Abbotsford Heat

History

The Flames moved their affiliate to the Fraser Valley after playing two seasons in Moline, Illinois as the Quad City Flames. The team's transfer was approved on April 28, 2009, and as a result, Abbotsford became the westernmost city in the AHL. The team closest to the Heat in distance, the Oklahoma City Barons, was 1,583 mi away, and the Heat was the only AHL team west of the Central Time Zone. To reduce travel costs, road teams sometimes played two consecutive games in Abbotsford, and in some cases, the Heat played consecutive road games at the same arena. The same scheduling was used for the St. John's IceCaps.

The organization held a "name the team" contest, and on May 14, 2009, Heat was announced as the team's new name.

On June 5, 2009, it was reported that Jim Playfair would debut as head coach of the Abbotsford Heat after spending two seasons with the Calgary Flames.

Relocation to Glens Falls

The team struggled financially and saw low attendance; talks eventually broke down between the city of Abbotsford, the Vancouver Canucks, and the Calgary Flames on a possible affiliation swap.

Upon the Vancouver Canucks' purchase of the Peoria Rivermen, the Heat's owners were petitioned from interested groups in Utica, New York. On June 14, 2013, the Vancouver Canucks and Mohawk Valley Garden, the managing partner based in Utica, signed a six-year affiliation agreement, and the Utica Comets became the new AHL affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks moved the team to Abbotsford in 2021, becoming the Abbotsford Canucks.

The city of Abbotsford terminated the contract with the Heat on April 15, 2014. The Heat finished the season and Calder Cup playoffs in Abbotsford, and on May 5, 2014, the AHL's Board of Governors announced at its spring meeting in Chicago that it approved the relocation of the team to Glens Falls for the 2014–15 season, with games to be played at the Glens Falls Civic Center as the Adirondack Flames.

Team information

Mascot

The Heat's mascot was Hawkey, an anthropomorphic red-tailed hawk, a species native to the Fraser Valley. Hawkey could be seen at home games wearing jersey No. 00.

Season-by-season results

Team captains

• Garth Murray, 2009–10
• Carter Bancks and Ben Walter 2009-10
• Quintin Laing, 2010–13
• Dean Arsene, 2013–14

References

References

1. Millican, Joe. (April 28, 2009). "Yes! Abbotsford gets AHL hockey". [[Abbotsford News]].
2. (May 14, 2009). "The HEAT is on for 2009–10 AHL season".
3. (June 5, 2009). "Flames name Jim Playfair head coach of AHL affiliate in Abbotsford".
4. (April 15, 2014). "Abbotsford Heat leave city with $12M in losses - CBC News".
5. Kramer, Lindsay. (May 5, 2014). "AHL approves relocation of Calgary Flames' franchise to Glens Falls".
6. http://poststar.com/sports/mayor-three-year-deal-under-discussion/article_904d9100-d17f-11e3-9526-0019bb2963f4.hmtl{{Dead link. (September 2018)