anything is theoretically possible, but the Heat, as a feeder system for the Flames and as an AHL contender, project to look largely the same.
This lack of movement to the Flames will mean relative roster consistency for the Heat, a projection that flies in the face of the oft-repeated idea that the true horror of watching the Abbotsford club is that this is merely their gestation, their true nightmarish form will be realized with the Calgary Flames. As the management and competitiveness of the team is showing, Abbotsford is where many of these players will remain, and where they will have to achieve anything if it is to come this year.
The vacancies in the parent club’s lineup of coaches and forwards that as 2011-12 closed had figures like Heat head coach Troy Ward and forwards Paul Byron, Roman Horak and Akim Aliu who looking like potential contenders for those roles next season have, on paper, been filled by Flames general manager Jay Feaster from outside the organization. Injuries, changes in performance, and trades can and likely will happen, but Feaster’s decision to retain the diminishing Cory Sarich and Lee Stempniak and buy high on Dennis Wideman and Jiri Hudler has pushed the best of the Heat down the organization’s depth chart. The taste of NHL experience many of the Heat experienced last year amid numerous injuries will not, if this direction holds, lead to much more of the same this year.
What this means immediately for the Heat is that aside from can’t-miss prospects like Sven Baertschi or T.J. Brodie, upper movement will not be guaranteed from year to year. As the Heat welcomed the addition of potential top-six forward Ben Street as a result of the centre logjam in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ organization, top performers Hugh Jessiman and Jon Rheault left for Ottawa and Florida respectively. By comparison to the Flames, the Senators and Panthers made the playoffs last year, but hold the promise of moving up the ladder to claim vacancies left by departed depth players.
The biggest question mark that remains is concerning goaltending, as Leland Irving is the final restricted free agent for the team. Also up in the air is his status – whether it be with the Flames or the Heat. Called up last year, but presently blocked by the remaining year of Henrik Karlsson’s contract and the return of Joni Ortio from the KHL, like most Heat players, Abbotsford remains the safest bet for where he will appear at the start of next year.
Perhaps the surest sign of how fans can expect development to be approached by Jay Feaster’s Flames appeared on draft day. Rather than spring for what was projected as immediate help, high school prospect Mark Jankowski was taken with the team’s first selection. While he may turn out to be a great help, he isn’t there yet. In Feaster’s own words, he would be a force to be reckoned with in a decade. Factoring in college and learning the ropes in the big leagues, that could come to mean a year or two, or if Feaster’s buying ways continue (and that’s if he’s still GM at the time,) more with the Heat. In the ever-changing AHL, that can seem like an eternity.
