# 2013–14 Abbotsford Heat season

The 2013–14 Abbotsford Heat season was the American Hockey League franchise's fifth and final season in the city of Abbotsford, British Columbia.

## Off-season

After a year in the North Division, the Abbotsford Heat was moved to the newly renamed West Division, formerly the South Division, under an AHL realignment in the summer of 2013. The team lost their top leading scorers from the previous season in centres Ben Walter and Krys Kolanos, as well as forwards Dustin Sylvester, Roman Horák and Tyler Ruegsegger; defenseman Mike Matczak, and goaltender Leland Irving. Fourteen players from the previous season returned to the Abbotsford lineup for 2013–14, but the new roster also included several new young players. Newcomers included forwards Steve Begin, Markus Granlund, Josh Jooris, Micheal Ferland, Corban Knight and Ben Hanowski; goaltenders Laurent Brossoit and Joni Ortio; and defencemen Chad Billins, John Ramage, Tyler Wotherspoon Dean Arsene, and Pat Sieloff, who at age 19 was youngest player in AHL at that time. Head coach Troy Ward felt the team had good enthusiasm, pacing, discipline and puck management, and that with few veteran players, the entire team would have to put forward an equal effort.
Defenceman Mark Cundari and centers Greg Nemisz and Paul Byron were re-signed in the off-season, but winger Ryan Howse was suspended by the Calgary Flames organization for failing to report to training camp. The ECHL's Alaska Aces signed a one-year contract affiliating themselves with Calgary and Abbotsford during the off-season, and Brandon Astle named the Heat's new play-by-play broadcaster and media relations coordinator after having spent five seasons with the Langley Rivermen of the British Columbia Hockey League. After starting their training camp on September 20, Abbotsford played a single preseason game on October 22, winning 5–2 against the Utica Comets after Brett Olson opened the scoring in the first 94 seconds. Hanowski scored two goals and an assist, while Olson also recorded two assists. The game included seven fights and 104 total penalty minutes distributed.
2013–14 Preseason Game Log: 0–1–0–0
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionRecord
1September 27Utica2–5AbbotsfordOrtio0–1–0–0 :

## Regular season
### October

The Heat opened the season by splitting a pair of games against the Lake Erie Monsters on October 4 and 5, winning the first game after scoring three goals in seven minutes. Hanowski scored twice, and goaltender Reto Berra stopped 31 shots in his North American debut. Abbotsford lost the second match-up 3–2 in a game that included four fights and 74 penalty minutes. The Heat next split a pair of home games against the Milwaukee Admirals, winning their home opener in overtime on October 11, and losing the next day in a shootout where no Abbotsford skaters scored and Berra gave up two of four Milwaukee shots. The Heat started a three-game road trip with a 4–3 loss to the Oklahoma City Barons on October 18 after giving up a 4–0 lead in the first 24 minutes of the game. Abbotsford played the Barons again the next day, winning 2–1 in a shootout after Berra made 29 saves and Byron tied the game with 37 seconds left in regulation and the goaltender pulled.
The Heat suffered their worst loss of the season to date with a 9–3 loss to the Texas Stars after giving up eight unanswered goals, including six in the third period. Dallas winger Colton Sceviour scored a hat-trick against them. After splitting two games against Lake Erie on October 25 and 26, Abbotsford next went on a seven-game winning streak, tying a franchise record for consecutive wins, starting with a 5–4 win against Utica on October 30 after Knight scored 3:30 into overtime. After allowing three goals in nine shots in the first period, Berra was pulled from the net for Ortio, who stopped 17 of 18 shots. Blair Jones' assist on the game-winner started a six-game point streak for the centre. Billins, who led the Heat in goal-scoring at five, was called up to Calgary after the month was out.

