Special Features - FaceOff Nov 14 2013

Abbotsford News Thursday, November 14, 2013

A47

FACEOFF NOV 2013

Clint Trahan photo

GOOD KNIGHT

Rookie centre is earning plaudits for his offensive skills A49

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A48

Abbotsford News Thursday, November 14, 2013

Captaincy is ‘cherry on top’ for Arsene Abbotsford product savours leadership role with hometown Heat DanKINVIG ABBOTSFORD NEWS

It's one of the highest accolades in all of team sports – being voted captain by your teammates.

Dean Arsene tasted that honour last week, as his mates on the Abbotsford Heat elected him captain.

Remarkably, it's the fifth time in Arsene's 12-year AHL career that he's worn the captain's C. He also served the top player leadership role with the Hershey Bears (2006-08), Springfield Falcons (2009-10), Peoria Rivermen (201011) and Portland Pirates (2011-12).

There's been some buzz that five captaincies might be an AHL record, but the league doesn't track that stat per se, so it's difficult to officially confirm.

Regardless, it says a lot about the level of respect that Arsene has garnered in every dressing room he's stepped into.

"It means a lot – to have the team vote on it, I really appreciate it from the guys," Arsene said. "It shows that what I’ve been doing, trying to help everybody out, kind of paid off.

"But it’s not one guy steering the ship.

There’s 20 guys in the dressing room.

We’ve got a great support staff with (Carter) Bancks and (Paul) Byron wearing the A's and so many other guys, (Ben) Street, (Greg) Nemisz, (Blair) Jones, so many older guys that help out and it’s

Defenceman Dean Arsene was voted captain of the Heat by his teammates last week.

Clint Trahan photo

leadership by committee.”

It's all the more special for Arsene to wear the C in Abbotsford, his hometown.

This past summer, coming off a season with the AHL's St. John's IceCaps, he decided he wanted to focus on joining the Heat, and landed a 25-game player tryout contract just before training camp.

“It’s a dream come true just playing here in Abbotsford, having my family and my friends and being able to not be away from my wife and dog," he said with a grin. "It’s nice to be at home and be surrounded by people I usually don’t spend a lot of time with during hockey season. To have the C, it’s just the cherry on top.”

Heat head coach Troy Ward suggested that having a local player serve as captain is great for the community.

"He's been a leader on most every team he's been around," Ward marveled.

"He's a leader on the ice, he's a leader off the ice. I think he's a leader during moments of truth, when life isn't always so easy. I think he has a good feel for the temperature of his teammates.

"He's at a point in his career where he doesn't have to do a lot of work on himself to get himself ready (to play).

He's really able to feel the temperature of a room and get a sense of how everybody's doing."

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Abbotsford News Thursday, November 14, 2013

A49

Corban Knight has impressed with his offensive skill set with the Heat this season.

Clint Trahan photo

Knight on fire to start season DanKINVIG ABBOTSFORD NEWS

From a thrilling spring to a traumatic summer to a tremendous fall, this year has already been one for the time capsule for Corban Knight.

One can only imagine what winter will bring – his NHL debut, perhaps? – but let’s focus on the present for the time being.

Knight, a 23-year-old centre, is off to a sizzling start to his first professional season – through 16 games with the Abbotsford Heat, he’s pacing the squad in points with 14 (five goals, nine assists). Two of his goals have been game-winners, and he also boasts a team-best +7 rating.

“Right now, in terms of his development, the sky is the limit,” Heat head coach Troy Ward said. “He can turn into a top-six forward (at the NHL level) over time.

“He’s got huge-end skill. He’s a prolific passer – he can move the puck really well, and he does it very subtly, very skillfully, very artfully. He can also shoot the puck very well – he shoots it better than most NHL players.”

In light of that string of superlatives, it’s remarkable that the Florida Panthers, who drafted him in the fifth round of the 2009 NHL entry draft, didn’t seem to hold Knight in such high esteem back in the spring.

Knight had wrapped up a stellar four-year run with the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux, fashioning a banner senior year with the perennial powerhouse NCAA program. He racked up 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 41 games in 2012-13 and was a top-10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award

as the top college player in the United States.

But he wasn’t able to come to terms on a contract with the Panthers, and they allowed him to speak with other teams. He ended up choosing the Calgary Flames, who shipped a fourth-round pick to Florida in exchange for his rights and subsequently signed him.

“After my season ended in college, it just seemed like there wasn’t a lot of mutual interest,” Knight said, reflecting on the end of his tenure as a Panthers prospect. “They had a lot of young guys who were kind of in the same situation (in their careers) as me, and I looked around the league and I saw there was a lot of opportunity for a young centreman coming out of college.

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“It was just one of those things where I don’t think we really saw eye to eye, and when it came down to it, we just knew it was time to part ways.”

