The resilient, pledged Canucks receive a reward for the Calder Cup title | theahl.com
Patrick Williamstheahl.com writer
Until the last minute of their 96 games, Abbotsford Canucks represented one thing.
Elasticity.
This is the word for the first-year head coach Manny Malhotra Used several times, especially on the Canucks' journey through the Calder Cup playoffs. Lead sometimes shakes. Their control over the series sometimes seems unstable. Accumulated damage. The fines were troublesome and slow to start testing the team. They faced two eliminations, including the first round in April.
But even when the Calder Cup playoffs were in its toughest form, the Canucks continued to move forward and push. especially When they are at their toughest time.
“I think it starts from the top.” Chase Records explain. “It starts with Manny. It starts with our coaching staff. Every day we show up and we work, and that's what makes these moments easier. Whether it's Monday in January, we're working on the rink, which is very special.”
Game 96 was on Monday, but it felt like January. Game 6 of the Calder Cup final in the hot, humid Bojangles Arena provides the Canucks with the last chance to showcase their collective determination. Checkers have brought back Game 5 in Abbotsford, denying the Canucks’ championship celebrations on the home ice and forcing them to return their long Eastern trek back to Charlotte.
And it got worse because John Leonard and Jack Devine Putting the pieces in the game only has a 2-0 lead of 13:14. Can I participate in Game 7 in this event?
But the excellent Abbotsford power play started working. It's late in the first phase Sammy Blais A wide piece of ice was found in the left circle, curled, and then shot a long distance shot under the bar, passing the Charlotte goalkeeper KaapoKähkönen.
They had some reorganization to do when they left the ice for the first halftime break, but the Canucks at least stagnated the energy of some of the home ice that Checkers had.
The second phase is less than four minutes. Danila Klimovich Join forces to cause serious damage in front of Kähkönen. Klimovich loosened from coverage to beat the 2-2 game.
Nevertheless, the frame in the middle brings many touch and walking moments to visitors. The Canucks got into penalty kick trouble and hit Charlotte three times. But Abbotsford killed them all. During the playoffs, the Canucks will hit 88.2%.
At the end of this period, Abbotsford's top line Arshdeep Bains,,,,, Max Sassen and Linus Karlsson Fix the checkers deep. And let them fix it. Charlotte was trapped in his area for a full minute. Bains won the hockey battle from their knees and then pulled the pass from the right corner to Karlsson in the distance for a single match and Canucks' first lead of the night.
However, Charlotte is not easy to fold. The lens has been around Artūrsšilovsfaced 11 of them in the third stage. Only in the last 2:30, Leonard canceled the shot that Šilovs had to go straight into the distance. Abbotsford's defender stopped Leonard, Devine and Justin Sourdif. The Garners had to ice the puck twice and then stopped Charlotte's attack.
With 6.4 seconds left in the regulation, checkers won the standoff outside the blue line, letting go of the last shots that were increasingly far away from the target. The Canucks reached out from the bench to the Šilovs.
Their resilience paid off. The Šilovs once again performed well, with 28 saves to 16 playoff wins, 28 saves and an AHL record. Karlsson finished the playoff lead with 14 goals and 26 points. Baynes joined the Coachella Valley with four goals and six assists in the series Ryker Evans (2023), Syracuse Yanni Gourde (2017) and Chicago Jason Krog (2008) was the only player in the past two decades, scoring 10 points in the final series. Players entered Malhotra's roster at different locations in 24 games and five series, sometimes due to injuries and sometimes with different looks to get opponents thrown.
A few minutes later, the šilovs pushed the Jack A. Butterfield trophy toward the most valuable player in the Calder Cup playoffs. The Canucks line up on the blue line. Wouters accepts AHL President and CEO Calder Cup Scott Howsonraised it and was besieged by his teammates. The wizard slides through the cup and handes it to John Stevensmembers of the 2021-22 team who have been injured since February. Then it was passed to the defense Guillaume Briseboishis tenure at the Vancouver Cantonese dates back to 2017.
During the celebration, with Canucks regulars, additional coaches, coaches and staff all had the chance to capture the Calder Cup for a spin.
“The reason we are celebrating here now is because their commitments do the right way, and their unsatisfactory interest in winning makes them here. The series isn't that different. It's no different. Going back to such a hostile environment, two goals are lowered to show that we are going to restore this resilience, and we end up doing that.”
Blais, the 2019 Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues, spent the entire season in the AHL, the first time since the 2016-17 rookie season with The Chicago Wolves since 2016-17. He is working to maintain his NHL career and he knows the bonds associated with the championship.
“I'm proud of all the guys,” Bryce said. “We're all going to be champions forever and everyone will remember that.”
The championship game in Abbotsford has almost no beginning. Karnak faces elimination in the first round series against Tucson.
“The first round was a tough test for us,” said šilovs. “We had to improve our physical game, and I think it was a great opponent. It improved our level and we managed to outperform other teams.”
They passed the Tucson test. On the round, they took care of the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the Colorado Hawks, Texas, and finally passed six other demanding games, Charlotte.
“They won everything they got this year,” Malhotra said.
During the fifty years in the American Hockey League, Theahl.com writer Patrick Williams currently covers NHL.com and Flosports leagues and is a regular contributor to Siriusxm NHL New Network Radio. He won the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding league coverage in 2016.
