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Compelling in-depth news and photos of the Abbotsford Heat, Abbotsford's professional AHL team
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N A M E D N O R T H A M E R I C A ’ S B E S T S U B U R B A N N E W S P A P E R S E C T I O N 2 0 1 0
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A B B O T S F O R D N E W S Tuesday, November 23, 2010 3
O F F I C I A L F A N G U I D EO F F I C I A L F A N G U I D E
John Van Putten photo
DanKINVIGABBOTSFORD NEWS
Over the past couple months, Heat head coach Jim Playfair has grown fond of referring
to rookie centre Mitch Wahl as “Cool Hand Luke,” a nod to the Californian’s un appable demeanor.
If classic movies are Playfair’s com-pass when picking nicknames, allow us to submit “The Natural” for T.J. Brodie.
At just 20 years of age, the rookie defenceman still has a ways to go before he’s a full-time NHLer. But given how quickly Brodie’s taken to the pro game in his rst go-around, it’s a tting handle.
Brodie was a training camp sensa-tion with the Calgary Flames this fall, tying Jarome Iginla for the team lead in the preseason with four goals, and he stunned many observers by cracking the NHL club out of camp.
After three games in which he failed to register a point and
posted a minus-3 rating, the Flames decided Bro-
die could use more seasoning in the
AHL.
But Brodie didn’t interpret the de-motion to Abbotsford as a setback. Coming into training camp, his primary motivation was to impress the Flames brass suf ciently that they’d allow him to stick with the Heat this season – he was still eligible to be sent back to the OHL’s Barrie Colts for one more year of junior hockey.
“It seemed like the game just came a little easier than I expected it too,” Brodie said, re ecting on his some-times-spectacular transition to the pro ranks. “My main focus this fall was getting here (to Abbotsford). Obviously I wanted to do well in Calgary, but I exceeded the expectations I had for myself. It was a great experience.”
For some players, improvement is incremental, but Brodie’s growth has been obvious on a game-to-game basis since he joined the Heat.
In his rst home game in Abbotsford on Oct. 25, Rochester Americans for-ward Evgeny Dadonov gave Brodie the turnstile treatment on his way to scor-ing the game-tying goal with just over a minute remaining in the third period. The Heat ended up winning that game in overtime, but Brodie’s gaffe was an enduring image.
But as the Heat’s eight-game home-stand wore on, Brodie’s superior
speed and vision quickly became apparent. Forecheckers were
Rookie Brodie making an impact
Naturally gifted
Continued on page 9
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4 A B B O T S F O R D N E W S Tuesday, November 23, 2010
O F F I C I A L F A N G U I D EO F F I C I A L F A N G U I D E
JimP
LAYFA
IR
THE
BENCHYoung team fun to work with
In each edition of the Abbots-ford News’s FACEOFF maga-zine, Abbotsford Heat head coach Jim Playfair sits down
with beat reporter Dan Kinvig to give fans the inside scoop on the team. For future editions of FACEOFF, fans are invited to pose their own questions to Playfair. Submit your questions for consideration via e-mail to [email protected], or via Twitter to @dankinvigsports. We caught up with Playfair via phone last week, prior to a pair of weekend road games against the Peoria Rivermen.
Q Jim, I de nitely get the sense that you’re having a lot of fun working with this young team. Is that fair to say?
A “Yeah. When you look at what the team and the organization is trying to accomplish, it’s exciting to have young guys step up and take up more of a role within the structure of the game. And I think they’ve done a good job of that. We’re in a situation now where with the amount of young kids we’re playing, people may not have expected that many young kids to be playing at this point in the sea-
son. I think that’s been important.”
Q One of the positive trends for the team this year is discipline. Last season the Heat led the AHL in pen-alty minutes per game, but this year you’re 27th in the league. What do you attribute that to?
A “Younger players. The biggest thing is, they’re willing to skate and compete and lot harder. When you get an older group and they make a mistake, they try to recover that ice with their stick – hooking and hold-ing. I thought we’ve done a much better job as a team of not taking those lazy, recovery-ice penal-ties. We’ve taken some aggressive penalties, but not as many of those lazy ones. That’s been the big dif-ference.”
