Special Features - FaceOff November 2012

Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

FAN SALUTE

Heat use ‘the Wesbo’ to bond with crowd | B6

RYAN WALTER Exciting fan experiences | B5

B1

FACEOFF NOV 2012 Amy Williams Photography

ROMAN’S EMPIRE Horak leads AHL in goal-scoring B3

FACEOFF MAGAZINE is the official fan guide for the Abbotsford Heat

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B2 Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

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Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

Horak lighting it up

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Sophomore pro Roman Horak leads the AHL in goals with 10.

Clint Trahan photo

Versatile forward building his case for NHL employment DanKINVIG ABBOTSFORD NEWS

Ruminating on Roman Horak’s smoking-hot start to the season, Abbotsford Heat head coach Troy Ward describes the Czech forward in terms which run entirely counter to his explosive performance on the ice.

“He’s kind of just a bland, vanilla guy,” Ward said of Horak, “and that’s the biggest strength he has as a player.

“He’s a European kid who has very good balance to his personality. If you interview him, you’d never know if he’s happy or sad.

“There will be days when I say, ‘You’re too bland, you need a little bit better heartbeat.’ But as long as he has the ice balance he has and he makes his plays, he’s in pretty good shape. One of his best attributes is, he’s pretty much the same every day.”

It’s as good an explanation as any for Horak’s goal-scoring outburst over the first nine games of the campaign, because the man himself can’t really put his finger on it.

The sophomore pro finds himself atop the AHL goal-scoring list with 10 goals – two more than his closest pursuer, Drayson Bowman of the Charlotte Checkers.

“It’s tough to say,” the 21-year-old mused. “Obviously I’ve been off to a pretty good start, but I’m just trying to do the same things I’ve always done. I don’t have any secrets. Maybe it’s just being a year older, I don’t know.”

Horak’s gaudy numbers aren’t simply the product of a couple explosive outings, either – he’s mustered at least a point in all but one of the Heat’s games.

That he’s maintained such consistent production while serving the role of Swiss army knife in the Abbotsford lineup casts it in an even more flattering light.

Horak has played on all four lines at various points in the season, and he’s played all three forward spots – left wing, centre and right wing.

“It’s been kind of crazy,” he said with a wry grin. “But I don’t mind it at all. Obviously you’d love to have a (con-

sistent) spot in the lineup, but the players here are very good. I’m just listening to what Troy says, and wherever he puts me, I’m just going to play the position.”

Ward has moved Horak around partly out of necessity, as he’s had to shuffle six veterans into the five-veteran lineup limit. There’s also been a teaching motive.

“I look at that as a really important piece for his development,” Ward said. “It sends a message to anybody looking at him, whether it’s Calgary or any team in the league, that this is a skilled guy who can play any role.

That’s pretty handy to have.”

The beauty of Horak’s game is, he doesn’t necessarily have to score to be effective.

In 2011-12, he was the surprise of Calgary Flames training camp, cracking the NHL club’s roster and suiting up for 61 games, mustering three goals and eight assists while being used primarily in a defensive-minded role.

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He’s a conscientious two-way player and is capable of killing penalties, though the Heat haven’t chosen to use him in that capacity to this point in the season.

“He does not have to score – he’s still going to make an impact and put himself in a position to play in the NHL,” Ward said. “It’s because he’s got good hockey sense and a very good stick.

“He’s a pretty heady guy.”

Ward also believes familiarity is breeding success for Horak. The Fraser Valley has become a second home to him, after spending two seasons (2009-11) with the WHL’s Chilliwack Bruins. He’s also more comfortable in Ward’s system, after suiting up for 22 games (14 regular season, eight playoffs) with the Heat at the tail end of the 2011-12 campaign.

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B4 Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

Finding comfort zone

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“Something people forget a little bit, I think, is that he grew up in Chilliwack,” Ward said. “His billet family is down the road, his girlfriend’s from Chilliwack . . . It’s kind of all come back together again, and I think that’s been part of his success.

“Horak’s also in his second year with us,” Ward noted. “He understands the logic and how we think. I think that’s part of it, too.

“My system takes a lot of time to figure out – all the verbiage and language and how we play certain situations, it does take time. I think our best players on a game-to-game basis are our players from last year. McCarthy’s OK, Callahan’s OK, McKelvie’s OK, Lamb’s OK. But Piskula and Brodie? They’re pretty good.” “(Rookie Sven) Baertschi’s a good player, but he hasn’t been that dynamic. He’s still learning. He hasn’t dominated scoring chances, not like Horak has.”

