It’s really important to note that the Abbotsford Canucks are now 5-0 when I am on Farmies duty.
I’m supposed to be celebrating my birthday this Saturday, but those plans may be cancelled to watch your Abbotsford Canucks potentially secure their FIRST Calder Cup Trophy in franchise history!
This run has been radically impressive to me in many ways.
First, Head Coach Manny Malhotra has made several in-series adjustments to get his team over the top.
During the Tucson Roadrunners series, his club survived the absences of Christian Wolanin, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and Nate Smith due to injuries. Despite missing key contributors, including players like John Stevens and Elias Pettersson, key figures during the club’s regular season, the club finished the opening round with a 21-save shutout from Arturs Silovs.
During the Coachella Valley series, the team saw Silovs put up his worst period of the entire season. Despite their starting goaltender conceding three goals on eight shots, Malhotra boldly decided to swap in backup netminder Nikita Tolopilo, who backstopped the club to a wildly impressive four-goal comeback and eventual overtime loss. Following that overtime loss, the club conceded just one goal against a long-time Pacific Division rival. That series, too, concluded with a 29-save shutout for Arturs Silovs.
The Colorado series saw the club flip-flop wins and losses. Abbotsford struggled to find its footing amidst a litany of lineup juggling in the wake of injuries and personal player struggles. That series began with a 22-save shutout and ended with a 34-save shutout for Silovs, despite the club playing without 2nd-line center Aatu Räty.
The Texas series saw Abbotsford take on one of the best teams in the AHL, whom they had never played during the regular season. They finished the series against Texas, having outshot their opponent 204-181 across all situations, and 170-131 at 5-on-5. Again, an impressive series where the roster was without key contributors due to injuries.
Now, against one of the top teams in the AHL regular season, another whom they had never played, the club splits the first two games on the road despite being soundly outshot and puts on a clinic on home ice in back-to-back outings thanks in no small part to the reinsertion of Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and loading up of the team’s first line with it’s three of its four highest scorers in Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, and Max Sasson.
Look, I’m not planning the parade, I don’t want to be the guy who jinxes everything. However, Charlotte’s time in Abbotsford has looked like a real struggle. The Canucks made mincemeat out of starting netminder Kappo Kahkonen’s blocker side, and there success on Thursday night began with that same exploit. When the club extended their lead, the Checkers leaned heavier on their defencemen’s aggressive pinches to manufacture offence, a scheme Malhotra exploited with his team’s own possession-driven breakout scheme that created an endless barrage of odd-man rush offence for the home team.
On Saturday, the Abbotsford Canucks have a chance to do what no other Vancouver Canuck AHL team could—and there were some loaded teams during the Manitoba Moose days—and win the Calder Cup Championship.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s recap how the Canucks extended their series lead to 3-1.
Starting lineup
Running it back 🔂
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— X – Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) June 20, 2025
1st period
The Farm came out buzzing early, finishing every check with conviction and moving the puck with purpose. An early shift saw Jett Woo and Ty Meller engage in a brutal d-zone board battle against the Checkers’ tenacious forward duo of Oliver Okuliar and Justin Sourdif.
Exactly one minute into the period, Woo won the battle and played the puck around the net to his d-partner, Christian Wolanin. Disengaging from the battle was Mueller, who Wolanin hit with a 100-ft tape-to-tape pass for the two-on-one rush entry.
As they had done five times in a single period during game two, Mueller went cross-ice to Jonathan Lekkerimäki for a one-timer over Kappo Kahkonen’s glove side, giving Abbotsford an early lead.
1-0 Canucks: Jonathan Lekkerimäki from Ty Mueller and Christian Wolanin
Before the halfway mark of the opening period, Lekkerimäki would tally three shots to his ledger. Manny Malhotra wanted a punch-up to his club’s shot volume after games one and two, and while held to a single shot in game three, he answered the call early and often for Abbotsford in a critical game four.
A minute after Lekkerimäki’s goal, Jujhar Khaira drew the game’s first power play. Chasing down a dump-in, Khaira hung his arm around Charlotte’s Kyle Criscuolo, taking a rather needless interference penalty in the process.
The Checkers tested Silovs a handful of times on the man advantage, but he was stellar settling long shots from distance and chaos in the crease.
Moments after the Canucks’ unflappable PK continued it’s undefeated streak, Woo and Charlotte’s Okuliar went to the box for coincidental roughing minors.
One minute into the 4-on-4, Linus Karlsson drew a four-minute double minor against Michael Benning, giving Abbotsford a minute of 4-on-3 power play time and three minutes of 5-on-4 power play time.
While it wasn’t funny for Karlsson, seeing him argue for the high-sticking call with a bloody face and succeeding was. You don’t see that too often.