Q I know you break down the season, for evaluation purposes, into 10-game segments. We’re 19 games in – which areas are you encour-aged about, and which are the biggest areas for growth?
A “We try to get 12 points each segment, and we’re already at
24 points in 19 games. So we’ve reached that target. Obviously our penalty killing (ranked 28th) and our power play (ranked 27th) have to be a lot better, and I think that’s go-ing to come with getting some key players back. We’ve got some guys out right now who can make our power play and penalty kill more dangerous.
“We’ve done a lot of good things, and there are areas where we can get a lot better, and that’s where our focus is – becoming more consis-tent. We lead the league in (fewest) shots against, and we take pride in that. We want to get a lot more shots on net – we need to be No. 1 in the league in that area.”
Q As far as the injuries go, is it a little bit of déjà vu right now, after all the man games you lost last season?
A “Yeah, but it is what it is. With inju-ries, there’s not much you can say or do about them. [Chuckles] What can you do? All you can really do is keep moving onward and upward. By Christmas, we should be a lot healthier.”
A B B O T S F O R D N E W S Tuesday, November 23, 2010 5
24NU
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Q At the moment, you’re tied for the AHL goal-scoring lead with seven, but you haven’t got an assist yet. What’s going on?
A “I don’t know! [Laughs] I guess I’ll get one whenever Cunner (Cam Cunning) or Army (John Armstrong) want to put it in after I give them the puck. We’ve had some chances, and it’s weird. But I’d rather be at seven goals and zero assists, than zero goals and seven assists.”(Editor’s note: Keith would later pick up his rst assist on a goal by Cunning. As of press deadline, he had nine goals and three assists in 19 games.)
Q If you were showing someone around your hometown of Aldergrove, what’s the rst local landmark you’d show them?
A “[Laughs] Local landmark in Aldergrove? I don’t know if there are any. Actually, the Greater Vancouver Zoo would probably be the place. We used to go on school eld trips there when I was younger. So I’d probably pick the zoo or the Aldergrove Arena. I’ve had some good memories there.”
Q What’s your favourite thing about playing so close to home?
A “It’s just about being comfortable and familiar here – getting to see familiar faces all the time is a big bonus, I think. I get to see my family and friends more than a lot of guys on the team, but once the season starts, everything’s really consumed with hockey and with the team. So in some ways, it’s the same as when I played other places. But when we get off a road trip, I get to go home, and that’s nice.”
Q If you weren’t a pro hockey player, what line of work do you think you’d be in?
A “When I was younger, I always thought I’d like to get into teaching. I like kids, and I’d like to do something in athletics. I’m going to look into taking online courses and stuff this year. This summer, I talked to a family friend who’s a counsellor to just try to get some ideas of what to do when I’m done hockey. But I think teaching would interest me.”
Q Do you have a pregame superstition?
A “Not really. If I have a good game the game before, I try to do things the same – driving the same way to the rink, eat the same pregame meal. But once I get to the rink, there’s nothing too drastic.”
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6 A B B O T S F O R D N E W S Tuesday, November 23, 2010
O F F I C I A L F A N G U I D EO F F I C I A L F
Abbotsford Heat players, like all AHLers, are just one step away from the NHL. We asked three of them to recall their fi rst game in the Big Show.
STAGEONTHEBIG
First NHL game
When you talk to people about your fi rst NHL game, what’s the story you tell?
Who wasfamous pthe ice tha
“I was with the Norfolk Admirals, and I’d lost a tooth . . . I was on my way to the dentist when the GM called and asked what I was doing. I said, ‘Going to the dentist.’ He said, ‘You can get that tooth xed, or you can get your gear and jump on a plane because you’re playing (in the NHL) tonight. I almost crashed my car.”
“I actually thought I was getting in trouble, becaus I’d been called into (Quad City Flames coach) Ryan McGill’s of ce. But he told me I was going to go up (to the Flames) and Curtis McElhinney was going to come down for a few games.”
“They never really came up and said that I’d made the starting roster (out of training camp). I just realized all the other guys had been sent down. It was pretty exciting, and it was a dream come true. Hopefully I’ll get back up there.”
“The whole day was kind of a whirlwind. The (Norfolk) trainer had taped up three brand new sticks for me, and the older guys on the team had taken the sticks and replaced them with broken ones. When got to Philadelphia, no one could nd me because I was outside with my sticks, panicking.”
