The Vancouver Canucks may not have made the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year, but the organization does have another reason to celebrate.
The Abbotsford Canucks became the first Vancouver AHL affiliate to win the Calder Cup with a 3-2 road victory over the Charlotte Checkers in Game 6 of the best-of-seven championship series on Monday.
Abbotsford rallied from a 2-0 deficit in Game 6 against the Florida Panthers’ top farm club.
Sammy Blais, Danila Klimovich and Linus Karlsson scored for the Canucks after John Leonard and Jack Devine opened the scoring for the Checkers.
Arturs Silovs recorded the win in net for Abbotsford. And for his efforts throughout the series, Silovs took home the Jack A. Butterfield trophy as the Calder Cup Playoffs MVP.
The Canucks denied a rare Stanley Cup-Calder Cup sweep for the Panthers. Just three organizations have won both titles in the same year, and it hasn’t happened since the New Jersey Devils and Albany River Rats recorded the double in 1995.
The Canucks endured a hockey marathon to take the Cup, not winning any of their five series in the minimum amount of games.
Abbotsford, guided by rookie head coach Manny Malhotra, beat Utah Mammoth, Seattle Kraken, Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars affiliates before topping Charlotte.
The Canucks are the first Canadian team to win the Calder Cup since the Toronto Marlies, coached by Sheldon Keefe before getting promoted to the parent Maple Leafs, skated away with the trophy in 2018.
Vancouver’s most recent farm club to make the Calder Cup was the 2015 Utica Comets, coached by Travis Green before he got the call to the Canucks.
The Canucks moved their AHL team to nearby Abbotsford, B.C., in 2021.
