Matchsticks and Gasoline, a Calgary Flames community

In light of the looming NHL lockout, the Flames assigned 18 players to the Abbotsford Heat yesterday including T.J. Brodie, Sven Baertschi, Max Reinhart, Lance Bouma, Roman Horak, Greg Nemisz, and others. Today, Akim Aliu, Paul Byron, Joe Piskula, Krys Kolanos, and Ben Walter joined them.

The Abbotsford Heat have been eliminated from the Calder Cup playoffs after a 4-0 loss to the Bulldogs in Hamilton. Considering how many injuries they had to deal with over the course of the season and the post-season, it was a small miracle they ever made it this far. This season was a big improvement for the Flames' AHL affiliate in their first year in Abbotsford, and hopefully it'll only get better with the infusion of some young talent.

Game 1 of the Abbotsford's North Division Finals series against the Hamilton Bulldogs is about to get underway. Game time is 4:30PT (5:30MT). Listen online here (Click "Listen Now").

As per historical custom for any entity associated with the Florida Panthers, a dubious record was set. From Kevin Oklobzija: For the first time in American Hockey League history, a team with a 3-1 series lead was eliminated after losing Games 6 and 7 on home ice. Yuck. We'll delve into the Cats' prime prospects and their first round performances in the coming days. Let's Go Amerks! has their typically excellent coverage in full force, so do check them out.

After being down 3-1 in the series, the Abbotsford Heat defeated the Rochester Americans 2-0 in game seven to advance to the second round of the AHL playoffs, where they will meet Montreal's AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. John Lammers and Olivier Latendresse scored for the Heat with assists by Sutter and Pelech while Shantz made 24 saves for the shutout. The Heat outshot Rochester 40-24 in the game. Round Two schedule: North Division Finals N1-Hamilton Bulldogs vs. N3-Abbotsford Heat Game 1 – Thu., Apr. 29 – Abbotsford at Hamilton, 7:30 Game 2 – Sun., May 2 – Abbotsford at Hamilton, 2:00 Game 3 – Tue., May 4 – Hamilton at Abbotsford, 10:00 Game 4 – Thu., May 6 – Hamilton at Abbotsford, 10:00 *Game 5 – Sat., May 8 – Hamilton at Abbotsford, 10:00 *Game 6 – Mon., May 10 – Abbotsford at Hamilton, 7:30 *Game 7 – Tue., May 11 – Abbotsford at Hamilton, 7:30

Although they lead for most of the evening, The Abbotsford Heat ended up dropping their inaugural game 6-5 to the San Antonio Rampage. Kris Chucko led all skaters with 6 shots and 3 goals, while Matt Keetely allowed 6 goals on 43 shots (10 in OT!).

Abbotsford drew more than 4,000 fans to their first pre-season game last night, a game they won by a score of 5-2 over the Manitoba Moose. Carsen Germyn managed a hat trick.