Stockton Heat’s Top Postseason Performers

It has been over a week since the Stockton Heat were eliminated from Calder Cup contention. While we all recover from the idea we have seen the last of Stockton for the foreseeable future due to relocation, let’s take a look back at the top performers of the postseason.

Playoffs at a Glance

Stockton played three solid rounds of hockey after finishing the year at the top of the Pacific Division and second in the AHL. Their regular season placement gave them a first-round bye and allowed them to start their postseason run in the second round against the Bakersfield Condors. They finished this five-game series with a 3-0 record before advancing to the Pacific Division Finals.

In the division finals, the Heat got more of a challenge in the Colorado Eagles with three out of the four games played being decided by one goal. Stockton continued rolling and won this best-of-five series, three games to one.

Top Performers

Dustin Wolf 

Dustin Wolf’s performance in the postseason is a pretty hard thing to contest; it was as one of the best performances on the team. Wolf didn’t show signs of regular season wear and tear and played all 13 playoff games for a total of almost 809 minutes. 

Wolf had a .929 save percentage in the postseason and a 2.23 goals against average. Also of note is his three shutouts in the Colorado series that were surprisingly the first shutouts of his professional career. The Heat netminder undoubtedly gets the top recognition for his postseason push and did everything he could to put his team in a position to win. 

Justin Kirkland 

Justin Kirkland was not a player anyone should have expected to go quiet in the postseason. Kirkland finished the regular season with 48 points and led team scoring with almost a point per game in the playoffs. He finished with a team-high seven goals, five assists, and a team-high 12 points — impressive stats with timely production embedded within them.

Kirkland also led Stockton in game-winning goals this postseason (3), all in the Colorado series. Kirkland brought somewhat of a veteran presence to this team; not that he’s that old at the ripe age of 26, but he has been in a pair of prior Calder Cup runs with the Milwaukee Admirals. His experience came into fruition and had him as the most dangerous scorer on the Heat through the playoffs.

Around Full Press Hockey

MLB: Is Steph Curry An All-Time Top 10 Player?

Matthew Phillips

Matthew Phillips can always be counted on to be consistent. If he is not lighting it up on the scoresheet, he is finding a way to help the team in other ways. Through the playoffs, Phillips had the most shots on the team with 40 through the 13 games. A loose stat to also mention is that he very well could have been the player that was robbed the most. Looking back at the series, there were plenty of times he was in position and robbed of a much-needed goal. The typical “look to the heavens” reaction comes to mind. 

Phillips was still very dangerous for the Heat and had to be one of the players who wanted to win the most. He has played in five seasons with Stockton, four of them being full seasons as a lineup regular. He is very well-liked in the Flames organization and is still battling the line between an AHL and NHL player. 

In the Heat’s run this year, Phillips was right in the top three of most scoring categories with three goals and five assists for a total of eight points. Being a top-liner alongside Jakob Pelletier probably warrants some pressure around missed scoring opportunities, but he was still solid nonetheless. 

Byron Froese 

Heat captain Byron Froese brought his game to the playoffs, but not in a way to achieve all the glory of a strong individual appearance. Froese’s strongest contribution came on setting up opportunities for his teammates. He lead the team in the postseason assists category (9). 

This was his first playoff appearance since the 2016-17 season with the Syracuse Crunch. As you get later into your professional career, it has got to be in the back of your mind how many more postseason opportunities you’re actually going to get. 

Froese gets recognition for consistency, as well. He was not a very streaky player in the postseason and was able to get points in every game or two. His only goal of the playoffs came in Game 3 of the Bakersfield series. 

Latest AHL News

On the Cusp

There were so many other players that provided the depth scoring you need to be dangerous in the postseason. They didn’t put up crazy noticeable numbers, but they did enough to help their team out and take some of the pressure off of the top guys. Some of these players include Emilio Pettersen (two game-winning goals); Walker Duehr (five goals); Jakob Pelletier (seven points); and Glenn Gawdin, Martin Pospisil, & Andy Welinski (all with six points). 

See You Next Year?

What we currently know as the Stockton Heat do not even have a name for next season yet. They are an unnamed Calgary AHL team at the moment, and if that doesn’t bring enough uncertainty in itself, there are still quite a few months of summer to go to determine who on that list ends up on the squad next year. 

Many long-time Heat players and highly ranked Flames prospects have a good chance of staying, but Eetu Tuulola has already made the move to Europe as of June 23 (and he isn’t the first to sign elsewhere, either). The roster is pretty fluid right now and we will have to wait and see how it turns out in October.