Knight already had a certain level of familiarity with the Flames organization – his father Jack is a staff member with the Christian sports ministry Athletes in Action, and has served as a chaplain with the NHL club for several years.

Jack Knight didn’t lobby his son to join the Flames by any means, but the younger Knight did appreciate his father’s input.

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Abbotsford News Thursday, November 14, 2013

Boosting the Heat Heat Generation club goes the extra mile to support AHL team DanKINVIG ABBOTSFORD NEWS

Most sports fans are content to limit their involvement to watching games, wearing their jersey and maybe collecting the odd player autograph when the opportunity presents itself.

Then there are those who are a little more hardcore – fans who want to go the extra mile and support their favourite team more directly.

The Abbotsford Heat have such a group of diehards, and they've come together to launch a booster club called Heat Generation.

The purpose of the 80-member organization is to create interest in the team while offering practical support to the players on a variety of fronts.

Heat Generation gives out Welcome Wagon-style packages to players each fall when they arrive in Abbotsford, and hosted a season-ending dinner for the team last spring. They're also in the process of launching an adopt-a-player program which would pair athletes with local families. Having access to an occasional home-cooked meal is no small thing, particularly for rookies straight out of junior hockey who are living on their own for the first time.

"Obviously our following in the com"We're not sure how many players are munity isn't huge," Ward noted. "But the going to put their name in the hat (for people that do embrace it, I think they the adopt-a-player program), but it's just should have a direct line to the coach. I to give them somewhere to call home," appreciate their support on behalf of the explained Rolf Spaeti, Heat Generation team." co-chair.

Booster clubs are, in fact, an initia"We just want to support the Abbotstive close to Ward's heart. In 1986, as ford Heat – make them feel a part of the a 24-year-old rookie head coach at the community."

University of WisThe booster club was consin-Eau Claire (an the brainchild of Spaeti, NCAA Div. 3 program), a Heat season ticket he gathered a group of holder who became We just want to local businessmen in aware of similar orgasupport the Abbotsford his living room to pitch nizations in other AHL the team's first booster cities and pitched the Heat – make them feel a club. idea to team presipart of the community.

"I brought all these dent Ryan Walter in business guys to what the summer of 2012.

Rolf Spaeti I'd call a shack, back Walter encouraged then," he recalled with him to put together a a chuckle. "It was proposal, and Walter's called the Center Ice wife Jennifer became Club, and it's still going today. So I've had the group's secretary during its inaugural a passion for what they (booster clubs) do season of 2012-13. and how they function."

Head coach Troy Ward has also taken a In addition to their player-oriented direct interest in Heat Generation – he atactivities, Heat Generation members run a tends all of the club's meetings in order to booth on the concourse at the Abbotsford provide guidance from the hockey team's Entertainment and Sports Centre during side of things.

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games, hosting contests where fans can make predictions on which player will score the team's first goal that night.

The club also gives out a trophy at season's end to the player who best exemplifies the qualities of sportsmanship, perseverance, and leadership on the ice and who is a positive role model in the community. Goalie Danny Taylor won the inaugural award for 2012-13.

"The ulterior motive for me (being involved in the booster club) was just to promote the game and be a really good fan," explained Heat Generation co-chair Gary McCaskill, an Abbotsford resident who spent decades scouting and coaching hockey at the junior level.

"I was excited when I found out the Heat were coming to Abbotsford. It gave me a quality of hockey to watch that I really appreciate, and I really enjoy watching all these young kids develop and move on to their future careers. I wanted to be able to promote it to people in Abbotsford.

"If you're a hockey fan, come on out. I don't care if you wear a Detroit jersey or a Canucks jersey or a Boston jersey, it doesn't matter. Come on out."

For more information on the booster club, visit heatgeneration.ca.

Abbotsford News Thursday, November 14, 2013

Members of the Heat Generation booster club help raise awareness of the team and welcome players to the community.

A51

Dan Kinvig photo

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Abbotsford News Thursday, November 14, 2013

Trying summer for rookie centre

From A48

was a quality bunch of guys,” he said.

“But other than that, it was a thing where he respected my decision and he was going to support me no matter what.”

CATASTROPHIC FLOOD Knight’s initial focus over the summer was getting himself into peak condition to challenge for a roster spot with the NHL club, but he and his family encountered some unexpected adversity.

On the morning of June 20, Knight drove from his home in High River, just south of Calgary, into the city for a workout session.

When it ended, he glanced on his phone and saw he’d missed several calls from his mom and dad.

Over the previous two hours, the Highwood River had flooded its banks, causing massive devastation in the town of 13,000. The Knight family home, located just a stone’s throw from the river, was among the hardest hit.

“It literally happened in a couple hours, because I’d left that morning and everything was fine,” he said.