For the 4-on-3, Malhotra rolled out a power play group featuring Sammy Blais, Max Sasson, Lekkerimäki, and Wolanin. Unsurprisingly, this group generated a handful of looks early, including a powerful one-timer from Lekkerimäki that slammed off Kahkonen’s net.
Though the Canucks’ power play failed to convert on the extended man advantage, it was easily the best they’ve looked from a chance generation perspective. The Farm moved the puck very well and looked unafraid to shoot. In previous games, the Canucks’ power play looked hesitant to shoot; opting for the perfect set play, instead of just shooting with conviction whenever a lane was open.
The one time a Canuck took their time to settle the puck, it negated what would have been a surefire power play goal. With less than 50 seconds to go in the man advantage, Linus Karlsson zipped a cross-ice pass through three Checkers’ skaters to Sammy Blais for a one-timer chance. Unfortunately, Blais had set himself up for the wrist shot, not the one-timer.
Thirty seconds after Abbotsford’s power play, Nate Smith went to the box for high-sticking, giving Charlotte their second power play of the period.
The Canucks’ PK stood tall once more, with Silovs stopping point shots, Sasson blocking shots and clearing the zone, and Abbotsford’s PK staples Chase Wouters and Guillaume Brisebois pushing players to the perimeter to negate the cycle.
Upon the return to 5-on-5, Wolanin hit Woo with an incredible cross-ice feed for a tap-in opportunity, only for the puck to deflect high and wide.
Looking to one-up his “pass from his rear-end” second-effort in Game Three, Arshdeep Bains did this:
By my count, that was three successful touches and a stick-lift leading to a shot on goal for Victor Mancini despite being held, spun down to one knee, and having just one hand on his stick.
Late in the period, Chase Wouters caught Trevor Carrick with a high stick while forechecking behind the Checkers’ goal line.
With their premiere PK centerman in the box, Malhotra started his team’s third PK with Max Sasson taking the draw alongside Bains and a d-pair of Mancini and Brisebois.
The Farm would finish the 1st period 3/3 on the PK. Most encouraging was Silovs’ dispelling concerns that his ability to spot shots from distance at the AHL level had regressed.
At 5-on-5, the Canucks held a clear edge in the control of play. While Charlotte finished the frame up 10-6 in shots on goal, the bulk came on the man advantage where the Canucks were aces.
2nd period
The 1st-period penalty shenanigans didn’t allow for too many shifts for Kirill Kudryavtsev and Akito Hirose, who have been absolutely stellar for Abbotsford throughout the regular season and into the playoffs. Here’s a highlight reel of the little things Kudryavtsev does, and why it’s led to the preposterous plus-14 goal differential at 5-on-5 with him on the ice at 5-on-5.
What’s remarkable about his game is his tight gap and active stick. John Leonard is an AHL veteran of almost 250 games, who scored 36 goals this past season in Charlotte. During this early 2nd-period sequence, Kudryavtsev sticks to him like glue while on the retreat, and gets a tap on the puck at the perfect moment to force Leonard into peeling back and dumping the puck down the wall.
Kudryavtsev picks up Leonard’s dump-in, then makes an uncharacteristic mistake of playing the puck short to Hirose, who is distracted by the incoming hit from behind, missing the pass and giving way to an extended drive for Charlotte. Kudryavtsev recovers quickly, charges through the middle, and ties Kyle Criscuolo’s stick up the entire way to deny the potential tip/deflection attempt.
Kudryavtsev resets toward the middle when Charlotte resets at the point. In just a handful of seconds, Kudryavtsev scans his surroundings, leaves the net front to Hirose, clocks Criscuolo coming down the wall, clocks Wilmer Skoog’s body positioning behind the net, and correctly/instantly drops to block Skoog’s backhand pass to Criscuolo. Kudryavtsev’s quick read and well-placed stick deflects Skoog’s pass back into the boards, where Nate Smith recovers and breaks the puck out for Abbotsford.
The above might not seem like much, but this is high IQ stuff from a 21-year-old in his first season as a professional, in his first bit of AHL playoff action.
Wouters would make up for his high-sticking infraction by drawing a tripping penalty against former 4th overall pick of the Edmonton Oilers, Jesse Puljujärvi.
Unlike their four-minute double minor opportunity earlier in the game, this power play was much less dynamic and threatening, with a shot from Karlsson off the crossbar registering as Abbotsford’s best chance of the man advantage.
Unsurprisingly, Kudryavtsev would get a touch on Abbotsford’s lone shot on goal of the power play, setting Danila Klimovich up for a wrist shot after picking off a clearing attempt at the blue line.
Upon the return to 5-on-5, Smith, Khaira, and Mancini executed a perfect passing sequence along the ozone half wall. The Canucks’ quick puck movement completely stifled the Checkers’ coverage, allowing Phil Di Giuseppe to drive toward Kahkonen uncontested for a high-danger scoring chance.
