Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
The 30th birthday is an important birthday for anyone and it can bring about all kinds of life changes.
Christian Wolanin Know this.
Wolanin, who turned 30 last March, won a Calder Cup, got married, faced scrutiny of his hockey future and ultimately signed a contract with one of the AHL's top teams.
These fluctuations in wealth shape Wolanin's life in 2025.
Last Jan. 4, the Abbotsford Canucks found themselves stagnant in the Pacific Division standings and felt the sting of a 6-2 victory over the Laval Rocket. A players-only post-game meeting followed. Wolanin was a key member of Abbotsford's leadership team at the time, and he and his teammates found themselves in danger of falling out of contention. Instead, they regrouped and went 30-9-1-1 the rest of the regular season, then battled through five rounds of the Calder Cup playoffs.
By June 23, a team that had struggled in January had become Calder Cup champions. Wolanin also played an important role in this surge. He contributed one goal and 27 assists in his final 41 regular season games. Then he added 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists) in 17 playoff games.
Entering free agency, Wolanin is sure to receive many outstanding offers in the 2025-26 season and beyond. He is a two-time AHL All-Star and won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL's outstanding defenseman in the 2022-23 season. Adds 86 NHL regular season games as a simple plug-and-play recall option for teams. Now he's won the Calder Cup.
Everyone loves a winner.
But it didn't happen.
July has come and gone. The same goes for August. Same goes for September. there is nothing.
Wolanin is candid about the situation.
“You don't really expect it to be like this after you win, do you?” said Wolanin, who had surgery to repair a sports hernia in the offseason. “Not many businesses can afford to go backwards after success.”
The ripple effect on professional hockey jobs is very real. One player signs somewhere, and the collateral consequences can impact several other players in North America and overseas. All the while, Wolanin still has to be in tip-top shape just in case the general manager calls. He was based in the Los Angeles area during the offseason, skating with other free agents Chase DeLeo and Matt Nieto. That means a 90-minute commute to the Toyota Sports Performance Center, the training facility of the Los Angeles Kings and Ontario Reign.
There's still a long way to go before the hockey playoffs and winning a championship.
“When you have a team, you appreciate it because that grind is no joke,” Wolanin admitted. “I guess it answers the question of how much you really enjoy the game.”
Still, he had enough joy to carry him through those long commutes. For one, he's married.
Now he just needs a job, summer has turned into fall, and he's getting nowhere.
“You just try to understand the situation,” Wolanin said. “It's been a little tough on my wife (Emily) and I'm just sitting at home unemployed. To be honest, I've been through a lot of adversity, but I like to think I've always come out on top of things. “
On November 20, his fate finally changed. That's when the Providence Bruins invited him to a pro tryout. The Boston Bruins are injured, which means Providence finds itself in need of immediate help. Although it's not a complete contract, beggars certainly can't be picky. Providence is the primary landing spot for any player in the AHL.
It's a wait, but worth it.
“I'm very grateful to get a call from a high-end team that has a great culture that's already winning games,” Wolanin said. “So it makes my job easy to come in and try to contribute and contribute and keep them winning.”
Wolanin's P-Bruins debut came quickly. Two nights after signing, he was on the ice in Providence for a game against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. On November 26, in his second game, he provided 4 assists in the team's 5-1 victory over Toronto. He followed that up with a two-assist night in Belleville (one of his previous stops), and he quickly became a mainstay on Providence's back end.
The Bruins were also pleased with the game and signed Wolanin to a standard AHL player contract for the entire season on December 7.
“He fits exactly what we need and who we need,” head coach Ryan Mognell explain. “Of course he has a chance here.”
The Bruins are 22-6-1-0 (.776), the best record in the Eastern Conference. Wolanin is able to get the puck out of trouble and distribute it. He can bolster any power play, and Providence ranks fifth in the AHL in manpower advantage at 25.3%. One of Wolanin's biggest strengths is his ability to create offensive opportunities but remain patient and calm. He doesn't force plays unnecessarily.
“He lived up to the hype,” Mugnell continued. “I've been following his career for a while, so I've always been a fan. He really brings a different energy to us. He sees the game before it comes. He's calm, he's consistent, he's energetic. And he's been coached by some really good coaches. I know that. Todd McClellanIt had a great influence on him, and I can be considered Todd’s disciple. “
Now that Wolanin is settled in Providence, it's easy to forget where he was six weeks ago. He didn't.
“I'm sitting here acting like it's all sunshine and rainbows, but that's not the case,” Wolanin admitted. “I was a little impatient and a little frustrated with the situation. But when you're drying out your gear in the trunk of your car, you realize how much you love the game.
“This is just a test of your will.”
Now that Wolanin is back on the court, he has a chance to once again charge for the Calder Cup.
“As frustrating as it is and a little confusing,” Wolanin said, “I’m just so grateful to be in a place like this with a great group of players.
“I think one thing I take away from this is that I love this game and I'm going to do whatever it takes to keep playing.”
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
