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Abbotsford Canucks win the West and head to Calder Cup Final

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Jun 9 2025, 7:31 am
Abbotsford Canucks win the West and head to Calder Cup Final
@TheAHL/X

The Abbotsford Canucks are the best in the West and they’re headed to the Calder Cup Final for the first time.

The Canucks knocked off the Texas Stars in a dramatic 4-2 comeback victory in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final Sunday night at the Abbotsford Centre.

Appropriately enough, it was a pair of local products that did most of the scoring.

Trailing 2-0 midway through the game, Surrey’s Arshdeep Bains pulled the Canucks to within one goal, banging home a rebound off a Christian Wolanin shot with 1:08 left in the second period. Another Surrey native, Jujhar Khaira, scored early in the third period to tie the game, after Kirill Kudryavtsev found him with a clever pass on a three-on-two rush.

That set the stage for Max Sasson’s heroics.

Sasson tipped in an Akito Hirose point shot for the game-winner for Abbotsford with just 8:10 left in the third period. It was Sasson’s third point in three games.

Bains scored his second of the game into an empty net with 35 seconds left to seal the deal. The Canucks dominated the third period, outshooting Texas 17-4 and outscoring them 3-0.

After going the first 16 games of the AHL playoffs without a goal, Bains now has three in the past two games. He ranks second on the Canucks in playoff scoring with 14 points, trailing only Linus Karlsson (17).

Arturs Silovs backstopped the Canucks to victory once again, stopping 23 of the 25 shots he faced. The Latvian netminder has been sensational in the playoffs, posting a 12-5 record with a .929 save percentage and five shutouts.

“It’s super special,” Bains said in a post-game interview with Canucks reporter Olivia McDonald. “I think the fans [were] probably the loudest [they’ve been] all playoffs.”

Many of the 6,983 fans in attendance chanted “we want the Cup” before the final buzzer and serenaded head coach Manny Malhotra with chants of “Manny, Manny” during the trophy presentation.

The Canucks will face the Charlotte Checkers (AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers) in the Calder Cup Final, which begins Friday in North Carolina.

Game 3 (June 17), Game 4 (June 19), and Game 5 (June 21) are all scheduled to be played at the Abbotsford Centre. The team has announced that tickets will go on sale Monday morning, although they have yet to provide an exact time.

This is the first time Abbotsford has made the Calder Cup Final since the Canucks relocated their farm team to the Fraser Valley. It’s the first time since the Utica Comets in 2015 that an AHL affiliate of the Canucks has made the championship final. A Canucks farm team has never won the Calder Cup before.

2025 Calder Cup Final schedule

Charlotte finished just two points ahead of the Canucks in the standings during the regular season, but are red hot in the playoffs, coming off consecutive sweeps over Hershey and Laval.

Some recognizable names on Charlotte include former fourth overall NHL draft pick Jesse PuljujƤrvi, ex-Canucks winger Will Lockwood, and goaltender Kaapo KƤhkƶnen.

  • Game 1: Friday, June 13, 4 p.m. PDT (Charlotte)
  • Game 2: Sunday, June 15, 1 p.m. PDT (Charlotte)
  • Game 3: Tuesday, June 17, 7 p.m. PDT (Abbotsford)
  • Game 4: Thursday, June 19, 7 p.m. PDT (Abbotsford)
  • Game 5: Saturday, June 21, 6 p.m. PDT (Abbotsford)
  • Game 6: Monday, June 23, 4 p.m. PDT (Charlotte)
  • Game 7: Wednesday, June 25, 4 p.m. PDT (Charlotte)
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