The Abbotsford Canucks defeated the Charlotte Checkers 3-2 in Game 6 and have won the 2025 Calder Cup, the first in franchise history.
This is the first AHL championship for a Vancouver Canucks affiliate.
Canucks goaltender Arturs Silovs takes home the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as Playoff MVP after posting a 16-7 record with a .931 SP, 2.01 GAA and five shutouts on the run to the championship, including 28 saves in Game 6.
John Leonard and Jack Devine scored in the first to jump the Checkers out to a 2-0 lead before Sammy Blais notched his sixth of the playoffs on the powerplay to get one back before the end of the period.
Danila Klimovich scored early in the second to tie the game before Arshdeep Bains found Linus Karlsson on a nifty cross-ice pass that he put home with just under three minutes left in the second. The goal stood up as the winner after the Canucks held off a last minute barrage to capture the title.
Karlsson led the playoffs in goals with 14 and points with 26 in 24 games. Bains led the playoffs with 17 assists in finishes second behind Karlsson with 24 points. Blais finished in a tie for third with 19 points and led the playoffs with 77 penalty minutes.
The Canucks defense core deserves a ton of credit for managing the relentless Charlotte forecheck. Christian Wolanin, Jett Woo, Victor Mancini, Guillaume Brisebois and Akito Hirose all played big roles, while Kirill Kudryavtsev led the playoffs as a +18 and has emerged as difference maker.
After eight seasons as a development and assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs Manny Malhotra caps off an incredible rookie head coaching season and will certainly draw NHL interest this off season.
The Canucks defeated the Tucson Roadrunners 2-1, the defending Western Conference champion Coachella Valley Firebirds 3-1, the Colorado Eagles 3-2, and the Texas Stars 4-2 before defeating the Checkers in six.
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Photo Credit: Abbotsford Canucks on X