### November

Abbotsford started the month with a 4–3 win over Utica, with Jones scoring the game-winning breakaway goal with less than five minutes left in the game. Berra was called up to the Flames on October 2, forcing the Heat to take the unusual step of signing David Harris, the forty-year-old goaltending coach of Ontario Junior Hockey League's Newmarket Hurricanes, to an emergency contract to serve as the Heat's back-up goalie for their game that night. Abbotsford won that game 3–2 against the Hamilton Bulldogs after Ortio made 35 saves and stopped all three shootout attempts. The Heat scored all three of their shootout shots from Granlund, Knight and Jones, who had also scored two regulation goals. Afterward, Joey MacDonald, a veteran goaltender with experience in 129 NHL games, cleared waivers and joined the Abbotsford roster. Abbotsford started a four-game homestead with a 2–1 win over the San Antonio Rampage on November 5, with Ortio earning his fourth straight win and Granlund scoring his third goal in four games.
The Heat beat San Antonio again the next day, but the Rampage forced overtime after fighting back from a 2–0 deficit in the final six minutes of regulation. MacDonald, in his first start with the Heat, made 29 saves and stopped all four shootout shots, while Street and Jones scored in the shootout for Abbotsford. Billins was returned to the Heat on November 9, and recorded points in two consecutive wins over the Toronto Marlies on November 9 and 10. Winger Micheal Ferland scored his first two professional goals in the first game, a 4–3 victory, and the Heat won the second game 6–3 after scoring three unanswered goals in the final period, including a successful penalty shot by Granlund.

## Relocation

The 2013–14 season was the last season for the franchise to play in the British Columbia, as Abbotsford's city council announced that they had bought out the remaining years of the city's lease with the Flames for $5.5 million. With 3,007 fans per game, the Heat finished second-last in AHL attendance, and owing to a deal that guaranteed the Flames a minimum level of income, the team's attendance struggles cost the city $12 million total since the arrival of the Heat in 2009.
On April 15, 2014, the city of Abbotsford terminated the contract with the Heat, and on May 5, 2014 The AHL's board of governors announced its approval to relocate the team to Glens Falls, New York, for the 2014–15 season to play as the Adirondack Flames.