“I got in for nine minutes in the third period of a blowout in Colo-rado. Kipper (Miikka Kiprusoff) got scored on, and (Flames coach) Mike Keenan said to me, ‘Do you want to go in?’ I looked at him, and I said, ‘Pardon?’ And he says, ‘GET IN THE NET!’ So I threw my gear on.”
“They (the Oilers) scored short-handed after I pinched down (from the point). It was sort of a bad play by me, and it was Jordan Eberle’s rst NHL goal, too. It’s a little bit of
a disappointing story, I guess, but it happens. It was still a good experi-ence.”
“There were names out thLeClair, MarkAlexei Zhamnpretty neat.”
“I’ve got the sheet at homwall, and peopretty impresgot to play agSakic. That wexciting for m
“Everyone ouwas someonon TV. Jaromand Miikka Kprobably. A loOilers guys wthe same ageactually.”
How did you get the news you had been called up to the NHL?
FEB. 24, 2004 Chicago Blackhawks at Philadelphia Flyers
NOV. 5, 2007Calgary Flames at Colorado Avalanche
OCT. 7, 2010Calgary Flames at Edmonton Oilers
MATT KEITH
MATT KEETLEY
T.J. BRODIE
A B B O T S F O R D N E W S Tuesday, November 23, 2010 7
O F F I C I A L F A N G U I D EF A N G U I D E
STAGEthe most
layer on at night?
How nervous were you, on a scale of 1 to 10?
What was your welcome to the NHL moment?
Photos courtesy Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary Flames
some big here – John k Recchi, nov. It was
game me on my ople are ssed that I gainst Joe
was pretty me.”
ut there e I’d seen e Iginla
Kiprusoff, ot of the were around e as me,
“I don’t think I had time to be nervous. Everything happened so quickly, from being in the car, to picking up my gear, to getting to the airport. I was calling everyone I knew to tell them.”
“Probably 11. I was pretty nervous. You dream about playing in the NHL, and after hyperventilating for the rst couple minutes, it was okay. I made a couple stops.”
“Probably around a six or a seven. I try not to be too nervous. I play better when I’m relaxed and calm out there. But obviously the nerves were still there. There’s a lot of pressure.”
“My sixth game that year, we played Tampa Bay at home. They had guys like Vincent Lecavalier and Dave Andreychuk, and they went on to win the Stanley Cup. Just seeing how good they were and how big some of those guys were, it was pretty shocking.”
“How fast the speed of the game was and how many times I got scored on in practice was my welcome to the NHL moment.”
“I’m not too sure. Everything hap-pened so fast. I guess it would be just being around the guys after watching them the past couple years on TV, and getting a chance to play with them.”
8 A B B O T S F O R D N E W S Tuesday, November 23, 2010
NOVEMBERSCHEDULE
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FRIDAY NOVEMBER 26 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 26 Manitoba 7:00 pmManitoba 7:00 pm
SATURDAY N SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27 Manitoba 7:00 pmOVEMBER 27 Manitoba 7:00 pm
DATES COLOURED RED ARE HOME GAMES.
2010/2011 SEASON
FACEOFF CONTEST
NAME: ____________________________________________________
ADDRESS: ________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
PHONE: __________________________________________________
Cut out and drop off this page to The Abbotsford News at 34375 Gladys Avenue, Abbotsford or email the answer to [email protected] (subject line – Faceoff Contest.)
Fill in the blanks of the quote below. You will find the answer in this edition of FACEOFF.
“With the fact he’s missed some ____________,
now he’s got to play _________________.”
