Abbotsford Canucks Defeat Texas Stars, Advance To Calder Cup Finals
The Abbotsford Canucks have eliminated the Texas Stars and advanced to the Calder Cup Finals where they will take on the Charlotte Checkers.
The Canucks captured the Robert W. Clarke as Western Conference Champions with a 4-2 win in game six.
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Goaltender Arturs Silovs continued his fantastic playoff run with a .917 SP, 2.28 GAA, and one shutout in the series, he has a .929 SP, 1.94 GAA, and 12-5 record with five shutouts in the playoffs. He made 23 stops in game six.
There was a bizarre sequence early in the game when Sammy Blais thought he had opened the scoring, during the confusion several players stopped playing and Texas went down the ice and scored.
After scoring his first goal of the playoffs in game five Arshdeep Bains scored twice in game six, he and Linus Karlsson led the team with seven points each in the Conference Finals.
Jujhar Khaira scored his third of the playoffs before Max Sasson scored his first of the series midway through the third in what ended up being the game winner.
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The Canucks' defense core had a stellar series, veteran Christian Wolanin formed a great pairing with Victor Mancini while Guillaume Brisebois continued to perform in all situations.
In a series that had three overtime games and a 1-0 game Abbotsford showed their comfort under pressure and ability to grind out different types of games.
Despite boasting the two top point scorers of the playoffs in Cameron Hughes (19) and Justin Hryckowian (18) the Stars could not solve the Abbotsford defense.
Harrison Scott scored his first career professional goal for the Stars in one of their few bright spots in game six.
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Goaltender Magnus Hellberg earned the start after entering the game in relief in game four, he was under fire all game and made 36 saves on 39 shots.
The Stars had a great campaign and it will be fascinating to see the roster they return with next season as several players are pending free agents or have earned promotions.
The 87th Calder Cup gets underway on June 13 in North Carolina.
Keep an eye on The Hockey News' Vancouver Canucks team site for on the ground coverage of the Abbotsford Canucks.
Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' AHL Page for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more.
Photo Credit: © Russell LaBounty-Imagn Images
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The completion of the Indiana All-Stars series against Kentucky is always a little emotional, maybe more for the parents than the players. Literally a day later for many of the All-Stars, they check in at their colleges and officially close the door on their high school experience. Lives change. Parents say goodbye, knowing it will never quite be the same as it was those first 18 years — no matter how far away their sons or daughters are going away to college. I was reminded of that fact Saturday after the Indiana All-Stars' team defeated Kentucky 105-92 to sweep the boys from the Bluegrass state for the 19th time in the past 26 years of the series that dates to 1940 (not counting the cancelled year of 2020). There were plenty of hugs and smiles and then … poof … they were gone. Time marches on. Maybe I'm a little more emotional and connected to this 2025 class because I have a graduate of my own in this class. 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