## Schedule and results

2013–14 Game Log – Regular season :
October: 5–4–0–1 (Home: 2–1–0–1; Road: 3–3–0–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsGamesheet
1October 4Abbotsford5–2Lake ErieBerra12,1231–0–0–02Gamesheet
2October 5Abbotsford2–3Lake ErieBerra6,2891–1–0–02Gamesheet
3October 11Milwaukee2–3AbbotsfordOTBerra3,4132–1–0–04Gamesheet
4October 12Milwaukee2–1AbbotsfordSOBerra1,8142–1–0–15Gamesheet
5October 18Abbotsford3–4Oklahoma CityBerra2,6802–2–0–15Gamesheet
6October 19Abbotsford2–1Oklahoma CitySOBerra2,7833–2–0–17Gamesheet
7October 20Abbotsford3–9TexasBrossoit5,6303–3–0–17Gamesheet
8October 25Lake Erie2–4AbbotsfordBerra1,9474–3–0–19Gamesheet
9October 26Lake Erie3–1AbbotsfordBerra2,1684–4–0–19Gamesheet
10October 30Abbotsford5–4UticaOrtio2,5005–4–0–111Gamesheet :
November: 12–2–1–0 (Home: 4–1–1–0; Road: 8–1–0–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsGamesheet
11November 1Abbotsford4–3UticaOrtio3,1696–4–0–113Gamesheet
12November 2Abbotsford3–2HamiltonSOOrtio4,2537–4–0–115Gamesheet
13November 5San Antonio1–2AbbotsfordOrtio1,3648–4–0–117Gamesheet
14November 6San Antonio2–3AbbotsfordSOMacDonald1,3899–4–0–119Gamesheet
15November 9Toronto3–4AbbotsfordOrtio3,02410–4–0–121Gamesheet
16November 10Toronto3–6AbbotsfordMacDonald2,40811–4–0–123Gamesheet
17November 13Abbotsford7–3TexasOrtio4,41212–4–0–125Gamesheet
18November 15Abbotsford5–4Oklahoma CityOrtio3,09813–4–0–127Gamesheet
19November 16Abbotsford1–4Oklahoma CityMacDonald3,16313–5–0–127Gamesheet
20November 19Abbotsford4–3MilwaukeeOrtio2,52814–5–0–129Gamesheet
21November 20Abbotsford4–2RockfordMacDonald2,49315–5–0–131Gamesheet
22November 23Abbotsford4–0IowaOrtio5,32616–5–0–133Gamesheet
23November 24Abbotsford2–1IowaMacDonald4,02217–5–0–135Gamesheet
24November 29Utica3–2AbbotsfordOrtio4,26017–6–0–135Gamesheet
25November 30Utica4–3AbbotsfordOTMacDonald4,98417–6–1–136Gamesheet :
December: 6–3–0–0 (Home: 5–1–0–0; Road: 1–2–0–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsGamesheet
26December 6San Antonio2–4AbbotsfordOrtio2,78018–6–1–138Gamesheet
27December 7San Antonio2–5AbbotsfordOrtio2,14219–6–1–140Gamesheet
28December 11Iowa2–6AbbotsfordOrtio1,40920–6–1–142Gamesheet
29December 12Iowa4–2AbbotsfordMacDonald1,53620–7–1–142Gamesheet
30December 18Abbotsford2–4UticaMacDonald2,44420–8–1–142Gamesheet
31December 20Abbotsford0–3UticaOrtio3,22520–9–1–142Gamesheet
32December 22Abbotsford3–2HamiltonOrtio4,28121–9–1–144Gamesheet
33December 27Oklahoma City1–5AbbotsfordOrtio2,93122–9–1–146Gamesheet
34December 28Oklahoma City2–4AbbotsfordOrtio2,14923–9–1–148Gamesheet :
January: 4–5–2–0 (Home: 1–2–2–0; Road: 3–3–0–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsGamesheet
35January 3Hamilton2–1AbbotsfordOrtio2,63823–10–1–148Gamesheet
36January 4Hamilton3–1AbbotsfordMacDonald2,45823–11–1–148Gamesheet
37January 7Abbotsford1–5San AntonioOrtio3,06023–12–1–148Gamesheet