Horak, a native of Ceske Budejovice in the Czech Republic, said he’s coming off a solid summer of workouts.

“We have a training group there with my trainer which includes (former Flames and Heat forward) Ales Kotalik, and sometimes Milan Michalek (Ottawa Senators), Martin Hanzal (Phoenix Coyotes) and those guys,” he said.

“It’s great to work out with guys like that.”

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Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

from the

prez Ryan WALTER

Yes, your Abbotsford Heat is an amazing hockey team!

Yes, they have only one regulation loss in their first seven games this season and are tied for second overall in the entire American Hockey League (as of Monday).

And yes, Roman Horak has scored 10 goals in the first nine games played…

None of these facts, however, are what I would like to highlight this week. Instead, I would like to focus on a special event that happened at one of our games last week.

One of our young Heat employees, noticing that a gentleman and his young family were really enjoying the game, asked if one of this fan’s children would like a ride on the Zamboni between periods.

Of course the youngster said yes. He loved his experience.

He waved at everyone. The Zamboni ride made his night!

His Dad told us later that he and his wife could hardly settle their young son down that night as he was still vibrating about his fun experience at the Heat game.

We have one of the hottest teams in the AHL this season.

We have NHL players competing in every game at the

John Morrow file photo

Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre because of the lockout. But do you know what else we have? Amazing Guest Experiences!

Some of our guests like to ride Zambonis, others love to tour the Heat dressing room, and 500 enjoyed the Leadership Summit we hosted in September. Our guests also love to stop and talk hockey or

(who played minor hockey in Burnaby), Taylor Hall, and amazing prospect Justin Schultz … you will see them all in Abbotsford for as low as $15.

Go to abbotsfordheat.com to buy your tickets and then print them out to avoid the lines at the box office.

Abbotsford Heat president Ryan Walter writes a monthly column for Faceoff magazine

view my Stanley Cup ring in the concourse during games.

This is what we focus on during every Heat game: creating INCREDIBLE GUEST EXPERIENCES for you!

P.S. – Have you looked at the roster of the Oklahoma City Barons (Edmonton Oilers AHL affiliate) coming to town Nov. 9-10? NHL players Jorden Eberle, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

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FAN SALUTE B6

Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

Heat use ‘the Wesbo’ to bond with their home crowd DanKINVIG ABBOTSFORD NEWS

As with most protocols instituted by Troy Ward, the details-oriented head coach of the Abbotsford Heat, the team’s new post-game salute to their home fans comes complete with its own verbiage, backstory and proper technique.

It begins with the Heat players lining up around the centre-ice circle after victories at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre, sticks on the ice, facing each other. One player, singled out by his peers for an outstanding performance, stands in the middle.

Then, in unison, they clap their sticks on the ice twice before turning and raising their twigs in recognition of their supporters in the stands.

In Heat jargon, it’s known as the Wesbo.

“We started doing (the double clap) after every practice last season, and it’s kind of our team thing,” defenceman Joe Piskula explained. “You practice hard and battle, and at the end you come and unite, and give each other a round of applause for the effort.

“We just wanted to include the fans in that. They’re a part of us, they’re a part of our team, and we need them.”

Saluting the fans isn’t unprecedented in the hockey world – the New York Rangers, for instance, gather at centre ice to hoist their sticks in appreciation of the Madison Square Garden faithful.

During last year’s playoffs, members of the Heat’s front office approached Ward about the possibility of doing something similar. Ward liked the idea in general, but thought it odd to manufacture a ritual on short notice.

“That’s not my style,” he noted. “But I said if I’m back, we’ll start next year.

“As I thought it through in my head, I thought, ‘What makes us who we are and what we do?’ We do the double clap. We do the Wesbo every day to end practice.”

The Wesbo has been an end-of-practice tradition for the past 15 years at Hockey and Sons, the father-son camp that Ward runs each summer in St. Peter, Minn.

The ritual is named for its creator, longtime Hockey and Sons staffer Wes Bolin. He was a former teammate of Ward’s at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and currently coaches hockey and teaches social studies at Woodbury (Minn.) High School.

