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Abbotsford Canucks Talk | 2025 Stretch Run

Heck of a heater for Abby, with lots of guys contributing (since lots of guys are getting called up to the big club).

Nice to see PDG finally hit the scoresheet for them. I thought he’d be an impact player for them for sure, but it seems like he’s had a rough go down there.
 
It's now 4-0 and the San Jose goalie is getting the hook. When the guys come back from Vancouver, where are they going to play everybody?
 
Getting red hot at just the right time. You wonder if the reinforcements at the end of the season might actually disrupt things a bit. Sometimes that happens. Either way I'm really, really excited about the AHL playoffs this year. Abby has something special cooking with Manny at the helm!
 
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That period was basically the Blais-Smith-Khaira line physically bullying and clowning SJ with grade A scoring chances every time they were on the ice and 3 easy goals. And a really nice SH breakaway dangle from Wouters.

SJ goalie sucked (pulled two nights in a row vs Abb now) and SJ is missing 4 regular D-men to call up. Looks like an AHL team vs ECHL team.
 
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Khaira is on a serious heater since joining his home-town AHL team. A nice addition by the Canucks....and he's on an AHL contract so doesn't count against he cap.

Guys like Khaira, De Giuseppe and Blais will be important vets in the upcoming Calder Cup playoffs.
 
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VanJack said:
Sometimes you get why some officials are AHL-lifers as well. Penalties are now 6-0 in favor of San Jose. It's almost laughable.

It seems that some officials can't help themselves in a lopsided game. They just have to find a way to even it up.
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Yeah, it was impossible for our guys to get any flow that period, though they didn't exactly make it easy on themselves with some of the obvious calls they did take.
 
Abbotsford Canucks minus as many six callups to Vancouver, still laid another 5-1 beatdown on the Barracuda who were missing some players of their own to the parent Sharks.

AHL vets Blais, Smith and Khaira voted the three stars of the game--this is the time for the vets to shine. Canucks now tied with the Ontario Reign for second in the Pacific, pending the outcome of tonight's action after winning their ninth in a row.

I wouldn't be looking forward to playing this Abbotsford team in the playoffs when they have all hands on deck. And with Silovs now back down, they've got a ton of options in goal as well.
 
VanJack said:
Khaira is on a serious heater since joining his home-town AHL team. A nice addition by the Canucks....and he's on an AHL contract so doesn't count against he cap.

Guys like Khaira, De Giuseppe and Blais will be important vets in the upcoming Calder Cup playoffs.
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I was advocating for Khaira to come home for a while, so it’s great to see it both happen, and have him performing so well, too. Love seeing home town guys turn it up in the home colours.

Tables of Stats said:
Young wasn't tested a ton, but seeing him with solid numbers and a 5 win streak is a good showing for a player many of us had low expectations for coming into this season.
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Young has had an excellent rookie pro season which is great to see, especially with Silovs and Tolopilo both somewhat faltering. He’ll probably be back off to Kalamazoo with Silovs being reassigned to Abbotsford, but Young seems to have solidified himself as part of the goaltending picture in Abbotsford next season.
 
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The kid I really liked in this game was Ty Mueller. Kinda' shocking really how much his game has grown this season. He's just so shifty coming in over the blueline; and constantly finding the open man. And for good measure, he's also developed a big-time one-timer on the PP.

Another strong game from Kudryavtsev. Although he stills struggles at times along the end wall with bigger forwards--his offensive skills are top-drawer in this league. Hard, crisp passes, and always hits the open forward in full stride.

Both these late-round picks, almost nobody had very high hopes, have really impressed in the first AHL seasons.
 
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VanJack said:
The kid I really liked in this game was Ty Mueller. Kinda' shocking really how much his game has grown this season. He's just so shifty coming in over the blueline; and constantly finding the open man. And for good measure, he's also developed a big-time one-timer on the PP.

Another strong game from Kudryavtsev. Although he stills struggles at times along the end wall with bigger forwards--his offensive skills are top-drawer in this league. Hard, crisp passes, and always hits the open forward in full stride.

Both these late-round picks, almost nobody had very high hopes, have really impressed in the first AHL seasons.
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I feel like Ty Mueller has largely flown under the radar this season given the glut of good news stories Abbotsford has produced (Kudryatsev as you mention being one of them). But he’s hearing 40 points in a rookie pro season, and his two way game definitely increases his chances of breaking in in a checking line capacity at some point.

Good to see some depth coming up through the system.
 
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I mean the massive uptick in player development on the farm has to be attributed in large part to Malhotra, don't you think. Some of it is also drafting; Allvin and Co have simply drafted better players. Malhotra, though, has just been a home run as a rookie coach.
 
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Jay26 said:
I mean the massive uptick in player development on the farm has to be attributed in large part to Malhotra, don't you think. Some of it is also drafting; Allvin and Co have simply drafted better players. Malhotra, though, has just been a home run as a rookie coach.
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Malhotra is going to make a fine NHL Head Coach one day. Might even be with Vancouver if Tocchet decides to head elsewhere.
 
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Jay26 said:
I mean the massive uptick in player development on the farm has to be attributed in large part to Malhotra, don't you think. Some of it is also drafting; Allvin and Co have simply drafted better players. Malhotra, though, has just been a home run as a rookie coach.
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It seems very much like we are making better picks…

…but, seeing how many guys have developed so much in just their first NHL season leads me to believe that Malhotra has played a huge part in their development.

Guys are developing more in their first pro North American season this year than we were seeing previously over multiple seasons before.

DPetey, Kudryavtsev, Mueller

While I think Klimovich is a nothing ‘prospect’ that has no legit NHL shot, the fact that Malhotra has been able to at least turn Klimo’s AHL career around might be the best evidence of him being a good coach.
 
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Malhotra seems to be doing fine but I'm not convinced that he's a better coach than Colliton.

Klimovich isn't doing anything this season that is better in an age-relative sense than what he was doing two years ago under Colliton. Last season Klimovich got off to a very underwhelming start and it seemed as though he and Colliton disconnected from there.

Pettersson had showed at the end of last season that he could play competently in the AHL and Kudryavtsev was showing clearly positive signs right from the beginning of training camp. Mueller is doing alright but nothing that we didn't see two years ago with Bains in terms of progression during the season; he's just a better skater and therefore might have a bit better chance to stick eventually in the NHL as a fourth-liner.

IMO the biggest positive from the nine-game winning streak is that despite not having the likes of Pettersson/Brannstrom/Friedman/Mancini in the lineup the defence is playing well. Kudryavtsev continues to show well and should become at least a 7/8 NHLer, while McWard has stepped it up and should be a guy that can manage as a call-up and might even still get to 7/8 NHL level although he might have to move to another organization to get that chance. And, Brisebois finally really seems to be getting back to the level that he had reached before being set back by that concussion during 2023 preseason.
 
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