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Quintin Laing vs. Chicago Wolves |
The Wolves started the AHL season by beating the Rockford Ice Hogs twice on home ice, 1-0 in a shootout on Saturday and 5-3in regulation on Sunday. They continued their winning streak by defeating the Peoria Rivermen 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday night. The Wolves won with stout defensive play, boasting the top goals against per game in the Western Conference with only four goals allowed in three games. Eddie Lack has a shutout and allowed just 3 goals over two weekend games against Rockford. Matt Climie stopped 30 of 31 shots Wednesday night as the Wolves won 2-1 in extra time over Peoria.
Both the Heat and the Wolves qualified for the 2012 Calder Cup Playoffs; the Heat finishing as the fourth seed with 92 points and the Wolves as the third seed with 91 points (first in the Midwest Division). The Heat advanced to the second round with a sweep of the Milwaukee Admirals, but their season ended with a second round five-game series loss to the Toronto Marlies. The Wolves were upset by the San Antonio Rampage in double overtime of Game Five of their opening round best-of-five series..
Guillaume Desbiens returns to the AESC after playing for the Heat last season. Desbiens was an alternate captain in 2011-12 with Abbotsford. The rugged winger previously played for the Wolves in 2008 when they won a Calder Cup as the AHL affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers. Desbiens also spent three seasons (2008-09 to 2010-11) with the Manitoba Moose, the previous AHL affiliates of the Canucks.
The Heat and Wolves split the eight game season series last season, with the road team winning six of eight games. By way of an additional overtime loss, the Wolves edged the season series by one point. The last meeting between the two clubs on March 30th saw an overtime winner from the Heat in front of a capacity crowd of 7046, in one of the most memorable games of the season.
Fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for each game this weekend. Fans are encouraged to act quickly and purchase their tickets for this Big Ticket game. Tickets to Friday and Saturday’s games can be purchased online at abbotsfordheat.com, or by phone at 1.877.452.HEAT (4328). Tickets start as low as $15 when purchased prior to game day.
Friday Night is the first Legends of Hockey Night as Geoff Courtnall and Cliff Ronning will be honoured. The B.C. born members of the ’94 Stanley Cup Finalist Canucks will be signing autographs on the concourse from 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. Saturday is the first of three post-game concerts, as local band ‘Fighting for Ithaca’ will close out a busy weekend at the AESC with a set from centre ice.
You can catch both games on TeamRadio.ca and on Sirius/XM with Ryan Pinder calling the action with colour commentator Harrison Mooney (of Pass It to Bulis and Yahoo! Sports Puck Daddy). Friday’s game also airs on Sportsnet 960 the Fan in Calgary andSaturday’s affair is televised across Canada on Sportsnet One.
For more information on the weekend set, visit www.AbbotsfordHeat.com. Broadcast quality video, audio and images will be available at www.AbbotsfordHeat.com/media as early as the first intermission on each game night.
For video preview of this weekend, click here.
