Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Players and teams learn from their successes.
They also can grow after setbacks.
The Abbotsford Canucks have gone through both sides of that professional dichotomy in a little more than nine months. It was last June 23 on the road against the Charlotte Checkers that they became the first Vancouver Canucks affiliate to win the Calder Cup. It was a hot, sticky night in Charlotte that completed a 24-game journey through five rounds of postseason action, a few close calls, and all of the drama and swings of emotion that come with pursuing one of hockey’s top feats.
This season will end much more quietly with just four games, all on the road, remaining. The 24-37-4-3 Canucks visit Calgary for a pair of games this weekend before facing the Ontario Reign on April 18. They compete for one final time the next night at Coachella Valley before they go into what will be a much longer offseason this year. A team that played the final home game of a championship run last June 21, this season’s club has already concluded its home schedule. They dropped a 2-0 decision at Rogers Forum last Saturday to the Firebirds before taking a 3-2 overtime setback in the rematch.
This season’s challenges began just days after the Canucks skated the Calder Cup, packed it up, flew home and celebrated with their fans. Sammy Blais signed as a free agent with the Montreal Canadiens. Goaltender Arturs Šilovs, who won the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the Calder Cup Playoffs, left in a trade to the Pittsburgh Penguins last July 13. Those two losses, along with several other departures, left the organization trying to rebuild its AHL-level depth.
When the season started, going through an 0-9-0-2 stretch put them in early trouble. Injuries piled up quickly. Vancouver needed roster reinforcements. And when the AHL affiliate hit that early trouble, Abbotsford pursued outside help.
It’s those day-to-day arrivals and departures for head coach Manny Malhotra that are most dizzying when looking back. Players have come, gone, and scattered across the global hockey map.
Through Wednesday, they have registered 124 transactions, and 51 players have logged at least one game with the team. Captain Chase Wouters, the first player who lifted the Calder Cup on Charlotte ice last summer, and newcomer defenseman Jimmy Schuldt have played a team-high 66 of 68 games so far. Long-term injuries sidelined Guillaume Brisebois and Kirill Kudryavtsev. Top prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki had season-ending shoulder surgery in February and only played 21 games with Abbotsford. Jett Woo went to the San Jose Sharks in a trade. Lukas Reichel came in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, played 26 games for Abbotsford, and then landed with the Boston Bruins in another deal. Six goaltenders have made at least one appearance.
On and on it went for Abbotsford.
Last season’s team had its struggles. A 6-2 road loss to the Laval Rocket in January 2025 prompted a players-only meeting. From there, though, a 30-9-1-1 turnaround sent Abbotsford on to a second-place finish in the Pacific Division and established Malhotra’s team as a Calder Cup contender.
That rally never came this time. They managed to win six of nine games at one point in January only to see their season fully unravel once February and March came. Yet they have proven they are not a late-season pushover. Coming out of the AHL All-Star break, they defeated the Ontario Reign, a team that holds first place in the Pacific Division and could reach 100 points, in back-to-back games on Abbotsford ice. They also swept San Diego in a two-game home set March 28-29 with the Gulls locked in a playoff fight.
“The results standings-wise definitely aren’t there,” Malhotra said after last Friday’s loss, “but it’s very easy for us to recognize the growth of the group and the execution and the game plan and the way they commit to doing the things that we ask of them.
“And…doing it with a positive attitude. That’s the biggest thing for us. It would be very easy to look at our situation and show up to the rink in a doom-and-gloom type attitude. But our guys come to the rink every day, smile on their face, ready to work.”
And nights like those are where this season’s lessons can be found – and will have to be found.
“We still showed up to the rink ready to work and to get better as a group and as a team,” Wouters said after the team’s home finale. “We didn’t get the results this year. It’s a long year, and we have a lot to learn from.”
Several players from last season’s championship roster went on to roles in Vancouver. Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, Victor Mancini, Ty Mueller, Jiří Patera, Aatu Räty, Max Sasson and Nikita Tolopilo are among the Abbotsford products who have seen time with Vancouver. Development continued this season even if the win-loss record took a hit. When next October comes, Abbotsford will be able to start fresh with a 0-0-0-0 record, but this year’s hard-earned lessons will carry over.
“You see guys get called up and play in the NHL,” Wouters continued, “and they’re doing their thing there. And that’s kind of what we’re about here. We push to make each other better, and that’s a big part of what we’ve been doing here in Abbotsford.”
After going through the experience of a Calder Cup, there is no getting around that it is difficult to play games now without a playoff berth on the line. That’s the test as Abbotsford schedule winds down, and it will be an opportunity to Malhotra and the Vancouver front office to gauge their prospects’ growth.
“At this stage for us,” Malhotra added, “it’s continuing to have pride in the way we carry ourselves, the way we perform, the level of compete that we bring to every single night.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.