Goaltender Ty Young earned his first shutout in a 4-0 Abbotsford win over the Colorado Eagles.
Abbotsford Canucks goaltender Ty Young earned his first career AHL shutout against the Colorado Eagles, stopping 23 shots in a 4-0 win on March 7. Young, a fifth-round Canucks pick in the 2022 draft, has split the last two seasons between the AHL and ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings.
“[The] team came out hot, played really good in front of me,” Young commented post-game, “that kind of just carried the momentum forward and felt pretty good after that, a little bit more comfortable. It takes the nerves away a little bit.”
The 21-year-old goaltender has played 24 games for Abbotsford, with an overall record of 11-13. Young played junior hockey with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars in northern BC, appearing in parts of four seasons with the team. Young also played 17 games with the Junior A AJHL Calgary Canucks ahead of being drafted by the professional Canucks organization.
The shutout came in Young’s third game back after his most recent callup from Kalamazoo. Young credited his 13-game midseason ECHL stint as a good refresh ahead of his second AHL run, having started his Abbotsford campaign with seven straight losses.
“The opportunity I got there to go down and play and figure out my game a little bit. I couldn't be more grateful for that. Obviously, didn't want the start that I had this year, but all you can do is just kind of build, grow, and learn from it.”
“I just kind of feel a lot stronger now, and it's great. Getting a little bit looser almost and just kind of going back to having fun with it and feeling less pressure.”
With Nikita Tolopilo called up to play for Vancouver in lieu of the injured Thatcher Demko, Young has been sharing the crease with AHL veteran Jiří Patera as the Abbotsford season nears its end. It has been a revolving door of skaters and netminders alike in Abbotsford due to a plethora of injuries to the NHL and AHL squads. Young and Patera are two of six netminders who have played at least a period for the Canucks this season, including an emergency back-up goalie who entered a game in Colorado earlier in the season after Young left early with an injury.
Young signed his entry-level contract in 2023, which went into effect when he became a pro last season with Kalamazoo and Abbotsford. Young is one of three goalies drafted by the Canucks in the last five years, along with 2021 fifth-round pick Aku Koskenvuo, who also got his first AHL shutout earlier this season with Abbotsford, and 2025 second-round selection Alexei Medvedev.
It has been an underwhelming season for Abbotsford overall, a tough turnaround after their 2025 Calder Cup win. The team were the first to be eliminated from the AHL postseason, and currently sit at the bottom of the league standings as the regular season comes to a close. At the time of writing, the team sits last in Goals For and has the third-highest Goals Against in the AHL. Young and Koskenvuo are the only goalies to have earned a shutout this season, as Abbotsford have struggled throughout the year to keep pucks out of their zone and especially out of their net.
Still, there is promise for the young netminder. As the Canucks enter their rebuilding phase, a developing goalie like Young is a promising asset for years to come. The team will have another goaltending logjam at the start of next season, barring any trades, as Tolopilo will need to pass through waivers to join the AHL squad, just as Calder Cup MVP Artūrs Šilovs would have had to before being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. With the organization having Demko and Kevin Lankinen signed on for next year, it will be an uncertain offseason for the Canucks goaltending depth chart. Eyes will be on all the young netminders, including Young, who has practiced on occasion with the big club, as they now turn to their future potential.
“Dream come true,” Young commented on his Vancouver experience, “They were my favourite team growing up. So, to be able to go there and just be a part of that group and be one of the guys there is obviously a dream. So, hopefully [I] can go up there full-time soon.”
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