ORLANDO, FL – When goalie Cal Heeter was assigned to the Orlando Solar Bears by the Toronto Marlies, fans got excited when they saw the netminder’s record last season in Toledo and Grand Rapids. Now that the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs are less than two weeks away, Heeter saved arguably his best performance of the year for Orlando’s final regular season in front of the people who were loudly chanting his name.
Orlando goalie Cal Heeter (black) denies Greenville’s Spencer Dorowicz, one of 36 saves Heeter made during Saturday’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
Heeter made 36 saves to pitch his first shutout of the year and his teammates supported him with five goals as the Solar Bears (33-28-6-3, 75 points) dominated the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (23-38-7-1, 54 points) 5-0 in front of a large and very loud announced sellout of 9,555 at the Amway Center Saturday night. The victory allowed the Solar Bears to lock up the third seed in the South division and a likely first round matchup with the South Carolina Stingrays.
Martins Dzierkals (1 goal, 1 assist), Joe Perry (1 goal, 1 assist), Hunter Fejes, J.J.Piccinich and Chris LeBlanc all lit the goal light as part of a second straight big night of offense for Orlando. None of it however would have meant much were it not for the work of Heeter, who was signed by the Marlies to do exactly what he did on Fan Appreciation Night.
“It was a great game [and] a good time to do it. It was a big crowd. The guys were great in front of meall night long,” Heeter said about the effort he and his teammates put in. “I had a tough first period with some really bad rebounds but the defense was right there to clean it up. They did a great job limiting their chances. I know it wasn’t a great team that we played but we played well against them and limited their opportunities. They had a lot of shots but they were all pretty easy routine saves for me. It was a good night.”
Heeter’s play was especially important during the first two periods when the Swamp Rabbits tested him with 26 shots. Twelve of them came in the opening period with a majority coming in the back half of the frame.
By that point, the Solar Bears had staked their netminder to a 1-0 lead on a score by the red hot Perry. At the 6:48 mark of the period during a power play, defenseman Nolan Valleau fed the puck to Perry who blasted a shot from the faceoff circle to the left of Greenville goalie Chris Nell for the veteran’s fourth goal in two games and his 18th of the season.
Orlando came close to extending the lead late in the first but had a score waived off for pushing Nell into the net. The Solar Bears also nearly got their second score early in the middle frame when a long drive beat the Swamp Rabbits goalie between the legs but it hit the post and stayed out.
Orlando’s Martins Dzierkals (black) pulls away from Greenville’s Chad Duchesne during Saturday night’s Solar Bears win. Dzierkals scored his 15th goal in the contest (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando SolarBears)
The home team did eventually get that second marker. It came at the 6:36 mark of the second when Sean Zimmerman, who had activated into the offense down low, put the puck on the stick of Piccinich just to the left of Nell. The Paramus, NJ native calmly put the disc on his backhand and fired it into the top corner of the net for his 18th and a two goal lead that held into the second intermission.
Heeter was a bit busier in the stanza, turning away 14 Greenville shots to keep his scoresheet clean. His best effort of the period came when he stood tall and thwarted a three-on-one Swamp Rabbits break after a turnover at center ice.
“Cal’s a very competitive person and he’s playing lights out right now. He’s a great goalie. We knew [that] he’s a great goalie and we’re thrilled to have him here,” Solar Bears head coach and general manager Drake Berehowsky said of Heeter. “He wants to have the net. He challenges guys in practice and that’s one of the characteristics I like the most about him. He challenges guys but he’s held accountable for himself as well.”
After killing a penalty to Zimmerman to start the third, the Solar Bears went in for the kill. At the 7:13 mark of the period, Dzierkals broke into the Greenville end and tried to make a pass to Fejes who was cutting down the middle of the slot. The puck caromed onto Nell who made the save. The rebound went right to Fejes who dragged the puck to the goalie’s left and tucked it in for his third goal in two game and his 30th tally of the season with 14 coming in a Solar Bears jersey.
Dzierkals got in on the scoring frenzy later on with one of his classically brilliant moves. Bringing the puck across the Swamp Rabbits blueline, the rookie forward made a couple of stick moves before pulling a toe drag to totally confuse a defender and open a shooting lane. In the blink of an eye, Dzierkals used the defender as a partial screen to laser a shot between Nell’s left leg and the post for his 15th goal of the season and a four goal lead.
Orlando rookie forward Chris LeBlanc lets loose with the shot that became his 10th goal of the season during Saturday’s game (Photo courtesy of Fernando Medina / Orlando Solar Bears)
LeBlanc capped the scoring 100 seconds later with a great individual play. Grabbing the puck at center ice, he flipped the puck past a defender and retrieved it. Continuing into the faceoff circle, he lined up a shot and beat Nell to the far side for his 10th goal of the year and one that would have made fellow Winthrop, MA native and US Olympic hero Mike Eurizone proud.
“I just chipped it by the guy and tried to beat the goalie far side and it went in,” LeBlanc said. “It wasn’t much.”
From there it was a team effort to make sure that Heeter got his shutout. The St. Louis-born netminder was solid throughout the final twenty minutes, picking up ten more saves to finish off the night to a thunderous roar from the fans in the stands.
“It was great. The fans have been fantastic all year. Tonight they were especially good because of the number of people we had. It was good,” Heeter said about the energy created by the large, raucous crowd. ” [When] We were scoring goals or if I made some saves and the crowd got behind you, it gives you that extra push that sometimes you need. Tonight they were fantastic just like they’ve been all year.”
While Berehowsky was happy with the overall effort, he did find a teachable moment with what he called a lull in the second period. With consistency being important during the post-season, he said that it is still a work in progress that is getting better as the season goes.
“We have to learn that consistency is a big thing,” Berehowsky said. “We’re trying to get better at it and I think we are.”
Asked about where he thinks the Solar Bears are as a team heading into the playoffs, LeBlanc said that the recent scoring outburst is a sign that Orlando is getting onto a roll that could spell a long and successful run.
“We want to be heading into the playoffs on the right note. At this time of the year, you want to be playing your best hockey,” LeBlanc said. “Having that momentum going into the playoffs is a huge incentive for us so I think that’s what we’re trying to do right now.”
Notes: Orlando outshot Greenville 46-36… The Solar Bears went 1-for-2 on the power play while the Swamp Rabbits failed to score in four attempts… Heeter’s win was his 19th of the season and came in his 42nd appearance. The 42 games played moved Heeter past Ryan Massa for the most games played in a single season by an ECHL Solar Bears netminder… Orlando is now 14-0-0-0 when Dzierkals scores a goal and 10-0-0-0 when Fejes lights the goal light… LeBlanc joined Kristian Pospisil (13), Piccinich and Dzierkals as the fourth Solar Bears rookie to hit double figures in goals… Orlando finished the season series with Greenville with a 5-3-1-0 record… The Solar Bears are off until Friday when they travel to Duluth, GA to take on the Atlanta Gladiators.
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