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Abbotsford Canucks now one win away from AHL championship

Trevor Beggs
Trevor Beggs
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Jun 20 2025, 7:07 am
Abbotsford Canucks now one win away from AHL championship
Darren Francis Photography/Abbotsford Canucks

Not only have the Vancouver Canucks never won a championship in their 55-year history, but neither has their AHL affiliate.

The Abbotsford Canucks are one win away from changing that.

In front of a raucous sold-out crowd at the Abbotsford Centre on Thursday night, the AHL Canucks defeated the Charlotte Checkers 3-2 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the Calder Cup Final.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who was healthy-scratched for four straight contests prior to Game 3, played his best game of the AHL playoffs.

The 20-year-old got the party started early in Abbotsford with a goal just 1:15 into the contest.

Then, it was Arshdeep Bains’ turn to send the Abbotsford Centre into a frenzy.

Less than a minute after Arturs Silovs made one of his best saves of the game off former Canuck Will Lockwood, Bains raced down the ice and dangled around Checkers’ defenceman Matt Kierstad, burying a shot five-hole to give Abbotsford a 2-0 lead.

Lekkerimäki then tripled his goal total in these playoffs early in the third period, burying a shot five hole on Kappo Kakhonen to give the Canucks a 3-0 lead.

“The kid has ice in his veins,” Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra said post-game when asked about Lekkerimäki.

“He doesn’t shy away from these big moments. Tonight, he had two quality looks and he made them count.”

“He’s had a tough time but he came in and played a great game for us,” Bains told Daily Hive.

“We needed him and honestly, without him, we probably wouldn’t have won.”

Lekkerimäki talked post-game about some of the organizational influences who have helped him through the AHL playoffs.

“I’ve talked a lot to Hank and Danny, and [Mikael] Samuelsson. They’ve been on my side the whole time.”

“They’ve been in the same situations. So I’ve got to listen and learn from them.”

Another Arty Party

silovs kudryavtsev abbotsford canucks

Abbotsford Canucks

Silovs is quite clearly the most popular man in Abbotsford.

Chants of “Arty, Arty” rang throughout the Abbotsford Centre all night long, as Silovs had yet another signature performance on his stellar postseason run.

Silovs stopped 32 of 34 shots en route to the victory. He had a chance to record what would have been an AHL-record sixth postseason shutout, but Kyle Criscuolo spoiled the party with a power-play goal midway through the third period.

Regardless, Silovs came up clutch on a number of occasions. Not only did his save lead to Bains’ goal in the second period, but another one of his stops directly led to Lekkerimäki’s goal in the third.

Fittingly, chants of “Arty’s better” erupted throughout the Abbotsford Centre with five minutes remaining in the game.

Not only has he been better than Checkers’ goaltender Kakhonen, he’s been one the best goalie in the AHL playoffs. Silovs currently has a .933 save percentage this postseason, which is second among all netminders.

Canucks one win away from history

arshdeep bains goal abbotsford canucks

Darren Francis Photography/Abbotsford Canucks

This is the fourth time that Vancouver’s AHL affiliate has made it to the Calder Cup Final. The Fredericton Express did so in 1988, where they got swept by the Hershey Bears.

That was followed by the Manitoba Moose making it to the Final in 2009, led by Cory Schneider in net. They were also defeated by the Hershey Bears 4-2.

Prior to this season, the last time a Canucks’ AHL team made it to the Calder Cup Final was back in 2015. Jacob Markstrom put up a .925 save percentage during that run for the Utica Comets, who eventually lost 4-1 to the Manchester Monarchs in the Final.

So, is fourth time the charm?

The fact that Abbotsford won Games 3 and 4 by a combined 9-3 score is a bit surprising, considering they were outshot 96-43 total in Games 1 and 2. That included their Game 2 overtime loss where they were outshot 42-13 during an overtime loss.

Bad ice and high humidity in Charlotte could have contributed to the Canucks’ lacklustre performance, because they’ve been much better at the Abbotsford Centre.

Part of the Canucks’ success at home could also be attributed to the crowd.

“It’s so much fun for the guys to play in front of this crowd,” Malhotra said. “The building was electric again, and the players definitely feed off of that. It’s very special for our guys to play in front of the fans, and they get a big boost from it.”

Abbotsford has a chance to take home the Calder Cup at home on Saturday night, with the game starting at 6 p.m. The game is available to stream on FloHockey.

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