Heat sweep away the Admirals
Flames president praises head coach Ward
Ken King took the time to chat in person with Country 107.1 — the local station of the Abbotsford Heat — and gave a hearty shout-out to Troy Ward on the airwaves.
Praising the head coach of the team’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Calgary Flames president credited him for what he’s done during a difficult year which saw the big club whisk away many of his players at various times.
And, on hand for Game 3 Wednesday, King was able to witness the latest exam- ple of Ward’s handiwork in person.
A 4-2 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals secured the franchise’s first Calder Cup playoff sweep at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre.
Added to 6-2 and 4-2 victories in the best-of-five first-round series, the Heat now await their next opponent — the Toronto Marlies or the Oklahoma City Barons.
Knotted 2-2 in the third period, Dustin Sylvester was the hero on a power play while Clay Wilson iced the win with an empty netter.
The goal was a sigh of relief for the Heat after Milwaukee’s late second-period push which nearly cost them.
With less than four minutes remaining in the middle frame, Kyle Wilson and Victor Bartley both connected on man advantages for the Admirals.
Special teams dominated much of the game, but Abbotsford reaped the benefits in the end, going two for seven on power-play chances, including Wilson’s secondperiod marker, a perfectly placed shot from the hashmarks off a pass from Krys Kolanos.
Meanwhile, big six-foot-six Hugh Jessiman put Abbotsford on the board at 2:10 of the first — a dominant opening period for the home squad.
Max Reinhart, who recently graduated from the Kootenay Ice, also made his AHL playoff debut Wednesday, playing on a line with Roman Horak and Greg Nemisz.
The son of former Calgary Flames star Paul Reinhart looked especially sharp on a three-on-one, scooping up a pass from Wilson and dashing up the ice with Greg Nemisz. He slipped the puck over to Nemisz, who scored two goals in Friday’s Game 1, but Milwaukee netminder Jeremy Smith saved the day.
Smith, an anchor for the Nashville Predators’ farm club in all three games, stopped 28 shots, including two pointblank Roman Horak attempts and a toe-save on Ben Walter, both in the second period.
Meanwhile, Heat netminder Danny Taylor, Ward’s choice over Flames restricted free agent Leland Irving in net in the playoffs, made 25 saves.
After three games, Kolanos, the season’s leading scorer, paced the Heat with four goals and four assists while Wilson has two goals and three assists.