“He’s a character,” Ward said with a chuckle. “He always gave himself these hockey nicknames. He’d score a few goals in a day, and he’d be Wespo, for (Phil) Esposito. Or he’d be Wesarelli, for Dino Ciccarelli.”

Bolin’s Woodbury teams also do the double clap. The tradition is so ingrained in the school’s culture, Bolin once led an entire grad class in the Wesbo – clapping hands, not hockey sticks – during his commencement speech.

“Wes always says, ‘You’ve got to get a good piece of ice,’” Ward said with a chuckle, holding an imaginary stick in his hands and miming the motion of scraping away the snow. “His nickname is Wesbo, so we give him credit.”

Team bonding rituals tend to walk a fine line between being meaningful or cheesy, but Piskula believes that the Wesbo promotes unity.

“When we first started it (after practice), I think some guys snickered a bit, like ‘Yeah, this is corny,’” Piskula said.

“But after a little while, it becomes special in a way, because it’s unique.

“In pro hockey, it’s a long year, and teams throughout the league start to go through the motions. Guys do the same thing on every team – there’s not a lot of variance. It’s cool to have something special, even if it’s out of the ordinary. It creates a bond.”

As the Wesbo takes root as a post-victory celebration at the AESC, Ward envisions the fans getting involved in the process more directly, clapping along with the players.

“It gives a little connection between the players and the fans,” Piskula said. “So far, I feel like it’s been an exciting thing. The fans were still there, and they cheered. It’s a good connection.”

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Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

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Cohesion the key for Heat D N I H E B the

H C N E B Troy WARD

23rd annual

In each edition of the Abbotsford News’s FACEOFF magazine, beat reporter Dan Kinvig chats with head coach Troy Ward about the state of the team.

For future editions of FACEOFF, fans are invited to pose their own questions for Ward. Submit your questions for consideration via email to sports@abbynews. com, or via Twitter to @dankinvigsports.

We spoke with Ward this week as the Heat prepared to host the Oklahoma City Barons.

Q

To what extent do you follow NHL lockout coverage, and what do you make of the whole debacle?

A

“I don’t follow it much at all. Watching TSN, you obviously get tidbits all the time from (Darren) Dreger and company about what’s going on. So I find I’m very fortunate to be living where I am during the lockout, because I find I’m more informed as to what’s happening compared to if I was living in the States, because it’s not their bread and butter down there.

“But I don’t really put a lot of stock into it, and I don’t get into it a lot.

We’re prepared to say that at any point in time, we’re going to potentially lose some guys to a training camp, and some will probably never come back. We’re prepared for that, and we

know where our next group of players is going to come from.

“But I just don’t put a lot of time into it, because I can’t control it. I just know it’s a very unfortunate situation for a lot of people, both in and out of the game.”

Q

You were in the running for the Calgary Flames head coaching job last summer, and I know it’s your dream to get to the NHL one day.

Are you glad in some respects you’re not in the NHL right now at this point, simply in the fact you get to be working right now?

A

“Yeah. I’m real fortunate that I’ve got a job where I can coach and do what I love to do every day. I’ve coached at so many levels, I just look at coaching as coaching. It doesn’t matter to me, the level I’m at, I just get to do what I love to do and make people better.

“I feel real fortunate to be where I’m at, as opposed to being locked out or being a head coach in the NHL. My heart goes out to those guys, because when you’re used to being behind the bench at this time of year, wearing suits, plugging all your time into video to figure out ways to win, that’s a huge void. I’m glad I don’t have to go through that. At the same

time, I feel bad for people in my business who are sitting and waiting.”

Q

Your team has had such a nice start to the season (6-1-2). What’s been the most special thing for you during this time?

A

“It’s been kind of nice to watch the cohesion we have, both from staff and players from last year. We’re a cohesive unit. We finished on a strong note last year, regardless of the Toronto series and how it ended. I thought we carried the play in that series, we just didn’t win hockey games.

“I felt good about that, and we’ve had some continuity and consistency to our staff and players returning.

We’ve been blessed by management to have a new group joining us who fit the criteria we have here, which is hockey sense and guys who can think.

“It’s like putting a band together – somebody’s got to be the writer, somebody’s got to be the bass player, and you’ve got to make good music. We’ve been able to make good music, but I think a lot of that has to do with the fact we were on the same page coming back. We’ve got the same teachers in the same areas, so we’ve been pretty tight.”