“We’d been there for 13 years. It was tough, just to see all the stuff you lose, all those family heirlooms and memories that you can’t really get back, and the kind of toll it takes on your parents.”

Once authorities allowed evacuated residents back into town, the Knights found that their house was still structurally sound.

“But both basements and the main floor were hit pretty hard, so we had to completely strip that,” he said. “We’re in the midst of the renovations right now. The plan is to be back in by Christmas, but we’ll see what happens.

“But everything happens for a reason – there’s been a lot of positives to come out of it. To see how our friends and family and people around Alberta and all over the country have rallied around High River, it’s been a pretty special thing to see. To say you were a part of that, you kind of take pride in it.”

ROOKIE GROWTH Since arriving in Abbotsford this fall, Knight has put up numbers from the get-go, thriving both at centre and on the right wing with a variety of linemates.

Ward said that the growth area for the youngster is to learn to play a conscientious game in all three zones and to compete hard on a consistent basis.

“His progress . . . has been in his overall play, in the 200-foot scheme of things,” Ward said. “How does he handle the defensive zone, how does he handle the pace of a 200foot pro game? Those are things he’s learning as he goes through the process, and he’s also learning how to be a more consistent player.

“But he’s doing a really, really good job.

He’s made as many strides as any player we have here, in terms of growth areas he has.”

Knight acknowledged the that grind of the AHL, with its occasional three-games-inthree-days scheduling quirks, has been an adjustment.

“It can definitely take a toll on you mentally and physically,” he said. “Just trying to be the best you can be in those types of games, learning how to handle those situations, is extremely important.

“You’ve got to be very good in all three zones, and that’s something I pride myself on and want to get better at . . . it’s something I know I need to work on to get to the next level.”

High River, Alta. native Corban Knight saw his family’s home devastated by flooding in June.

Clint Trahan photo

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Abbotsford News Thursday, November 14, 2013

Teddy Bear Toss helps those in need

Today is a great day to pencil in a pre-Christmas family night for Friday, Dec. 6 in your ‘must-do’ events calendar.

That's when the Abbotsford Heat host their annual Teddy Bear Toss night at their home game vs. the San Antonio Rampage (7 p.m., Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre).

Through the committed efforts of the Heat hockey club, the AESC, Sunrise Toyota, the Abbotsford News and the Abbotsford Christmas Bureau, it is hoped that the game could be a huge draw for both a great Heat game, and to make a difference in a young child’s Christmas in our community.

“This is a very important time of the year for us where we count on the generosity of our partners and the community-at-large to help us help those in need," said Dave Murray, manager of the Abbotsford Food Bank and Christmas Bureau. "The Teddy Bear Toss has become an integral part of this by providing new, unused plush toys to children who might otherwise not see a Christmas present. We are very grateful for the community's support.

As well, tickets for this game can also be purchased through the Christmas Bureau office (604-859-5749), with 50 per cent of the each ticket price contributed directly to support Abbotsford Community Services, a win-win for everyone involved.

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ness, has taken on the challenge of adding their support in making this year’s event the biggest and best one ever.

“It is our staff’s belief that by involving ourselves within our community in charitable events such as the Teddy Bear Toss, we not only create an opportunity to provide a young child with a new stuffed toy for Christmas, we also nurture our staff’s belief that if we all give a little, it can make a big difference," said Mark Smith, general manager of Sunrise Toyota.

“As part of our commitment, all of our employees will be attending this game, bringing new plush toys to donate, and helping load all of the donated toys into three of our all-new full-sized 2014 Toyota Tundra trucks.

We will also be donating another 50 seats to this game to one of our other community partners, as part of this event’s success. And, in the event someone wants to contribute but are unable to attend, we’ll also have a truck on display on our showroom for any toy donations.”

Tickets for the Sunrise Toyota Teddy Bear Toss game can also be purchased in person at the AESC Box Office (33800 King Road, Abbotsford), by phone (1-877-452-HEAT), or at the following participating locations: Whatcom Wine & Spirits, the Abbotsford News, Sports Zone, MRC, ARC, and Abbotsford, Mission and Chilliwack London Drugs locations.

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Abbotsford News Thursday, November 14, 2013

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Please join us FUR a very special night as your ABBOTSFORD HEAT battle the SAN ANTONIO RAMPAGE. This special evening will include our Annual Teddy Bear Toss which is becoming legendary throughout Western Canada!

Bring along a new stuffie (or more) OR purchase one at the game.

Food Bank non perishable donations will be accepted outside of main entrance, prior to puck drop! Sunrise Toyota will accept donations at their dealership until December 14th.

When The Heat score their FURst goal, you can toss your Teddy on the ice!

Lets do it for the cause, let’s break the record!

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