This summer, the Vancouver Canucks have found themselves at a bit of a crossroads. But 50 miles east on Highway 1, things couldn’t be better for their AHL affiliate.
In front of a raucous, towel-waving, sold-out crowd of 6,893 on Sunday, the Abbotsford Canucks punched their ticket to the Calder Cup final. With a 4-2 win over the Texas Stars, they earned the Robert W. Clarke Trophy as Western Conference champions.
It’s a huge step forward for a team that hadn’t been past the first round of the playoffs since relocating from Utica, N.Y., in 2021.
Sunday’s Game 6 win couldn’t have been scripted better, a home-ice comeback from an early 2-0 deficit. The Canucks outshot the Stars 40-25, including 17-4 in a dominant third period.
Arshdeep Bains, who hails from nearby Surrey, B.C, opened the scoring for Abbotsford late in the second period. Another Surrey native, Jujhar Khaira, snapped a wrister from the left faceoff circle to tie the game early in the third. After Max Sasson scored the game-winner, Bains sealed the series with an empty-netter.
This spring’s on-ice success in Abbotsford supercharges the synergies that Canucks Sports and Entertainment were targeting by bringing the farm team closer to home and piggybacking on the ‘Canucks’ brand name.
The AHL squad reaches hockey fans at a lower price point than the parent club, from a home base that serves some of B.C.’s fastest-growing municipalities, south of the Fraser River.
From 2021 to 2024, the populations of Surrey and Langley Township grew by more than 17 percent. Abbotsford and nearby Chilliwack are both projected to grow by about 16 percent between 2021 and 2030.
The region also has a strong South Asian population base that is passionate about hockey – best known for its street celebrations at the intersection of 72nd Ave and Scott Road in Surrey that gained national attention during the big club’s run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final.
Fourteen years later, having two kids from the area grow up to score huge post-season goals for Abbotsford is not just a victory for the hometown team, but also for visibility and diversity within the sport as a whole. So is seeing former Vancouver Canucks center Manny Malhotra, 45, knocking it out of the park in his first season in a head-coaching role.
“I'll say it again and again. Our group gets so much energy off the life in this building,” said Malhotra. “The fans have been outstanding (throughout) the entire playoff run. They're a big part of our success. This atmosphere here to play in front of has been really special for the guys, and we’re looking to continue that.”
A decade from now, don’t be surprised to hear someone describe what it meant to his 12-year-old self to see Bains and Khaira score on Sunday night. The more big moments the Abbotsford Canucks can deliver, the more new fans the organization will engage.
From Day 1, Abbotsford GM Ryan Johnson emphasized homegrown talent when building out his AHL roster, with an eye toward strengthening the team’s foundation all across British Columbia.
One first-year signing, Tristen Nielsen, hailed from Fort St. John and had just come off three seasons with the WHL’s Vancouver Giants, based in nearby Langley. He’s still with the team. Abbotsford-raised defender Noah Juulsen was also an early fixture on the blueline before eventually finding a full-time role in Vancouver. Bains was added in Year 2. Then, in 2023-24, Victoria’s Matt Irwin served as a veteran mentor to the defense. Khaira arrived last March in a trade with the Syracuse Crunch.
The Canucks will face the Florida Panthers’ AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers, for the chance to win the Calder Cup. The best-of-seven series, which will be played in a 2-3-2 format, opens Friday in Charlotte.
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