Words can be hard to come by for players on a team that just won their first championship in franchise history. However, that wasn’t the case for the 2025 Calder Cup champion Abbotsford Canucks, who took down the Charlotte Checkers in six games to win the title after five gruelling playoff rounds. In postgame interviews with Vancouver Canucks Insider member Lindsey Horsting, four members of the team spoke on the feeling of being Calder Cup champions.
“It feels unbelievable,” said Calder Cup Playoffs MVP Artūrs Šilovs. “We worked so hard for it, sacrificed so much, and we managed to win it on the road.”
While Linus Karlsson gave him a run for his money, Šilovs was still undisputedly the team’s MVP throughout their five-round playoff run. He posted five shutouts and a 2.01 GAA while starting in every single one of the team’s 24 playoff games. In the Cup-clinching victory, Šilovs made 28 saves on 30 shots faced, not allowing a goal for the final 47 minutes of play.
“I think we just managed to raise the level. Especially when you want to shut the team down, in the clinching games,” he added regarding how he has managed to excel during the postseason. “I just feel in my comfort zone.”
This championship-winning Abbotsford team is special for more than one reason. There is a core group of players who have been with the franchise since their inaugural season in 2021, with some being part of it even before then. Šilovs, whose first season with Abbotsford was their inaugural season, reflected on what it means to win with familiar players.
“It’s so special, basically I grew up with this team. We started nearly everyone at the same time, had ups and downs, and winning with the same guys is unbelievable.”
Šilovs was not the only player to give credit to the team’s veterans, as Karlsson also complimented players such as captain Chase Wouters and longtime Abbotsford Canuck John Stevens. Having joined the AHL Canucks in the 2022–23 season, Karlsson has seen the way the locker room has developed.
“Wouty, Stevens, they’ve been here for a long time, and they get this group together, I have to give them a lot of credit. Everyone feels welcome when they play here, and I’m so proud of them, they’re such great guys,” he said after the team’s Game 6 win. “I’m just so proud of this group. Everyone. I don’t know what to say. I’m just so happy right now. It’s worth it, every second with these guys. I’m just so proud.”
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Karlsson also gave a shoutout to the off-ice staff who help keep the team competitive in ways fans may not be able to see. “They’re great, that’s why we won too. They put in a lot of work for us and give us a lot of confidence to play out there, and I’m so proud of them too.”
From the perspective of someone who isn’t directly on the ice, but works closely with the players, this championship win meant something completely different, according to Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra. Malhotra won the Calder Cup once as a player back in the 1999–2000 season with the Hartford Wolf Pack. On Monday, he insisted the feeling of winning as a coach was much different.
“To watch the journey of this team throughout the course of the year and to watch them grow as players and watch us grow as a team, it’s an unbelievable feeling as a coach,” he told Horsting postgame. “They all believe in one-another, they believe in our system, they believe in the culture that they’ve built, and that’s the main reason that we’re Calder Cup champions.”
Abbotsford Canucks Head Coach Manny Malhotra Cites “Committee Mentality” As Key To The Team’s Successes
With every game they win in the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs, the Abbotsford Canucks keep on making franchise history. This season was the first time in club history they made the Division Finals in the Calder Cup Playoffs, nevermind the fact that they currently have a 2–1 series lead over the Texas Stars in the Western Conference Finals. Abbotsford has seen lots of success throughout their playoff run despite not playing with a fully healthy lineup. Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra uses the term “committee mentality” to describe their mindset going into games.
Throughout the postseason, Malhotra and the team have detailed their commitment to sticking to their systems and not being afraid to get to the dirty areas to scrape out a win. This was put on full-display during the better parts of the AHL Canucks’ Calder Cup-winning Game 6, with the team battling to keep their one-goal lead late in the third period.
“The word that’s come up over and over throughout the playoffs for us is resilience,” Malhotra added. “Obviously going down 2–0 is not the way you want to start a game, but as we’ve done throughout the course of the season and playoffs, we just found a way to claw our way back into the game and get ourselves a lead, and then when you’re able to close games out — obviously some hairy situations in the third — but when you’re able to close a game out obviously take a lot of pride in that.”
Forward Arshdeep Bains was quick to back up Malhotra’s use of the word “resilient” to describe the team. “Like our team identity all year, we’re a resilient group, we were down 2–0 early and we just fight back every single game, and I couldn’t be prouder of this group.”
With a strong team comes an even stronger supporting cast, which is something Abbosford has been very complimentary about since the start of their playoff run. Abbotsford fans have helped their team reach new heights throughout the course of the postseason through their infectious energy and unwavering support. This extends to the people around each player personally who have helped them achieve their dreams ever since they were young.
“It just shows how dedicated my family is and our fans are, there’s a bunch of Canucks fans out here and it’s so special when you have the support you do,” Bains said. “It pushed us so hard to make sure that we got this done.”
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