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FRIDAY NOVEMBER 26 FRIDAY NOVEMBER 26 Manitoba 7:00 pmManitoba 7:00 pm SATURDAY N SATURDAY NOVEMBER 27 Manitoba 7:00 pmOVEMBER 27 Manitoba 7:00 pm WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 1 Hamilton 7:00 pm FRIDAY DECEMBER 3 Toronto 7:00 pm SATURDAY DECEMBER 4 Toronto 3:00 pm TUESDAY DECEMBER 7 Lake Erie 7:00 pmTUESDAY DECEMBER 7 Lake Erie 7:00 pm WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 8 Lake Erie 7:00 pm WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 8 Lake Erie 7:00 pm SATURDAY DECEMBER 10 Chicago 7:00 pm SATURDAY DECEMBER 10 Chicago 7:00 pm SUNDAY DECEMBER 11 Chicago 7:00 pm SUNDAY DECEMBER 11 Chicago 7:00 pm TUESDAY DECEMBER 14 Rochester 7:05 pm WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 15 W-B/Scranton 7:05 pm FRIDAY DECEMBER 17 W-B/Scranton 7:05 pm SATURDAY DECEMBER 18 Adirondack 7:00 pm THURSDAY DECEMBER 30 Texas 7:00 pmTHURSDAY DECEMBER 30 Texas 7:00 pm FRIDAY DECEMBER 31 Texas 7:00 pm FRIDAY DECEMBER 31 Texas 7:00 pm
DATES COLOURED RED ARE HOME GAMES.
2010/2011 SEASON
FACEOFF CONTEST
NAME: ____________________________________________________
ADDRESS: ________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
PHONE: __________________________________________________
Cut out and drop off this page to The Abbotsford News at 34375 Gladys Avenue, Abbotsford or email the answer to [email protected] (subject line – Faceoff Contest.)
Fill in the blanks of the quote below. You will find the answer in this edition of FACEOFF.
“He’s not afraid to make a ____________ play, and when he does, it’s usually in the back
of the other team’s ____________.”
WIN HEAT GEAR!
A B B O T S F O R D N E W S Tuesday, November 23, 2010 9
O F F I C I A L F A N G U I D E
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left grasping at air. Teammates found seeing-eye passes on their tape.
Four nights after being burned by Dadonov, Brodie set up two goals in a 3-2 win over the Milwaukee Admirals. On Nov. 6 against the San Antonio Rampage, he drew oohs and aahs on a spectacular play to set up Keith Seabrook for a goal. On a Heat power play, Brodie made a Drew Doughty-esque spin at the blue line to keep the puck in the offensive zone against pressure, then red a cross-ice pass to Seabrook, who wired a shot past San Antonio goalie Matt Climie.
Through his rst 14 games with the Heat, Brodie has one goal, eight as-sists and an impressive +7 rating.
“With T.J., you can sense quickly his ability to skate and carry the puck,” Heat head coach Jim Playfair ac-knowledged. “The real development part for him is his defensive ability. He needs to get on the right side of puck battles and be aware of what’s hap-pening around and behind him. It’s just the details that go into defending.”
Brodie’s early success is no surprise to Heat forward Bryan Cameron, one of Brodie’s OHL teammates in Barrie last season.
“He’s just a natural athlete,” Cam-eron said. “He’s the kind of guy who, when he faces tougher opponents or plays with better guys, he just elevates his game even more.
“He just knows where guys are on the ice. He’s not afraid to make a high-risk play, and when he does, it’s usually in the back of the other team’s net.”
Brodie lived with a billet family dur-ing his junior hockey days, and part of his development curve as a rst-year pro is learning to live on his own. He’s sharing an apartment with fellow rook-ies Cameron and Greg Nemisz and second-year defenceman John Negrin.
“It’s kind of different – you don’t have as much time to relax,” Brodie said. “You’ve got to cook or clean up, stuff like that.
“We split the cooking. One guy will cook the meat up on the barbecue, another guy will make the side – pota-toes or rice or something.”
One of the quirky aspects of Bro-die’s early-season tenure in Calgary was the fact he wore No. 66. It’s a number that’s only been worn by four other players in NHL history: former Canucks enforcer Gino Odjick, ex-Philadelphia Flyer Yanick Dupre, for-mer Washington Capitals centre Milan Novy . . . and most notably, Pittsburgh
Penguins superstar Mario Lemieux. Some Penguins fans, in fact, were
incensed to see Brodie, a baby-faced rookie, wearing a number synonymous with Lemieux. A Facebook group, with 122 members at last count, sprung up to petition Brodie to give up No. 66 and have it retired league-wide in Lemieux’s honour.
“I hope T.J. Brodie trips on a banana peel and breaks his nose,” one Face-book user wrote.
