Can the defending Calder Cup champion Abbotsford Canucks save their season?

Is this a Calder Cup hangover when most of the lineup is brand new?

Probably not. Regardless, the Abbotsford Canucks finally got some relief Wednesday night.

Their 4-3 penalty shootout victory over the visiting San Jose Barracudas ended an 11-game losing streak for the defending Calder Cup champion Canucks (0-9-0-2), their first win since the opening weekend of the regular season and their first in eight home games this season.

Joseph LaBate scored the game-tying power-play goal with 1:16 left in regulation as the Canucks broke San Jose's 2-0 and 3-2 leads to force overtime. Canucks goaltender Aku Koskenvuo took the ball from there and kept his team in check in overtime, then stopped penalty kick attempts from Igor Chernyshov, Filip Bystedt and Luca Cagnoni. Meanwhile, Ben Berard's penalty kick gave San Jose a 4-3 victory.

After celebrating the Vancouver Canucks affiliate's first-ever Calder Cup championship four and a half months ago, Abbotsford endured one of the craziest games in recent AHL history. Wednesday's win marked their first home victory since defeating the Charlotte Checkers in Game 4 of the Calder Cup finals last June.

The first month of the regular season brought them a championship flag-raising ceremony, an 0-6-0-0 home lineup, a series of recalls to Vancouver, serious injuries to both NHL and AHL clubs, an emergency backup goaltender, multiple in-season signings for reinforcements, and two AHL goaltender debuts.

It was no surprise that the reigning Calder Cup champions struggled the following season. Winning the Calder Cup often makes a huge difference. Some players gain promotion to their NHL parent team. Other NHL teams want winners, too, and they swoop in every summer to lure the Calder Cup winner with a new contract. In just three to four months, the roster of champions could change significantly.

But there's more to this battle than just that. After celebrating the championship on a hot and humid night in Charlotte on June 23, the team soon saw a massive exodus of talent.

Jack A. Butterfield Award winner and playoff MVP goaltender Arturs Silovs has been traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Forwards Arthdeep Baines, Linus Karlsson, Atul Ratty and Max Sasson are all now in Vancouver. Forward Jonathan Lekkerimäki just returned to Abbotsford this week after spending time in Vancouver. Abbotsford certainly misses the player who scored 19 goals in 36 regular-season games last season. Sammy Brice, Phil Di Giuseppe, Cole McWard and Tristan Nelson have all reached agreements with other NHL organizations. Akito Hirose went abroad. The blue line has also been hit particularly hard. Defender Kirill Kudryavtsev missed time. Victor Mancini is limited to one AHL game. Guillaume Brisbois and Jeter Wu have yet to play due to injuries. Top defensive prospect Tom Verlander plays for Vancouver. Top veteran Christian Wolanin, named the AHL's top defenseman for the 2022-23 season, also did not return and remains a free agent. Stable forward Mackenzie MacEachern, an offseason signing, also joined the NHL club after playing seven games with Abbotsford.

Management has recognized that this roster needs an immediate upgrade. After a four-game road trip for the season opener, the team signed forward Arnaud Durandeau and then brought back more forward help in Jujhar Khaira a week before the Oct. 24 home opener.

But injuries continue to hit Abbotsford relentlessly. Keira has missed five games since signing. Nikita Tropilo was expected to take over the No. 1 spot in net from Silovs, but he was injured in the home opener against the Ontario Reign and hasn't played since. Jiří Patera, who played only seven games last season, started due to injury.

But Patera ended up being recalled as a last-minute emergency last weekend when the AHL club played on the road in Colorado. That leaves Ty Young, who has played just 11 AHL games this season, as Abbotsford's starter. But he was gone after 40 minutes last Friday night. So in comes CJ Kier, who was signed as an emergency backup before the game. Keele ended up losing 4-1 while Abbotsford scrambled for more help.

The next night, they brought Koskenvuo and Jonathan Lemieux to Colorado from ECHL affiliate Kalamazoo Wings. Lemieux made his AHL debut and scored one point in the Canucks' 3-2 penalty shootout loss. But last Tuesday night, Abbotsford's home court may have reached its lowest point of the season. Young returned to the game and started against San Jose. Forty minutes later, he ended his night with five goals as Lemieux lost 7-0. They only fielded four players in that game, who also played in the Calder Cup final in Charlotte.

It was Koskenwo's turn Wednesday night, and he made 33 saves in his AHL debut. With Vancouver's Thatcher Demko out, Patera remains on the NHL roster. Koskenwo's performance on Wednesday night will likely give him an edge when it comes to playing more with Abbotsford this month.

But this is a team that has to work hard for every goal. They average 1.71 goals per game, ranking 31st in the AHL. Their power-play offense did rank tied for fourth in the league in field goal percentage at 26.2%. The problem is, 11 of their 24 goals this season have come on the power play. It's a difficult and unreliable path to take when 5-on-5 production isn't possible.

A large portion of the roster—past and present—doesn’t play offensively. After returning to North America, Vitaly Kravtsov failed to make it into the Vancouver team's training camp, and after playing 10 games with the Abbotsford team, he decided to return to the KHL. In any case, Kravtsov did not achieve much. After scoring 27 goals with Chelyabinsk Tractors last season, he scored all 1 goal in 10 games for Abbotsford before leaving town. Niels Ammann is yet to score in 11 games. Danila Klimovich scored 25 goals last season; so far, he has failed to score in 12 games.

They need answers as soon as possible. They embark on a season-high six-game road trip this weekend. The trek begins Saturday night when they visit the San Diego Gulls. This week's AHL FloHockey game (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT). They will also travel through the Coachella Valley before stopping in San Jose and Tucson for two games. The Canucks won't return to the newly renamed Rogers Forum until Dec. 2 when the Calgary Wranglers return for two games. These home games will kick off a 13-day span in which they will play the arch-rival Wranglers four times in six games. Wrangler goaltender Ivan Prosvetov helped the Canucks score one goal in two games in Abbotsford last month. They have been eliminated three times and have scored just once in their other three games this season.

But for all the issues Abbotsford faces, they still rank pretty well. Even after falling to 30th in the AHL with a .286 hitting percentage, they're still just four points below the Bakersfield Condors and the Pacific Division playoff line. With seven Pacific Division teams in the postseason and plenty of conference play, the Canucks still have plenty of time to make up for the damage done in the first month.

Abbotsford forward Ty Mueller, a member of last season's championship team, put it succinctly after coming back from two goals down to win on Wednesday night.

“I think it shows that we've achieved more than we've shown so far“We have a great fan base,” Mueller said. They showed that in the last playoffs and we wanted to give them something to watch. “

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