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Taking a look at the Heat's home-ice opponents OKLAHOMA CITY BARONS Affiliate: Edmonton Oilers

DATES: NOV. 9-10 The Barons are the most star-studded AHL team during the NHL lockout. Up-andcoming forwards Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jordan Eberle and Taylor Hall are plying their trade in OKC, along with stud blueliner Justin Schultz.

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HAMILTON BULLDOGS Affiliate: Montreal Canadiens DATES: NOV. 30, DEC. 1 The Heat and Bulldogs boast a bit of a rivalry, dating back to a second-round playoff series in 2009-10. Hamilton still has a couple of key players who suited up in that series, including forward Aaron Palushaj and blueliner Frederic St-Denis, and they're joined by young prospects Blake Geoffrion and Brendan Gallagher.

SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE Affiliate: Florida Panthers DATES: DEC. 4-5 Former Heat forward Jon Rheault makes his return to the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre. He's off to a solid start with the Rampage, sitting second in team scoring (two goals, three assists in nine games). San Antonio also boasts a solid goalie tandem in Jacob Markstrom and Dov Grumet-Morris.

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Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

pi ot

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Oakley a pillar for Pilots DanKINVIG ABBOTSFORD NEWS

Abbotsford Pilots coach Jim Cowden can’t help but marvel at how Aaron Oakley, his No. 1 goalie, continues to improve year after year.

“He’s focused, he wants to win, and he always strives to get better,” Cowden enthused. “Even this season over last season, his puckhandling ability has improved tremendously.

“He’s the backbone of our team.”

Talk to Oakley about what fuels his continual quest for self-betterment, and he discloses a lofty ambition.

“The big-picture goal is to make the NHL,” the Richmond native said. “So the next step would be to get a (NCAA) scholarship out of junior B, or go pro, whichever is the better route.

“Every chance I go out on the ice is a chance for me to improve.

I make sure I work hard, and I try to do it with a smile, too.”

Frankly, it’s unusual to hear a 20-year-old junior B player speaking in such optimistic tones about the NHL, but it’s refreshing.

Oakley notes that goalies tend to take longer to mature than forwards or defencemen. The 5’10” netminder draws inspiration from Tim Thomas, a smaller keeper himself at 5’11” who didn’t make

Pilots goalie Aaron Oakley has been the PJHL’s top goalie this season.

John Morrow photo his NHL debut until the age of 28 and didn’t establish himself as a starter with the Boston Bruins until age 32.

Oakley had hoped to make the jump to junior A this season, but he didn’t make the cut in tryouts with the Whitecourt (Alta.) Wolverines and the Weyburn (Sask.) Red Wings. The Wolverines, he said, didn’t want to take on a 20-yearold goalie, while the Red Wings weren’t sure about his height.

But that feedback hardly deterred him, and he came back to Abbotsford on a mission.

Oakley’s 1.79 goals against

average is tops in the Pacific Junior Hockey League, edging out Payton Lee of the Richmond Sockeyes (1.81), a top prospect of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants.

The Abby goalie’s save percentage of .932 also leads the league, and he boasts a 9-4-0 record with one shutout.

Cowden said Oakley is also a positive locker-room presence with the Pilots, and he believes that contributes to the goalie’s success.

“He’s loved by his teammates, and they work pretty hard for him,” Cowden said. “Some-

times kids don’t work for certain goalies. If they don’t have the character, it’s not a good mix. But they love him, and he’s a huge part of our team.”

Oakley helped the Pilots win the Cyclone Taylor Cup provincial title and the Keystone Cup Western Canadian championship in 2011-12, and he’s determined to make another deep post-season run this season.

“I really believe we can do it again,” he said. “Our whole lineup is strong, and we’ve got great character in the room. Everybody wants it.”

Hockey Fans here’s your chance to WIN a Brand New Honda Fit!

One lucky fan at Saturday’s game will have a chance to WIN a New Honda Fit!!

Go to Section 101 (concourse) before the first intermission to enter!

ENTER AT THE HEAT GAME SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10 TH 604.857.1430 Fraser Valley Auto Mall Abbotsford

B11

www.hondaway.com 30150 Automall Drive

AR

B12 Abbotsford News Thursday, November 8, 2012

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