Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
A lot happened between wins for the Abbotsford Canucks.
Time goes back to June 23, when the Canucks lifted the Calder Cup for the first time, completing a two-month, five-round journey, and finally advanced to the Calder Cup finals with six hard-fought games. That hot, humid night at Charlotte’s Bojangles Arena and Abbotsford’s 3-2 victory ended a journey and began many more that would follow through the world of hockey.
“Winning that trophy means the world, it’s been a long ordeal,” the forward Max Sassen explain.
Although summer is short, it also provides some time for reflection. Manny MalhotraThe 20-year-old forward won the Calder Trophy with Hartford a quarter-century ago, and now he’s got another one in his first year as a head coach at any level.
“It’s a very special feeling looking back on what we did,” Malhotra said. “Looking back at what we’ve accomplished and how the team has grown, it’s really a collection of all the clichés you hear after a championship game in any sport. All of those things came to fruition. Guys played for each other. They played unselfishly. Our goalie is out of this world.”
That goaltender, playoff MVP Artus Silovsalso headlines the list of changes to the Canucks roster as the 2025-26 season begins; Sirofs was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in July. major contributors Ashdeep Baines, Linus Carlson, Jonathan Lekrimaki, Victor Mancini and Atul Rati Everyone who came out of the training camp found jobs in Vancouver. Sammy Bryce, Phil di Giuseppe, Tristan Nelson and Cole McWard was one of the others to leave via free agency. NHL organizations look for championships.
“I think it’s helped us most of our careers,” said Sasson, who was recalled from Vancouver earlier this week. “A lot of us have been offered good deals and some are starting at big clubs. The whole thing has really helped the development and careers of all of us.”
For the players who stayed in Abbotsford, they were different, too. They will celebrate one last time at the home opener on Oct. 24, when their Calder Cup banner will hang from the rafters of the Abbotsford Center. But the work this season has already begun.
“We all grew a lot playing in those high-pressure situations and learning how to adapt and get comfortable in situations that were supposed to be uncomfortable,” Sasson added. “We learned a lot about what a team really is and should be, and we can definitely carry that throughout our careers. I think that helped all of our development and made us very, very confident going into this year.”
The Canucks took their first step as defending champions last weekend with a two-game sweep of Henderson.
Sasson is now an alternate captain and Malhotra believes he will be one of Abbotsford’s primary offensive threats. The third-year forward scored the game-winner in overtime at Henderson in the opener, and his equalizer helped lead to an eventual 4-2 victory the next night. He took nine shots in those two games.
For a team that suited up just seven players from last spring’s title run on opening weekend, these Canucks look solid. Their confidence was strong and there was a different feel from the start of training camp. Sasson talks about first-year Vancouver head coaching experience Adam Foote In his speech on the first day of training camp, he labeled Abbotsford’s players and coaches “winners.”
“Guys love it,” Sassen said. Quinn [Hughes] and [Jake] DeBrusk and [Tyler] myersI thought, these people looked at us with a new confidence that we could help them. They have a firm mind that these guys are ready to jump and help them get back on their feet in Vancouver. I think this question came up multiple times throughout training camp. “
Malhotra felt the difference in training camp as well. Some might call it “arrogance,” but really, it’s just the hard-earned knowledge that winning championships provides.
“I think the biggest lesson learned throughout the playoffs is understanding how difficult it is, how difficult it is to perform every night, and you can’t take a night off during that time of year,” Malhotra explained. “As I watch our guys go through training camp … the intensity, focus and purpose every time we practice on the ice, there’s definitely a big difference between last October and this October.
“I think it’s a lesson to them that it’s difficult and you have to do it every night if you want to be successful.”
With some openers behind them for the first time, the Canucks head to Laval this weekend, a place that held considerable significance last season. The Canucks had a slow first half, a mix of inconsistency, personnel changes and poor results. But a 6-2 loss at Bell Plaza on Jan. 4 — Abbotsford’s sixth in a row — led to a players-only meeting that seemed to turn the tide. The Canucks won their next eight games and went on a 13-game winning streak over the next stretch and a charge into the playoffs. A team that left Laval with a 14-15-1-1 record would be 46-17-1-1 from that point.
One theme that Malhotra touches upon frequently is the concept of repetition. Strive to develop replicable habits. And then repeat those habits again and again. The Canucks last season successfully mastered this straightforward but often elusive task.
“I think as a staff,” Malhotra outlined, “our mentality is to try to create a repeatable environment for our guys in terms of how we train, how we get to the ice every day, our daily actions, etc. We fully recognize that this is a new team and there are a lot of new faces.
“With that comes a lot of new stuff, the chemistry of the lines, the relationships in the room, all of that is new to us. Our focus isn’t necessarily on trying to recreate what we did last year. It’s going to continue to build on those foundational things that we did really well last year that made us successful and allowed us to grow.”
Still, it’s one thing to believe that a goal is possible. Last January in Laval, the Canucks had to decide their 2024-25 season was worth saving.
It’s another thing entirely to make it happen, to turn it around, to go through the overtimes, the travel, the heat, the relentless sacrifice of playoff hockey.
Those Canucks did. These Canucks — both old and new faces — think they can repeat that success.
“I think we all probably believe that,” Sasson admitted, “but, yeah, when you actually do it — you play against all these great teams and great players, and you’re the last one — I think it gives everybody a lot of confidence to know that we’ve done this.
“Even if you get the Calder Cup, look at all the other teams and all the names in the NHL [names] That’s been true throughout the cup… I think it’s definitely going to inject a lot of confidence into all our games. “
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