Shortly after heaping praise on Kudryavtsev for all the good things he does, his lone weakness stood out near the midway point of the second, when Charlotte’s Jack Devine blitzed past him, circling the net to set up Trevor Carick for a dangerous scoring chance.
Arshdeep Bains blew out a glass panel while forechecking, stalling the game for several minutes.
Upon the reset, Kudryavtsev flubbed a clearance on the half wall, giving way to a sketchy scoring chance for Trevor Carrick from behind the goal line that deflected off a body, up and over Silovs’ back and into the blue paint.
With Charlotte gaining momentum at 5-on-5, Bains picked up a high-flip into the neutral zone and put the moves on Charlotte’s Matt Kiersted before putting the Canucks up 2-nothing with a goal through Kahkonen’s five-hole.
2-0 Canucks: Arshdeep Bains from Max Sasson and Linus Karlsson
With vibes at an all-time high, the 5’10” Tristen Nielsen made his first big play of the game, driving through the much larger 6’3″ Marek Alscher with a gigantic hit.
With six minutes left in the frame, Kudryavtsev showed off his physical edge while defending a rush drive by Wilmer Skoog. After sticking to his man on the retreat, the 5’11” Kudryavtsev pulled up his stick, effortlessly getting his shoulder under 6’2″ Skoog and bodying him into the end wall.
The entire squad looked energized by the 2-nothing goal from Bains.
Silovs flashed the glove on John Leonard.
Mancini sprang Khaira, Smith, and Wouters on a three-on-two rush with an excellent no-look pass inside the neutral zone.
Sammy Blais sprang Nate Smith and himself into the offensive zone for a dangerous two-on-one rush.
The vibes were at an all-time high as the Canucks began finding their rhythm and ability to take advantage of the Checkers’ defensive group’s overly aggressive pinches into the neutral zone.
The Checkers’ best chance of the period came off a tough d-to-d pass from Jett Woo to Hirose that rebounded out to the right circle for Jesse Puljujärvi.
Though the shot clock favoured Charlotte, the Canucks went into the third with a commanding lead and momentum on their side.
3rd period
Though their number of games played skews the stat, the Abbotsford Canucks went into Game Four’s third period holding a ludicrous plus-17 goal differential. Including game three’s absurd five-goal finale, the team had a goalscoring edge of 25-8 in third periods these playoffs.
Naturally, Jonathan Lekkerimäki scored four minutes into the period to extend that differential to plus-18.
3-0 Canucks: Jonathan Lekkerimäki (2) from Ty Mueller and Sammy Blais
Yes, Blais’ saucer pass to Lekkerimäki is slick, but a lot of credit has to go to Ty Mueller for the 3-nothing goal sequence. Mueller kickstarts the sequence by picking up the rebound that sails hard off Silovs’ mask, quickly skating the puck out of dangerous territory before hitting Blais with the entry pass.
Five minutes into the frame, Nielsen drew another high-sticking penalty to give Abbotsford their fourth power play opportunity of the game.
Wolanin combined with Karlsson for two shots on Kahkonen, which would be Abbotsford’s best.
With 17 seconds left on the man advantage, Matt Kiersted drew a tripping penalty against Nielsen, which gave way to a streak-ending power play goal for Charlotte.
It was an extremely soft call, all things considered. Nielsen makes a play for the puck as Kiersted skates over Nielsen’s stick.
After a scrambly sequence, the Checkers re-entered the zone with speed, with Jack Devine going cross-ice to Kyle Criscuolo for a one-timer goal.
3-1 Canucks: Kyle Criscuolo from Jack Devine and Eamon Powell
A few minutes later, Bains drew an offsetting roughing minor against John Leonard after some post-whistle shenanigans. A point shot from Matt Kiersted would be either team’s only on-goal offence.
With three minutes left in the game, Checkers’ Head Coach Geordie Kinnear pulled Kahkonen to the bench for the extra attacker.
Silovs was excellent throughout, tracking pucks through a maze of traffic around his crease during Charlotte’s lengthy and testy 6-on-5.
However, despite Abbotsford’s well-fought effort to try for empty net goals and tie the puck along the boards, the Checkers pressure paid off with a late goal, halving the Canucks lead with less than 30 seconds remaining.
3-2 Canucks: Jack Devine from Justin Sourdif and John Leonard
Fortunately, after setting up an offensive zone cycle, Linus Karlsson swept the loose puck down the ice, eating up the balance of seconds remaining, securing Abbotsford’s victory.
CanucksArmy’s Three Stars
- Jonathan Lekkerimäki
- Arturs Silovs
- Christian Wolanin
What are next?
The Abbotsford Canucks will have their first of three chances to win their first ever Calder Cup, this Saturday June 21st at 6 PM PST.
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