by Justin Orlewicz (Sports Editor)
Email: cascade.sports [at] ufv [dot] ca
The Abbotsford Heat’s woes on home ice continue, as they just can’t seem to find their swagger in front of their home fans. The Heat could use more fan support as their home attendance has been dismal to say the least. Maybe all this team needs is a little bit of love from the home fans to spark them up when they are playing at home. The Heat haven’t had any problems winning games on the road, but when they get onto home ice, you never can tell which team is going to show up. The Heat has managed to squeak out a few wins at home, but most of their wins this season have come when they are on enemy territory.
Last weekend, the San Antonio Rampage were in town for a two game mini series with the Heat, and despite a strong start for the Heat, things would get ugly for the home team in a hurry. The Heat jumped up to a 1-0 lead early in the first period with a goal from Lance Bouma but after that it was all San Antonio on the score sheet. The Rampage would answer the Heat’s first period goal with two of their own before the first period would end. Then, in the third period, San Antonio would add three more goals to secure a healthy win over the Abbotsford Heat. The final was 5-1; former Phoenix Coyote Mikkel Boedker had 3 assists in the San Antonio win.
The following night the Heat would get another crack at the San Antonio Rampage, as they hoped to extract some revenge after getting beat up in their own building the night before. The unpredictable Abbotsford Heat came out flying for this contest, as they would get the scoring started early in the first period, dumping two goals in net before the half-way mark of the first period. In the second period, the Heat would go right back to work on the Rampage with a power play goal from Keith Seabrook. In the third period, the Rampage would try to answer back with a goal from local boy Matt Pope but that would be as close as they would come to getting back into this contest. The Heat answered right back with a goal of their own, which would secure the win for the them. Greg Nemisz and Giffen Nyren had goals for the Heat, and the red-hot Cam Cunning had a goal and an assist in the win. Leland Irving made 22 saves for the Heat in this very important home win.
Despite their very unpredictable play at home, the Heat are still in great shape for the North division points race, as they are currently sitting in the fourth position but are only 2 points out of first place in their division. The Heat’s record at weeks end is 7-6-0-1, their next home series is against Houston Aero’s and starts November 8th at the AESC. For insider info on the Abbotsford Heat, follow me on Twitter @JustinOrly.
