June 19th, 2025
Kaja Antic
With the first leg of the Calder Cup finals in the books, all eyes turn to Abbotsford this week to see who will come out with the series lead. To those unfamiliar with the AHL playoff format, the best-of-seven series is played in a two-three-two format rather than the NHL’s two-two-one-one format. This means that games three, four, and five will be played on Abbotsford Centre ice, while a potential game six and seven will have the series returning to Charlotte.
Simply saying “entertaining” is not enough to describe game one of the Calder Cup finals between the Abbotsford Canucks and the Charlotte Checkers. Constantly back and forth play, outstanding goaltending on both ends, and drama in double overtime; this game was absolute cinema.
The scoring at Bojangles Coliseum began with Max Sasson notching his fifth of the Calder Cup playoffs just four and a half minutes into the first period. MacKenzie Entwhistle would tie it up for Charlotte a few minutes later, and with under a second left in the first, Oliver Okuliar scored to give Charlotte the lead heading to intermission.
Former Vancouver Giants captain Justin Sourdif would extend Charlotte’s lead to 3–1 in the second, though a Nate Smith breakaway would return the score line to a one-goal differential under thirty seconds later. Ty Mueller would tie the game for Abbotsford in the third, and for the sixth time in the Calder Cup playoffs, the Canucks were off to overtime.
Sixty minutes solved nothing, and neither did eighty; double overtime was needed to solve game one. The Checkers faithful filling Bojangles Coliseum thought Charlotte had taken the series lead just under four minutes into the second overtime period, with an odd own goal after Mueller had won the defensive zone faceoff and unknowingly backhanded it into his own net. Unfortunately for Charlotte (and fortunately for the Canucks), the refs called this off as Canucks goaltender Arturs Silovs was out of position. The Checkers and their fans were not too happy with this outcome, as it was technically a legal faceoff, though in terms of fairness it was good that the officials waved off the potential game winning goal as Silovs was facing the wrong way to adjust his equipment and none of their eight eyes were able to notice. Just my opinion, though.
The hero was Danila Klimovich for the Canucks on the powerplay, after Mikulas Hovorka took a delay of game penalty for putting the puck over the glass, similar to Tomas Nosek of Charlotte’s affiliate Florida Panthers during game one of the Stanley Cup Finals over a week prior. This was the second double-OT winner for Klimovich this postseason, as he scored the winner in game four of the Western Conference Finals against the Texas Stars.
Game two did not have the same scoring volume as game one, as all four goals in regulation came in the first period. John Leonard opened the scoring for Charlotte before Sammy Blais scored with the toe of his stick to tie it for Abbotsford. Wilmer Skoog would get the puck past Silovs on the powerplay, and Linus Karlsson would do the same late in the first to tie the game at two, where it would remain for the next 44 minutes.
The second game of the series ramped up the physicality, as the teams were focused more so on hits than offensive production. Well, at least the Canucks were, as they could only earn 13 shots throughout the game, compared to 42 shots from Charlotte. The second period held the bulk of the penalties, with four for each team. Oddly enough, there were none in the third, though the overtime period began with Matt Kiersted taking a tripping penalty to put the Canucks on the powerplay. However, Abbotsford was unable to convert on the powerplay, and ended up giving Charlotte one of their own, as captain Chase Wouters would also take a tripping penalty with four seconds remaining in Kiersted’s penalty.
And who would score the game-winning goal for the Checkers? None other than Michael Benning, nephew of Canucks legend Jim Benning, of course!
Sigh. Even the baby Canucks aren’t safe.
The series now turns to Abbotsford for the next three games, in the farthest apart Calder Cup finals since the 2014 series between the Texas Stars and the St. John’s IceCaps. Charlotte will look to win their second Calder Cup in franchise history, after defeating the Chicago Wolves to earn the trophy in 2019. This is the first time in the Calder Cup finals for the Abbotsford Canucks, and the fourth time in the finals for Canucks’ AHL affiliate overall. The Fredericton Express lost to the Hershey Bears in 1988, the Manitoba Moose lost to Hershey in 2009, and the Utica Comets under Travis Green lost to the Manchester Monarchs in 2015.
Game three started off well for Charlotte, who scored the only goal in the first twenty minutes. A long shot from Kiersted was tipped in front by Okuliar, and the Checkers led 1–0 at the end of the first. Abbotsford would tie the game on the powerplay in the second, as Sammy Blais got the Canucks on the board.
The third period is where the offensive capabilities of the Canucks shone brightly. Karlsson would give Abbotsford their first lead of the night, notching his league-leading 11th goal of the playoffs, after Arshdeep Bains had fed the puck across to Sasson after being taken down along the boards. The home team wasn’t done there however, as Bains would earn a powerplay goal along with an empty netter, Phil Di Giuseppe scored on a 2-on-1 chance with a returning Jonathan Lekkerimaki after an amazing stretch pass from Silovs, and Tristen Nielsen scored on a late game breakaway to give the Canucks the series lead with a 6–1 scoreline.
The best player for the Canucks thus far in this series is Arturs Silvos, hands down. He’s stopped 118 of 125 shots in three games, and aside from the Checkers' almost-2OT-win in game one and Skoog’s 2–1 goal in game two, the 24-year-old goaltender has been locked in between the pipes. Offensively, Karlsson, Bains, and Blais are standing out, especially as the former two earned four points each in game three. Karlsson leads the league in points with 22 throughout the playoffs, with Bains right behind him with 19, despite not scoring a postseason goal until game five against the Texas Stars. Blais is right behind the two with 17 points, though scoring seems to be his second priority compared to getting under Charlotte’s skin. Rookie defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev is also gaining some momentum, holding a league-leading +/– rating of +16. The special teams effort is also evident, with the team killing off 11 of 13 playoff opportunities this series, and converting 5 of 12 possible power play opportunities. Through the postseason overall, the Canucks have a 25.8% power play percentage, and an 89.4% penalty kill percentage.
Game four is tonight at 7:00 p.m. Pacific, and game five starts at 6:00 p.m. Saturday, June 21. Abbotsford has a 10–1 record on home ice, its only loss coming in the Pacific Division finals against the Colorado Eagles. Charlotte came to town holding 10 consecutive road wins dating back to the regular season, a streak now dashed thanks to efforts of the Canucks’ offense in game three. The Canucks will look to extend their series lead at the electric Abbotsford Centre, while the Checkers hope to tie the series and force a game six back in North Carolina.