Abbotsford won six of their eight games in the month of November.
The Abbotsford Canucks had a November to remember as they went 6-2 while outscoring their opponents 26 to 15. From strong goaltending performances to offensive production from their entire lineup, the Canucks improved their overall record to 11-5-1 and remain one of the top goal-scoring teams in the AHL. While there are still 55 games to go, this is an encouraging start and one that has Abbotsford as one of the teams to beat in the Western Conference.
What made Abbotsford's success in November even more impressive was that they could win games despite missing some of their top players. Arshdeep Bains, Vasili Podkolzin and Tristen Nielsen all missed time this past month with injuries, while Nils Åman, Cole McWard and Akito Hirose are missing from the lineup due to being called up to Vancouver. Despite constantly shuffling lines and players in and out of the lineup, the Canucks continued to win games showing just how deep of a squad they have.
One player who was impressive over the past month is Linus Karlsson. The recently turned 24-year-old had eight points in eight games while also making his NHL debut in the middle of the month against the Calgary Flames. While the point production is something to get excited about, his consistency in getting shots on net is something that may have slipped under the radar. In his eight AHL games, he had at least one shot in each, compiling 24 over the month of November. In addition, he also recorded three shots in his NHL debut despite playing less than 12 minutes. If he can continue this consistency throughout the rest of the year, he could find himself back in the NHL lineup sooner rather than later.
Lastly, head coach Jeremy Colliton and general manager Ryan Johnson deserve a ton of credit for the team's early success. Not only has their hard work led to a strong start to the season for Abbotsford, but their ability to ensure that their team plays a similar style to the NHL club has made it easy for players to easily transition into Vancouver's lineup. They continue to lead this team in the right direction and are helping make the entire Canucks organization stronger from top to bottom.
Abbotsford now gets set for a busy 11-game month of December. This will include visits from Laval, three straight against Coachella Valley and, just like November, finishing up with two straight in Calgary.