The Abbotsford Canucks are off to the 2025 Calder Cup Finals. After a 2–1 overtime loss in Texas on Friday, the AHL Canucks locked down their spot in the Calder Cup Finals in front of their fans. In this 4–2 Game 6 match against the Texas Stars, Arshdeep Bains potted two, while Jujhar Khaira and Max Sasson also found the back of the net. Artūrs Šilovs kept the net safe, stopping 22 of 24 shots against. With the win, Abbotsford will take on the Eastern Conference Champion Charlotte Checkers.
Abbotsford tore out of the gates with a bang, swarming Texas’ zone for the first few minutes of the period. This stretch of O-zone time was interrupted after the Stars brought the puck back out to Abbotsford’s zone, during which Max Sasson was called for slashing. Prior to tonight, Abbotsford had allowed four power play goals against the Stars. In their first penalty kill of the night, the team looked to have bounced back, negating many of Texas’ chances and keeping centre ice locked up.
It didn’t take long for the AHL Canucks to end up back on the penalty kill. 10 minutes after taking their first of the game, and around a minute after getting a power play opportunity of their own, Abbotsford ended up shorthanded yet again after Nate Smith was called for boarding. Texas held possession through most of it, but Šilovs was there to stop any shots that came through.
The opening goal of the game came off a crazy sequence that initially had Abbotsford fans thinking they’d scored. The AHL Canucks fired a shot on Magnus Hellberg’s net, with the puck barely bouncing off the crossbar. While Abbotsford had thought they’d scored, Texas stole the puck back and capitalized on the opening to take a 1–0 lead into the first intermission.
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Tonight, Hellberg showed Abbotsford why Texas made the right choice in having him start Game 5 and Game 6 in favour of Remi Poirier. The Stars’ goaltender endured long stretches of long-range and in-tight offence from the AHL Canucks, racking up 17 saves by the halfway point of the game. After Abbotsford gave up the 2–0 goal in the second period, Hellberg made a big stop on Dino Kambeitz to keep the AHL Canucks off the scoresheet.
Things started to go Abbotsford’s way after their first goal from Bains. Taking a one-goal deficit into the third period, the AHL Canucks tied things up less than two minutes in off a tally from Khaira. They continued the pressure by keeping O-zone possession and winning their battles past the blueline.
The Abbotsford Centre erupted when Sasson scored the AHL Canucks’ go-ahead goal with less than 10 minutes left in the third period. After virtually the entire period was spent in Texas’ zone, Abbotsford finally cracked Hellberg for a third time. When the time came to lock things down, the AHL Canucks did exactly that, delivering a masterclass in defending a late lead while also adding a beautiful empty-net goal to their arsenal. It was exactly the type of performance you’d expect from a team hungry to make the Calder Cup Finals.
“It’s obviously a huge step for us as a group, as an organization,” Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra said postgame of the win. “I’m happy to see the guys getting rewarded for the way they’re playing and their commitment to what we’re trying to do here.”
“It’s been a goal of ours all year to get to this point, and obviously I’m really proud of everyone in that room. It takes a lot of hard work, a lot of effort throughout the year to get to this point. So yeah, we’ll enjoy this one tonight, but there’s still lots of work,” added AHL Canucks captain Chase Wouters.
“Pretty special accomplishment for this group, this organization, the staff, everyone,” Sasson said. “When you win the conference, you know, it’s pretty special. And we’re definitely pretty happy and excited in the locker room, and definitely gonna celebrate it tonight. And you know, it just means the world, and we’ll be ready for Charlotte, but we’ve got to enjoy these moments. They don’t come every year.”
Scoring Summary:
1st Period:
18:35 - TEX: Matěj Blümel (7) from Curtis McKenzie and Alex Petrovic
2nd Period:
13:05 - TEX: Harrison Scott (1) from Justin Ertel and Kyle Looft
18:52 - ABB: Arshdeep Bains (2) from Christian Wolanin and Sammy Blais
3rd Period:
1:52 - ABB: Jujhar Khaira (3) from Nate Smtih and Kirill Kudryavstev
11:50 - ABB: Max Sasson (4) from Akito Hirose and Phil Di Giuseppe
19:25 - ABB: Arshdeep Bains (3)
The 2025 Calder Cup Finals will begin on June 13 in Charlotte at 4:00 pm PT. The AHL will be back at the Abbotsford Centre for Games 3 (June 17), 4 (June 19), and 5 (June 21).
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