38January 10Abbotsford0–5TexasMacDonald5,62823–13–1–148Gamesheet
39January 11Abbotsford3–2San AntonioOrtio7,46124–13–1–150Gamesheet
40January 15Abbotsford4–3RockfordOTMacDonald263825–13–1–152Gamesheet
41January 17Abbotsford0–3Grand RapidsMacDonald8,09825–14–1–152Gamesheet
42January 18Abbotsford3–2Grand RapidsOrtio9,17026–14–1–154Gamesheet
43January 24Utica1–0AbbotsfordOTOrtio4,39626–14–2–155Gamesheet
44January 25Utica4–3AbbotsfordOTMacDonald6,24726–14–3–156Gamesheet
45January 31Hamilton0–6AbbotsfordOrtio3,32827–14–3–158Gamesheet :
February: 6–3–1–1 (Home: 4–1–0–1; Road: 2–2–1–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsGamesheet
46February 1Hamilton1–4AbbotsfordOrtio3,96828–14–3–160Gamesheet
47February 4Charlotte1–7AbbotsfordRoy1,79029–14–3–162Gamesheet
48February 5Charlotte3–4AbbotsfordRoy1,52830–14–3–164Gamesheet
49February 8Texas2–3AbbotsfordRoy3,27331–14–3–166Gamesheet
50February 9Texas7–2AbbotsfordRoy2,56931–15–3–166Gamesheet
51February 14Abbotsford5–1CharlotteOrtio4,35432–15–3–168Gamesheet
52February 16Abbotsford4–5CharlotteOTOrtio5,52532–15–4–169Gamesheet
53February 21Abbotsford4–2MilwaukeeRoy10,27733–15–4–171Gamesheet
54February 22Abbotsford3–5ChicagoRoy13,02733–16–4–171Gamesheet
55February 23Abbotsford0–2ChicagoDell6,33533–17–4–171Gamesheet
56February 28Grand Rapids4–3AbbotsfordSORoy3,06833–17–4–272Gamesheet :
March: 4–8–1–0 (Home: 1–5–1–0; Road: 3–3–0–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsGamesheet
57March 1Grand Rapids5–2AbbotsfordMacDonald2,77433–18–4–272Gamesheet
58March 4Texas3–1AbbotsfordMacDonald6,82733–19–4–272Gamesheet
59March 5Texas4–3AbbotsfordOTRoy2,07133–19–5–273Gamesheet
60March 8Chicago7–2AbbotsfordRoy3,28133–20–5–273Gamesheet
61March 9Chicago4–1AbbotsfordRoy2,28633–21–5–273Gamesheet
62March 14Utica1–3AbbotsfordRoy341734–21–5–275Gamesheet
63March 15Utica3–1AbbotsfordRoy3,78134–22–5–275Gamesheet
64March 19Abbotsford1–3HamiltonDell2,37934–23–5–275Gamesheet
65March 22Abbotsford5–1HamiltonDell5,34435–23–5–277Gamesheet
66March 23Abbotsford2–3TorontoOrtio4,99235–24–5–277Gamesheet
67March 28Abbotsford2–1UticaOTOrtio3,81536–24–5–279Gamesheet
68March 29Abbotsford7–2UticaOrtio3,81537–24–5–281Gamesheet
69March 30Abbotsford4–6TorontoOrtio5,12337–25–5–281Gamesheet :
April: 6–0–0–1 (Home: 3–0–0–1; Road: 3–0–0–0)
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsGamesheet
70April 4Rockford3–6AbbotsfordOrtio3,08838–25–5–283Gamesheet
71April 5Rockford3–5AbbotsfordOrtio3,27639–25–5–285Gamesheet
72April 11Oklahoma City2–3AbbotsfordOrtio3,40340–25–5–287Gamesheet
73April 13Oklahoma City5–4AbbotsfordSOCarr5,06540–25–5–388Gamesheet
74April 17Abbotsford3–1San AntonioOrtio9,82841–25–5–390Gamesheet
75April 18Abbotsford3–0San AntonioCarr12,47342–25–5–392Gamesheet
76April 19Abbotsford4–3TexasOrtio6,86343–25–5–394Gamesheet :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1-point) :

