We are so back.

The training wheels were off, and for the first time since falling to the Ontario Reign on home soil in the spring, the Abbotsford Canucks were back on the ice for regular-season action.

Kicking things off on the road, the Canucks visited Calgary to face the Wranglers for their first of 12 meetings this season. Last year, it was Abbotsford grabbing the edge with a 7-4-1-0 record. This year? Well, they got off to a good start.

Despite a slow start to the game, the Canucks settled in to eventually top their Pacific Division rivals to open their 2024-25 season on the right foot.

It’s the first Farmies of the year, so let’s dive right in.

The big news of the evening was rookie sensation Jonathan Lekkerimaki’s absence. The 20-year-old did leave their final inter-squad scrimmage in noticeable discomfort just under a week ago, but it is not confirmed if that is the reason for not dressing.

Fellow rookies Ty Mueller and Kirill Kudryavtsev dressed to make their AHL debuts while most of the team’s newcomers drew into the lineup.

You’ll notice that Christian Wolanin was not in the lineup. With young and new faces needing to get looks, combined with the dreaded veteran rule, the 29-year-old veteran sat this one out.

The season got off to a fun start, with Linus Karlsson and Wrangler’s forward Lucas Ciona exchanging pleasantries, each sitting for two minutes. With the game not even one minute old, we were off to 4-on-4 play.

It took nearly two and a half minutes to see the game’s first shot, as rookie Ty Mueller and Jett Woo combined for an unfortunate offensive zone giveaway that sent two Wrangler forwards on the rush.

Going wide on rookie defender Kirill Kudryavtsev, Ilya Nikoleav threw the cross-ice dish toward William Strömgren in an attempt to grab a redirection for the game’s first goal. Tolopilo stuck with it and sent it to the corner.

Out of the box, Linus Karlsson notched the team’s inaugural shot for the season, providing pressure to the defender, grabbing the loose puck and cutting into the slot before delivering an easily handled backhand.

Minutes later, Guillmae Brisebois lost his check at the netfront, slowly drifting toward the puck career, leaving Jakob Pelletier all alone in front to pick up a dangerous chance.

Luckily, Nikita Tolopilo bails his defender out, using all of his 6-foot-6 frame to cover the low end of the net and give the shooter little to work with.

We saw the game’s first powerplay, as newcomer Carsen Twarynski got his stick up high on former Canuck Hunter Brzustewicz to send the Wranglers to the powerplay just before the midway point of the period.

PK1 – Max Sasson, Chase Wouters, Cole McWard and Jett Woo
PK2 – John Stevens, Ty Mueller, Elias Pettersson and Mark Friedman

Much like it was for the majority of the 2023-24 campaign, the Canucks successfully killed the penalty, giving up just one high-danger chance throughout its entirety.

That chance was a result of three Canucks unnecessarily attempting to score, despite being a man down. Hoping to capitalize on an odd-man rush, three Canucks gunned toward the Wranglers’ net before Nate Smith sent an errand pass that missed each of them. All alone, Martin Frk fired the puck above the net, bailing the Canuck penalty kill out while keeping the game in a scoreless stalemate.

With the penalty killed, the Canucks finally got their first real opportunity of the young game. Following a quick chip past the Wrangler defender, the Canucks broke out three strong, leading to Mark Friedman and Max Sasson connecting for a give-and-go opportunity.

Finally, it was time for the Canucks to see their first powerplay of the year after Sammy Blais fell victim to a nasty knee-on-knee by Walker Duehr.

PP1 – Tristen Nielsen, Max Sasson, Linus Karlsson, Danila Klimovich and Erik Brännström
PP2 – Sammy Blais, Ty Mueller, John Stevens, Cole McWard and Jett Woo

Despite sustained pressure throughout the two-minute frame, the Canucks did not garner any real chances for shots or even low-danger opportunities. But that did not stop them from taking over the game.

With momentum on their side, the Canucks pressed hard, which led to them in the opposition’s end. With the puck showcasing a mind of its own, rookie Kirill Kudryavtsev pounced on the loose puck, finding Carsen Twarynski all alone at the netfront. In a quick decision, the newcomer and AHL veteran sent it over to captain Chase Wouters, who made no mistake in opening the season’s scoring.

But wait, there was more.

With just 30 seconds remaining in the frame, recently acquired Erik Brännström provided a strong move to wrap around before throwing an errand puck toward the net. As they say, go to the net, and good things happen. That’s exactly the case for Sammy Blais, as the puck was redirected off his skate to double the lead later in the frame.

The first 15 minutes of the game showcased tons of rust, nerves, and sloppy play, with few strong opportunities at the end. But with a strong finish, the Canucks brought a two-goal lead into the dressing room after 20 minutes, outshooting their opponents 9-8.

Nikita Tolopilo picked up where he left off in the opening frame, calmly kicking out a Sam Morton shot for his 10th save of the match.

Shortly after, the Wranglers got a break after Guillaume Brisebois was questionably hauled down to send the home team on a clear 3-on-1. Yet, in true Elias Pettersson fashion, he laid out to block the pass and eat the entire play.

That’s D-Petey, to you.

Moments later, newcomer Nate Smith feathered a perfect saucer pass to send Danila Klimovich alone on the breakaway. He made no mistake, tucking his first of the season under the bar to triple his team’s lead early in the second period.

