The Heat are playing against Abbotsford? What a world we now live in…
That’s right: Friday will mark the first-ever meeting between the Stockton Heat and the brand-new Abbotsford Canucks.
Abbotsford previously hosted the Calgary Flames’ American Hockey League affiliate, also called the Heat, between 2009 and 2014. It was a strange fit — how many people in a Vancouver suburb really wanted to watch Flames prospects? — and the team subsequently relocated to Glens Falls, NY for a memorable one-year stint as the Adirondack Flames for the 2014–15 season.
This past off-season, the Vancouver Canucks relocated their AHL operations from Utica, NY to Abbotsford.