## Playoffs
### Game log

The Abbotsford Heat entered the Calder Cup playoffs as the 5th seed in the Western Conference. They were eliminated during the WC Quarterfinals in Game 4 against the Grand Rapids Griffins.
2014 Calder Cup Playoffs :
Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. Grand Rapids Griffins: Grand Rapids won series 3–1
#DateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceSeriesRecap
1April 25Grand Rapids2–1AbbotsfordOTOrtio2,4200–1Recap
2April 26Grand Rapids7–2AbbotsfordOrtio2,1540–2Recap
3April 30Abbotsford2–1Grand RapidsOrtio7,1931–2Recap
4May 2Abbotsford3–5Grand RapidsOrtio7,6411–3Recap :
Legend:        = If needed        = Win        = Loss        = Playoff series win :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/− = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes Updated as of June 5, 2014
Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| Max Reinhart$^‡$ | 66 | 21 | 42 | 63 | 6 | 47 |
| Ben Street | 58 | 28 | 30 | 58 | −10 | 24 |
| Corban Knight | 70 | 18 | 27 | 45 | 11 | 50 |
| Markus Granlund$^*$ | 52 | 25 | 21 | 44 | 10 | 22 |
| Brett Olson | 75 | 17 | 27 | 41 | 8 | 38 |
| Chad Billins | 65 | 10 | 31 | 41 | 6 | 40 |
| Blair Jones | 38 | 17 | 21 | 38 | −8 | 47 |
| Ben Hanowski$^*$ | 55 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 1 | 18 |
| Sven Baertschi | 41 | 13 | 16 | 29 | 1 | 18 |
| Josh Jooris$^*$ | 73 | 11 | 16 | 27 | 0 | 67 |
| Derek Smith$^‡$ | 32 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 9 | 22 |
| Corey Locke | 30 | 4 | 19 | 23 | 0 | 8 |
| Micheal Ferland$^*$ | 25 | 6 | 12 | 18 | −4 | 31 |
| Paul Byron | 23 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 10 | 4 |
| Kane Lafranchise | 34 | 0 | 13 | 13 | −1 | 2 |
| Carter Bancks | 72 | 3 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 53 |
| Mark Cundari | 32 | 4 | 6 | 10 | −1 | 45 |
| Greg Nemisz | 32 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 4 | 9 |
| Braden Lamb | 44 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -3 | 25 |
| Tyler Wotherspoon$^*$ | 48 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 12 | 12 |
| Shane O'Brien | 31 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 58 |
| Roman Horak$^‡$ | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | −4 | 6 |
| Evan Trupp | 17 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −3 | 10 |
| Dean Arsene | 42 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −4 | 43 |
| Tim Miller | 14 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 11 |
| Drew MacKenzie | 17 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| Emile Poirier | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Chris Breen$^‡$ | 41 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −10 | 29 |
| Zach Davies | 14 | 3 | 0 | 3 | −2 | 6 |
| Turner Elson$^*$ | 37 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 19 |
| Brett Kulak | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| Brendan Connolly | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Lane MacDermid | 25 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −2 | 24 |
| Jordan Kremyr | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 6 |
| Allan McPherson | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 2 |
| Adrian Foster | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Kyle Ostrow | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| Zach McKelvie | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 14 |
| John Ramage$^*$ | 50 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 46 |
| Collin Valcourt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Knackstedt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 5 |
| Patrick Sieloff$^*$ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| James Martin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Peter Sivak | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Morgan Klimchuk | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 4 |
| David Eddy$^‡$ | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 5 |
| Garnet Hathaway | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| Trevor Gillies | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Brett Lyon$^‡$ | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 32 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| Markus Granlund | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −4 | 2 |
| Max Reinhart | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −4 | 4 |
| Chad Billins | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −4 | 2 |
| Chris Breen | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −2 | 2 |
| Emile Poirier | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Kane Lafranchise | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Corey Locke | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Shane O'Brien | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −3 | 18 |
| Brett Olson | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Corban Knight | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −1 | 2 |
| Sven Baertschi | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 6 |
| Ben Hanowski | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 2 |
| Blair Jones | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −4 | 6 |
| Ben Street | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Garnet Hathaway | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 10 |
| Josh Jooris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| Derek Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tim Miller | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dean Arsene | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 |
| Trevor Gillies | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carter Bancks | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| Brett Kulak | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; TOI = Time on ice; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV = Saves; SA = Shots against; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; G = Goals; A = Assists; PIM = Penalty minutes Updated as of April 20, 2014
Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SV | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Joni Ortio$^*$ | 37 | 2133 | 27 | 8 | 83 | 2.33 | 1036 | 1119 | 0.926 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Joey MacDonald | 16 | 900 | 5 | 10 | 45 | 3.00 | 447 | 492 | 0.909 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Olivier Roy | 12 | 615 | 5 | 6 | 34 | 3.31 | 312 | 346 | 0.902 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Reto Berra | 9 | 473 | 4 | 3 | 21 | 2.66 | 208 | 229 | 0.908 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Aaron Dell | 6 | 262 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 2.29 | 118 | 128 | 0.922 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Laurent Brossoit$^‡$ | 2 | 94 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5.72 | 42 | 51 | 0.824 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Carr | 2 | 125 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1.92 | 49 | 53 | 0.925 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | 4628:04 | 43 | 30 | 212 | 2.75 | 2212 | 2424 | 0.913 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SV | SA | SV% | SO | G | A | PIM |
| Joni Ortio | 4 | 249:42 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 2.88 | 130 | 142 | 0.915 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Doug Carr | 1 | 28:41 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4.18 | 13 | 15 | 0.867 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | 279:27 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 3.22 | 143 | 158 | 0.905 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
$^‡$Left the team mid-season $^*$Rookie

## Milestones

| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Reto Berra | 1st AHL Game 1st AHL Win | October 4, 2013 |
| Turner Elson | 1st AHL Goal | October 11, 2013 |
| Laurent Brossoit | 1st AHL Game | October 18, 2013 |
| Tyler Wotherspoon | 1st AHL Goal | October 20, 2013 |
| Joni Ortio | 1st AHL Win | October 30, 2013 |