The Wranglers finally got themselves on the board, and as expected, Hunter Brzustewicz picked up his first AHL point, delivering a perfectly placed backdoor tap-in pass to Rory Kerins.

The Abbotsford Canucks blew this game out just past the midway point of the period. Following a d-to-d pass, Elias Pettersson sent a point shot that missed the net short side. Bouncing hard off the brand-new boards at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the puck deflected right on the stick of Tristen Nielsen, who made no mistake in depositing his first of the season and regaining their three-goal lead.

The Wranglers wouldn’t go down without a fight, though. With just under five minutes remaining in the frame, Sam Morton won the face-off before finding Ilya Solovyov. He beat a screened Tolopilo cleanly with a point shot, who saw nothing courtesy of his own 6-foot-3 defender, Guillaume Brisebois.

It happened so quickly from the face-off that the stream did not actually catch the play leading up to the goal. All that was left was the evidence of Brisebois’s incredible screen on his netminder.

From there, the game slowed its pace as both teams looked to get to the dressing room to discuss their next plans.

After 40 minutes of play, the shots were 20-15 in favour of the away team, which had a doubled score.

Once again, it was the Belarusian netminder standing tall earlier. This time, a composed save off the lone forward on the far side, Ilya Nikolaev, who tried to fool Tolopilo on the low far side. As he had been all night, Tolopilo was up to his typical calm, cool and composed tricks.

The Abby top line provided some good forecheck early, with Nielsen finishing his check to force the puck out. That puck found its way to Karlsson, who couldn’t corral enough of it to get off a legit chance. Instead, it was fended off easily by the Wranglers’ netminder, Devin Cooley.

Shortly after that play, Calgary was caught with an extra forward, notching its third penalty of the game.

On the powerplay, the Canucks provided decent pressure, but once again, and much like they did for much of the year last season, they could not generate much toward the net. With no shots, Jett Woo cut their time short by delivering a nasty cross-check to even the skaters a four apiece for 28 seconds.

On that ensuing man advantage, Rory Kerins collected the puck down low and was gifted the space to take his time and walk in toward Tolopilo. Not only was he able to grab a shot in tight, but he also followed up on his rebound and tucked the puck under the bar to cut the lead to one.

Guess who was off in no man’s land? That’s right, Guillaume Brisebois.

From there, the Canucks were noticeably shaken, almost immediately giving up a second prime-A scoring chance courtesy of Clark Bishop. Saving the day, once again, was Tolopilo, who stood tall to shut the door and deny the equalizer.

To add insult to injury, Carsen Twarynski took a holding penalty just before the midway mark of the final stanza, providing even further momentum to the home team.

As they had been all night, the Canucks were up to the task, allowing zero opportunity for the Wranglers to set up to deliver a perfect penalty kill.

That kill would prove huge, as moments later, Ty Mueller was brought down early by the brute defender Artem Grushnikov, sending them on their fourth powerplay of the game. And, more importantly, killing two valuable minutes off of the clock.

As was the case for much of this game, the powerplay did not amount to much, but that time spent in the offensive zone brought them closer to the final five minutes.

Rory Kerins, who had been giving the Canucks trouble all night, found himself in the slot and somehow vanished from Brisebois’s eye to nearly find the equalizer. Once again, Brisebois found himself drifting into no man’s land, and once again, Tolopilo bailed him out.

To make it as hard as humanly possible for them, Dino Kambietz hauled a Calgary defender down in the offensive zone to hand their opponents one final powerplay before the final buzzer.

Could the third-man advantage of the period finally be the one that sends this game to a tie?

Well, the answer is no, and in the final ticks of the powerplay, the Wranglers pulled their netminder to give them the two-man advantage. Once again, the Canucks’ defence held strong, killing their fourth of five penalty kills in the evening.

Despite a last-minute press, with zero shots on net, the home team was unable to find an equalizer as the Abbotsford Canucks held on to take the first installment of a 12-game season slate by a score of 4-3.

The game showed obvious signs of being a “first game of the season,” with several stints of uneasy and run-and-gun play. Yet, thanks to a few hot moments, the Canucks were able to stave off a loss in their season opener. The Abbotsford defeated the Calgary Wranglers by a score of 4-3.

Tonight’s third star goes to the new rookies navigating their debuts. Ty Mueller played well, was utilized on both special teams’ units, and carried himself well. Kirill Kirill Kudryavtsev played as advertised, made some sound plays, and even picked up his first AHL point.

With 20 saves, Nikita Tolopilo grabs tonight’s second star. While he wasn’t always busy, he calmly set aside several grade-A opportunities and could have let this game slip away.

Getting this year’s scoring off, captain Chase Wouters notches tonight’s first star. He ended the match with an assist to boot, finishing with two points and a plus-2 on the evening.

These two will meet again on Sunday for a matinee match at the Scotiabank Saddledome. The puck will drop at 12:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

CanucksArmy! The season is HERE, and what better way to kick it off than with your crew at Greta? It’s all going down on Saturday, October 19th at CanucksArmy’s home for the fans, Greta Bar! We’ve got it all—prizes, trivia, and more to keep the energy buzzing all night. And this time, we’re doing it for a great cause, supporting the BC Mental Health Foundation. Doors open at 3PM, and you know the drill—tickets are going fast, so hit up nationgear.ca before they’re gone. This event is 19+.