Is it a Calder Cup hangover when many of the roster is totally new?
Most likely not. Regardless, some reduction for the Abbotsford Canucks lastly got here Wednesday evening.
Their 4-3 shootout win towards the visiting San Jose Barracuda ended the defending Calder Cup champion Canucks’ 11-game shedding streak (0-9-0-2), gave them their first win for the reason that common season’s opening weekend, and it marked their first win in eight house video games this season.
Joseph LaBate’s tying power-play purpose got here with 1:16 to go in regulation because the Canucks broke San Jose leads of 2-0 and 3-2 to place the sport into extra time. Canucks goaltender Aku Koskenvuo took it from there, holding them in via extra time, after which shutting down shootout makes an attempt from Igor Chernyshov, Filip Bystedt, and Luca Cagnoni. In the meantime Ben Berard’s shootout tally then completed off San Jose for a 4-3 victory.
After celebrating the primary Calder Cup championship for a Vancouver Canucks affiliate four-and-a-half months in the past, Abbotsford has been on one of many wildest rides in latest AHL historical past. Wednesday’s win marked their first house victory since taking Sport 4 of the Calder Cup Finals from the Charlotte Checkers final June.
The primary month of their common season has introduced a championship banner-raising ceremony that opened up an 0-6-0-0 homestand, a parade of remembers to Vancouver, relentless accidents for each the NHL and AHL golf equipment, an emergency back-up goaltender, a number of in-season signings for reinforcements, and two AHL goaltending debuts.
Nothing is unusual a few defending Calder Cup champion struggling the next season. Profitable the Calder Cup tends to carry an onslaught of change. Some gamers earn promotions to the NHL mum or dad staff. Different NHL groups need winners, they usually pounce every summer season to lure these Calder Cup champions away with new contracts. In simply three to 4 months, that championship roster can look markedly completely different.
However this struggle has gone far past that. After celebrating that championship on a sizzling, humid evening in Charlotte again on June 23, the staff noticed a major exodus of expertise shortly thereafter.
Goaltender Artūrs Šilovs, the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy winner as essentially the most invaluable participant of the playoffs, went to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a commerce. Forwards Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, Aatu Raty, and Max Sasson all have jobs in Vancouver now. Ahead Jonathan Lekkerimäki simply got here again to Abbotsford this week after spending time with Vancouver; Abbotsford definitely misses somebody who produced 19 objectives in 36 regular-season video games final season. Sammy Blais, Phil Di Giuseppe, Cole McWard, and Tristen Nielsen all took offers with different NHL organizations. Akito Hirose went abroad. The blue line has been notably battered, too. Defenseman Kirill Kudryavtsev missed time. Victor Mancini has been restricted to 1 AHL recreation. Guillaume Brisebois and Jett Woo have but to play in any respect as they cope with accidents. High defensive prospect Tom Willander is with Vancouver. High veteran Christian Wolanin, named the AHL’s high defenseman in 2022-23, didn’t return, both and stays a free agent. Regular ahead Mackenzie MacEachern, an offseason signing, went as much as the NHL membership as properly after seven video games with Abbotsford.
Administration has acknowledged that this roster wanted some rapid upgrades. After splitting a season-opening four-game highway journey, the staff signed ahead Arnaud Durandeau after which introduced again extra assist up entrance with Jujhar Khaira within the week main as much as their house opener Oct. 24.
However accidents have continued to pound Abbotsford mercilessly. Khaira has been held to 5 video games since signing. Anticipated to take the number-one job in web from Šilovs, Nikita Tolopilo went down within the house opener towards the Ontario Reign and has not performed since. That harm put Jiří Patera into motion after he performed simply seven video games final season.
However Patera ended up getting a last-minute emergency recall final weekend when the AHL membership was on the highway in Colorado. That pushed Ty Younger, who solely had 11 AHL video games coming into this season, into the Abbotsford beginning job. However then he left after 40 minutes final Friday evening. So in got here CJ Kier, signed as an emergency back-up simply earlier than the sport. Kier completed up that 4-1 loss as Abbotsford scrambled to herald much more assist.
They received Koskenvuo and Jonathan Lemieux to Colorado the next evening from their ECHL affiliate, the Kalamazoo Wings. Lemieux made his AHL debut and secured some extent for the Canucks in a 3-2 shootout loss. However this previous Tuesday evening introduced maybe the season’s lowest level again house in Abbotsford. Younger returned to motion and began towards San Jose. Forty minutes and 5 objectives later, his evening ended, leaving Lemieux to mop up an eventual 7-0 loss. They dressed simply 4 gamers in that recreation who had additionally been within the line-up for his or her Calder Cup clincher in Charlotte.
So Wednesday evening it was Koskenvuo’s flip, and he served up 33 saves in his personal AHL debut. With Vancouver’s Thatcher Demko out of motion, Patera remains to be on the NHL roster. Koskenvuo’s play Wednesday evening might properly have given him an edge for extra work with Abbotsford as this month unfolds.
However this can be a staff that should grind for each single purpose. Their 1.71 objectives per recreation rank them thirty first within the AHL. Their energy play does sit tied for fourth within the league at 26.2 %. The issue with that, although, is that 11 of their 24 objectives this season have come via that energy play. That’s a troublesome – and unreliable – path when 5-on-5 manufacturing fails to come back via.
An excellent portion of the roster – previous and current – has not been coming via offensively. After coming again to North America and failing to make the Vancouver roster out of coaching camp, Vitali Kravtsov performed 10 video games with Abbotsford earlier than deciding to return to the KHL. Not that Kravtsov managed to supply a lot regardless. After placing up 27 objectives with Traktor Chelyabinsk final season, he managed all of 1 purpose in these 10 video games with Abbotsford earlier than leaving city. Nils Åman has but to hit the purpose column via 11 video games. Danila Klimovich broke out with 25 objectives final season; he has gone scoreless in 12 video games to date.
They want solutions rapidly. This weekend they hit the highway for a season-high six-game highway journey. That trek opens Saturday evening after they go to the San Diego Gulls within the FloHockey AHL Sport of the Week (9 pm ET/6 pm PT). It’s going to additionally take them via Coachella Valley earlier than they cease in each San Jose and Tucson for two-game visits. The Canucks should not again on the newly renamed Rogers Discussion board till Dec. 2 when the Calgary Wranglers return for a pair of video games. These house dates will open a stretch through which they see the archrival Wranglers 4 instances in six video games throughout a 13-day stretch. Wranglers goaltender Ivan Prosvetov held the Canucks to 1 purpose in two video games final month in Abbotsford. They’ve been shutout thrice already and held to 1 purpose in three different contests this season.
2025 Abbotsford Canucks vs San Diego Gulls
For all of Abbotsford’s issues, although, the standings stay quite form to them. Even in sinking to thirtieth within the AHL with a .286 level share, they continue to be simply 4 factors beneath the Bakersfield Condors and the Pacific Division playoff line. With seven Pacific Division groups making the postseason lower, plus ample alternatives for head-to-head divisional play, the Canucks nonetheless personal loads of time to undo the injury that this primary month has brought about.
Abbotsford ahead Ty Mueller, a member of final season’s championship staff, put it succinctly after Wednesday evening’s comeback win from down two objectives.
“I think that shows that we’ve got more than what we’ve shown so far,” Mueller stated. “We’ve an superior fan base. They confirmed it final playoffs, and we need to give them one thing to come back watch.”
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