Brodie, for his part, had no input in picking his number. He had it handed to him at rookie camp two summers prior – low numbers are reserved for the NHL veterans, and the young guys get the high numbers. When he made the Flames in the fall, it was easier for the training staff not to change the number on his helmet and jersey.
As for all the venom coming out of Pittsburgh via the Internet, all Brodie could do was chuckle.
“Obviously I could see where they were coming from,” he said. “Most people are just having fun with it, joking around. But at the same time, there’s some people that are actually pretty upset about it.
“You’ve just got to forget about it. You can’t let it bother you or distract you from your play.”
From A3
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10 A B B O T S F O R D N E W S Tuesday, November 23, 2010
O F F I C I A L F A N G U I D EO F F I C I A L F A N G U I D E
Da
veSH
ELD
ON
playpla
y by
The Abbotsford Heat continue their remarkable road record this season.
Last year, the Heat reeled off 21 wins away from the Abbotsford Entertain-ment and Sports Centre, which gave the rst year club a top- ve record in the AHL away from home ice.
This season, Abbotsford Heat head coach Jim Playfair has the youngest team in the league, which makes the task even more daunting. But Playfair is con dent in his youthful squad.
“This group of players is without question the closest knit, tight group of players that I have ever coached,” marveled Playfair. “But as coaches, we have to realize that they are a young team and re-emphasize what we need to do to be successful.”
“One of the nice things about this group,” Playfair continued, “is the fact that they have all been well coached, whether in the Canadian Hockey League or NCAA, these players are aware of what is expected. It makes coaching them and seeing their successes very rewarding for us as coaches.”
At the time of this writing, the Heat were about to play their 10th road game and had a record of 6-2-0-1 in their rst nine showings away from home. At that pace, they would get to 25 road wins,
a number that would be near the top league-wide.
“You had better learn how to win on the road during the season,” cautioned Play-fair. “If you wait until the playoffs to learn how to win on the road, you’re dead.”
So how come the success on the road? How can it be converted into
wins at home as well? The answer, says the coach, is to keep it simple.
“Sometimes there is no question that we think we are better than we are, but that’s human nature,” Playfair said. “The key is to know what our strengths are as a team and to focus on that. Forecheck-ing hard, shots on goal and driving the net are important to our overall success, but so is playing smart defence.
“Our team, as cliché as it is to say, needs to stick with the plan the entire game for us to be successful. It seems that we have a tough time doing that at home. Whether it is because the play-ers put more pressure on themselves to perform at home is irrelevant. Learning to win in any building, but especially at home, is crucial.”
So how do you do it? Asked if he could have one thing to win at home, Playfair was blunt.
“This building has to be the toughest building for our opposition to play in…they have to dread coming here,” he said. “Our team needs to punish them for being here, and our fans need to punish them for visiting our building.”
When asked about the chants against an opponent at a recent game, Play-fair nodded and said, “Our fans are as knowledgeable as any fans in the AHL. We rely on them to have our backs when the chips are down. Our play-ers feed off of it and bring more to the table. It’s a win-win.”
Let’s hope that the Heat can keep the win-winning going!
Dave Sheldon is the director of communications and broadcast for the Abbotsford Heat. He writes a monthly column for Faceoff magazine.
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A B B O T S F O R D N E W S Tuesday, November 23, 2010 11
O F F I C I A L F A N G U I D EO F F I C I A L F A N G U I D E
Ian Fisher - age 32, season ticket holder
MEETHEAT
fan the
Q What’s your favourite thing about coming to a Heat game?
A “The action, and the fact that it’s a good price. It reminds me of when I was a kid, going to Vancouver Canadiens (minor league baseball) games. It was cool to see players before they made the major leagues.”
Q Which baseball players did you get to see before they made the majors?
A “Sammy Sosa was probably the most notable one.”
Q How do you support the Heat?
A “I’m probably the loudest person in the house. If you hear someone yelling ‘Go Heat Go’ randomly, it’s probably me.”
Q Who’s your favourite Heat player?
A “That’s a tough call. I’d say J.D. Watt, probably. If he can continue with his disciplined play, I think he could make it to the NHL. I’ve met him a few times, and he’s a pretty nice guy. He’s de nitely a tough guy. Other than that, Keith Seabrook for his name value, and he’s a good defenceman.”
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O F F I C I A L F A N G U I D E