Stockton Heat

Stockton Heat
CityStockton, California
LeagueAmerican Hockey League
ConferenceWestern
DivisionPacific
Founded1977
Operated2015–2022
Home arenaStockton Arena
Colors       
Owner(s)Calgary Sports and Entertainment
(N. Murray Edwards, chairman)
AffiliatesCalgary Flames (NHL)
Kansas City Mavericks (ECHL)
Franchise history
1977–1987Maine Mariners
1987–1993Utica Devils
1993–2003Saint John Flames
2005–2007Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights
2007–2009Quad City Flames
2009–2014Abbotsford Heat
2014–2015Adirondack Flames
2015–2022Stockton Heat
2022–presentCalgary Wranglers
Championships
Division titles1 (2021–22)

The Stockton Heat were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2015 to 2022. The team was based in Stockton, California, and was affiliated with the National Hockey League (NHL) Calgary Flames. The Heat played its home games at Stockton Arena. It was a relocation of the Adirondack Flames, joining four other relocated AHL franchises in California that formed the basis for a Pacific Division following the 2014–15 season.

The Heat replaced the ECHL's Stockton Thunder, which played from 2005 until 2015, after which they moved to Glens Falls, New York, where the franchise became the Adirondack Thunder. After the 2021–22 season, the Heat would be relocated to Calgary, Alberta, and would become the Calgary Wranglers. The team had played the entire 2020–21 season in Calgary due to the COVID-19 pandemic restricting cross-border travel.

History

On January 29, 2015, the Calgary Flames announced that they would be moving their AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Flames, to Stockton as one of five charter members of the AHL's new Pacific Division. The team held a name-the-team contest[1] and announced the five finalists as the Blaze, Fire, Heat, Inferno and Scorch on February 24, 2015.[2] The winning name was announced by the Calgary Flames on March 11.

In support of the new division's first season, the AHL played an outdoor game hosted by the Heat. The game, called the Golden State Hockey Rush, was the first AHL outdoor game to be held in California at Raley Field in West Sacramento on December 18, 2015. The Heat defeated the Bakersfield Condors 3–2 in front of 9,357 fans.[3]

The 2019–20 AHL season was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic while Stockton was in third place in the Pacific Division and no playoffs were held. The Heat's initial five-year lease with the city to use Stockton Arena expired, but a one-season extension was signed in February 2020.[4] The start of the 2020–21 AHL season was then postponed and eventually led to the creation of temporary Canadian Division due to border crossing restrictions amidst the ongoing pandemic. Due to the Heat being separated from its parent team by the border, the team was relocated for the shortened season to Calgary and shared the Flames' home arena, Scotiabank Saddledome and played only against other Canadian-based AHL teams.[5]

On May 23, 2022, the Calgary Flames announced the relocation of the Heat, to Calgary, starting in the 2022-23 season.[6] On June 14, 2022, the Heat played their final game, losing to the Chicago Wolves in game six of the Western Conference Finals of the 2022 Calder Cup playoffs.[7]

Season-by-season results

Regular season Playoffs
Season GP W L OTL SOL Pts PCT GF GA Standing Year Prelims 1st round 2nd round 3rd round Finals
2015–16 68 32 32 2 2 68 .500 194 224 6th, Pacific 2016 Did not qualify
2016–17 68 34 25 7 2 77 .566 212 192 4th, Pacific 2017 — L, 2–3, SJ — — —
2017–18 68 34 28 2 4 74 .544 211 204 6th, Pacific 2018 Did not qualify
2018–19 68 31 31 4 2 68 .500 235 252 6th, Pacific 2019 Did not qualify
2019–20 55 30 17 4 4 68 .618 194 170 3rd, Pacific 2020 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 30 11 17 2 0 24 .400 79 95 5th, Canadian 2021 No playoffs were held
2021–22 68 45 16 5 2 97 .713 242 185 1st, Pacific 2022 — W, 3–0, BAK W, 3–1, COL L, 2–4, CHI —

Players

Team captains

Team records and leaders

Scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers for the Stockton Heat during their tenure in the AHL.[8]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game;

Points
Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Matthew Phillips RW 199 67 94 161 .81
Glenn Gawdin C 201 46 102 148 .74
Ryan Lomberg LW 219 49 60 109 .50
Andrew Mangiapane LW 120 50 54 104 .87
Morgan Klimchuk LW 200 44 56 100 .50
Alan Quine C 79 33 65 98 1.24
Luke Philp C 148 48 44 92 .62
Oliver Kylington D 190 28 63 91 .48
Byron Froese C 116 43 41 84 .72
Justin Kirkland LW 135 33 50 83 .61

References

  1. ^ "Flames Unveil Plans for Future". Stockton Thunder. January 30, 2015. Archived from the original on February 5, 2015. Retrieved January 31, 2015.
  2. ^ "Finalist Names Revealed for Stockton". Stockton Thunder. February 24, 2015. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015.
  3. ^ "Grant, Kylington and Shore Lead Heat to 3–2 Win at Raley Field". Stockton Heat. December 19, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2016.
  4. ^ Linesburgh, Scott (February 19, 2020). "Heat, city of Stockton agree to 1-year contract extension". The Record. Archived from the original on February 20, 2020.
  5. ^ Weiss, Brandon (January 28, 2021). "Heat to Play in Calgary for 2020-21 Season". Stockton Heat.
  6. ^ "Flames to move AHL affiliate to Calgary". The American Hockey League. May 23, 2022. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
  7. ^ Siewert, Paige (June 15, 2022). "Heat Playoff Post-Game: The Stockton Heat's last game". FlamesNation. The Nation Network. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  8. ^ "Stockton Heat all-time player list". hockeydb.com. June 10, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2019.