Abbotsford Canucks: Defending the Calder Cup

JEN FIELD/GATG

The Abbotsford Canucks began their season with a road trip to Henderson, Nevada, followed by a second stop in Laval, Quebec. Their home opener takes place on October 24, where they will raise the championship banner in front of the hometown crowd. 

October 10, 2025 marked the beginning of the Abbotsford Canucks defence of the Calder Cup Championship title, against the Henderson Silver Knights. They would play two back to back games which resulted in a 2-1 overtime win in game 1 and a 4-2 victory in game 2. 

Game 1 saw many new and returning faces on the Abbotsford bench. Which led to the team learning to play with new lines, and figuring out footing.

One area that saw many new faces was the defensive lines. There was only one returning defensemen from last season in the lineup, Kirill Kudryavtsev. Kudryavtsev was a key component in the Calder Cup play offs and continues to be a force on the ice. 

Though the defensive lineup was new, they found their footing quickly working together to set up plays throughout both games. 

Rookies Tom Willander, Sawyer Mynio, Vilmer Alriksson made their official Abbotsford Canucks debut. Though Mynio made an appearance last season, this will be his first official season with the team. 

Nikita Tolopilo and Jiři Patera covered the net in game one and two. Tolopilo kicked off the season making some incredible saves, keeping Abbotsford in the game for game one. 

Patera tended the net in game two helping lead Abbotsford to their second victory of the season. Patera was out much of last season and game two was his official return to the ice. 

The offensive lines had more returning players such as Max Sasson, Danila Klimovich, Dino Kambeitz, Cooper Walker, Ty Mueller, and Nils Åman. With the mix of new and returning players it created a new dynamic on the ice. 

Ben Berard made his debut on the offensive line and opened the scoring for Abbotsford, the goal was assisted by Walker and another new member to the team Chase Stillman. 

Sasson scored the overtime winner, securing his first point of the season. 

Game 2 against the Silver Knights saw more new faces getting their first points as an Abbotsford Canuck. 

Joseph LaBate got the first Abbotsford goal of the night, assisted by Kilmovich and Kudryavtsev. Sasson scored the tying goal with help from Berard and Vitali Kravtsov. This would be Kravtsov’s first point as a Canuck and Sasson’s second goal in 2 games. 

Mackenzie MacEachren scored the tie breaking goal, unassisted and secured his first goal as a Canuck. LaBate scored his second of the game assisted by Åman and Kudryavtsev. 

With many new faces added to the roster this season, the team was able to find their footing quickly and started their season with back to back wins on the road. 

There are currently a number of Abbotsford players who were called up to play with the Vancouver Canucks before the season began. However, Max Sasson would get the first official call up of the season ahead of the road trip to Laval. 

On October 17 and 18 Abbotsford took on the Laval Rockets at Place Bell in Quebec. 

Captain Chase Wouters officially returned to the lineup after missing the first 2 games of the season. While Arni Ravinskis made his Abbotsford Canucks debut.  While Ty Young got his first start in net of the season. 

The game was physical with high penalty minutes on both sides of the ice. Though the team continued to fight they could not land the puck in the net which led to an unfortunate 3-0 loss. 

Game 2 against Laval started with Tolopilo in net, and right from the start the game picked up with the same physicality from the game before. 

Penalty minutes again, accumulated on both sides. Laval opened the scoring with 2 goals in the first period. 

However, Abbotsford fought back in the second, with Vitali Kravtsov scoring a power play goal, assisted by Åman and Kudryavtsev.  This would be his first goal with Abbotsford. 

Tom Willander scored the tying goal on a power play, assisted by Åman and LaBate. This would be Willander's first goal with Abbotsford and his first professional goal. 

However, a late goal scored by Laval and 2 empty net goals in the third led to a 5-2 loss for Abbotsford. 

Abbotsford’s next game will take place on Friday, October 24, 7 pm, PST, at the Abbotsford Centre against the Ontario Reign. This game will be a celebration and a homecoming for the team.