The Calder Cup Playoffs are down to four teams now, and all that we know is that there will be a new champion this year.
The Charlotte Checkers, who swept the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears in the Atlantic Division Finals, opened the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Finals against the Laval Rocket on Wednesday night at Place Bell with a 5-1 victory. After both the Central and North Division Finals went the distance, the Abbotsford Canucks and Texas Stars emerged and will meet in the best-of-seven Western Conference Finals. That series will start tonight at Abbotsford.
All four teams are heavyweights. The Rocket finished first overall in the regular season. Charlotte landed fourth overall while Abbotsford took the fifth spot. Texas rounds out the group having finished 10th in the AHL in the regular season.
Let’s break down the Western Conference Finals. A look at the Eastern Conference Finals can be found here.
Series Schedule
Game 1 – Tonight – Texas at Abbotsford 10:00 PM EDT
Game 2 – Saturday – Texas at Abbotsford 10:00 PM EDT
Game 3 – Monday, June 2 – Abbotsford at Texas 8:00 PM EDT
Game 4 – Wednesday, June 4 – Abbotsford at Texas 8:00 PM EDT
Game 5 – Friday, June 6 – Abbotsford at Texas 8:00 PM EDT (if necessary)
Game 6 – Sunday, June 8 – Texas at Abbotsford 9:00 PM EDT (if necessary)
Game 7– Monday, June 9 – Texas at Abbotsford 10:00 PM EDT (if necessary)
How They Got Here
Abbotsford: A late-season charge featuring a 13-game winning streak took the Canucks from a mid-pack Pacific Division team to one of the league’s top Calder Cup contenders. Abbotsford ended up with a 44-24-2-2 mark, going 16-1-0-1 from March 8 through the end of the regular season. Buttressed by several additions from the Vancouver Canucks at the end of the NHL regular season, Abbotsford then knocked off the Tucson Roadrunners in a first-round battle before taking care of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, a Calder Cup finalist the past two seasons, in four games in the Pacific Division Semifinals. From there the Canucks went the distance with the Colorado Eagles in the Pacific Division Finals, winning two of three games on the road to pull out that series.
The Vancouver organization is pursuing its first Calder Cup title. Canucks affiliates reached the Calder Cup Finals in 2015 (Utica), 2009 (Manitoba), and 1988 (Fredericton as part of a dual affiliation with the Quebec Nordiques).
Texas: Going back and forth with the Milwaukee Admirals through the regular season for the Central Division title, the Stars stumbled slightly late in the season, finishing two points short of taking the division. Finishing with a 43-26-3-0 record, they faced the Grand Rapids Griffins in the Central Division Semifinals and swept that series, coming back from a 4-1 third-period hole in the series-clinching game to take a 5-4 overtime decision. Matched up with Milwaukee for the third consecutive postseason, they split two games at home before taking two of the final three contests in Milwaukee to eliminate the team that had eliminated them in back-to-back seasons.
The Stars last reached the Calder Cup Finals in 2018, going seven games with the Toronto Marlies. They won the Calder Cup in 2014 and were a runner-up in 2010, their first AHL campaign.
Abbotsford Canucks
Goaltender Artūrs Šilovs has been dominant and should the Canucks at least reach the Calder Cup Finals, he could be a strong candidate for the most valuable player of the postseason. Šilovs is 8-3 | 1.73 | .936 and already has four shutouts in 12 playoff games. A big-pressure goaltender, he starred with Vancouver at points in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs and backstopped Latvia to a bronze medal at the 2023 IIHF World Championship.
Injuries had knocked defensemen Christian Wolanin and Jett Woo out of the line-up earlier this postseason, but the two have returned to solidify the Abbotsford blue line. Woo plays a surly, physical style that could help to counter a strong group of Texas forwards. Victor Mancini, part of the return from the New York Rangers in the J.T. Miller deal, may well be playing his final games with Abbotsford this spring as he is a strong bet to stick with Vancouver full-time next fall. Guillaume Brisebois, Akito Hirose, Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Cole McWard round out an excellent defense corps.
Forward Sammy Blais is tied for third in AHL postseason scoring with 3-8-11 in 12 games. He also leads the league with 65 penalty minutes. He only had 44 penalty minutes in 51 regular-season games for Abbotsford in his first extended AHL stint since 2018-19. Linus Karlsson, who appeared in 23 regular-season games with Vancouver, has played an engaged, disruptive game this postseason. The 25-year-old has a team-leading seven goals through 12 games. Jonathan Lekkerimäki missed three games earlier this postseason, but is solidly in place now. Danila Klimovich, who had 25 goals in the regular season, has only dressed for seven of 12 playoff games so far.
Jujhar Khaira, acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning organization in a trade March 8, has been a key addition to the Abbotsford forward group. A straight-line power forward, the veteran added 3-5-8 in 17 games with Abbotsford after the trade and has 2-4-6 in 12 playoff games. Phil Di Giuseppe has been one of Abbotsford’s top forwards as well through the postseason.
The Canucks have been excellent late in games, outscoring opponents in the third period this postseason, 14-6.
Abbotsford has killed off 34 of 35 opposing power-play chances (97.1 percent) while the power play is operating at a robust 21.6 percent.
In his first season behind the Abbotsford bench as an AHL head coach, long-time NHL veteran forward Manny Malhotra has won considerable praise for his work.
Texas Stars
Texas made a change in net after Magnus Hellberg allowed six goals in Game 2 against Milwaukee. Remi Poirier took over and allowed just five goals in the three games in Milwaukee.
Kyle Capobianco, the Eddie Shore Award winner as the AHL’s top defenseman last season with the Manitoba Moose, has continued his dominance after coming to Texas as a free agent last summer. He has 2-7-9 in eight playoff games. Trey Taylor, who turned pro and joined Texas late in the regular season, has quickly found a regular turn in the Texas defensive rotation and is joined by fellow rookies Tommy Bergsland, Luke Krys, and Kyle Looft.
Rookie forward Justin Hryckowian leads the AHL in postseason scoring with 7-8-15 in eight games. The AHL rookie of the year had 22-38-60 in the regular season and topped all rookies in scoring as well. He owns a 41.2 percent shooting percentage this postseason.
Forwards Cameron Hughes and Kole Lind, two critical pieces of Coachella Valley’s runs to the Calder Cup Finals the past two years, are once again back fighting for a Calder Cup. Hughes is one of the league’s top two-way forwards and is tied for second in playoff scoring with 3-11-14. Lind, who plays a feisty game like Hughes, has 6-5-11 in eight games. Both players signed with the Dallas Stars as free agents last July.
Forward Matěj Blümel had 39 goals in the regular season and has continued to produce with 3-7-10 in eight playoff games so far. Arttu Hyry, yet another undrafted forward that Dallas has signed and turned into someone who could compete for an NHL job, continues to be solid as well.
Captain Curtis McKenzie is familiar with long playoff runs. He won the Calder Cup with Texas in 2014 as a rookie and went to the Calder Cup Finals in 2018 (with Texas) and 2019 (with Chicago). He has 4-4-8 in eight playoff games so far.
Texas leads the AHL with 3.88 goals per game this postseason.
The Stars are very comfortable on the road and are a combined 28-13-0-0 away from home in the regular season and Calder Cup Playoffs.
Texas has gone 23.1 percent on the power play. The penalty kill is at 85.7 percent.
Neil Graham has become a fixture on the Texas bench since an early-season promotion in the 2019-20 season. He is flanked by two of the top players in Texas history, Max Fortunus and Travis Morin.
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