Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Success in the Calder Cup Playoffs often brings about a challenging paradox for AHL teams.
When an AHL team does its job and does it well – by developing prospects, winning games, and perhaps even winning the Calder Cup – they often have to deal with the after-effects of that success. Players move up to the NHL parent team. Or other NHL organizations take notice.
Laval and Charlotte, last year’s Eastern Conference finalists, are starting to find their footing this year. But things haven’t been smooth for the Western Conference finalists.
The Abbotsford Canucks began their Calder Cup defense with a challenging four-game road trip. They managed two victories on opening weekend in Henderson but haven’t found the win column since, taking a nine-game skid (0-8-0-1) into tonight’s contest at Colorado.
The banner-raising home opener on Oct. 24 was a chance for one more celebration of last year’s title, but this year’s Canucks team hardly looks like the one that hoisted the Calder Cup in June.
Playoff MVP Artūrs Šilovs, traded to Pittsburgh in July, headlines the list of names that have moved on. Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Victor Mancini, Aatu Räty and Max Sasson all secured jobs in Vancouver. Sammy Blais, Phil Di Giuseppe, Tristen Nielsen and Cole McWard are among others who left via free agency. Injuries have hit Nikita Tolopilo, Guillaume Brisebois, Jett Woo and Jujhar Khaira.
But there are reasons for optimism for Abbotsford fans. Second-year head coach Manny Malhotra guided the Canucks to an impressive turnaround last season; the team was 14-15-1-1 before going on a second-half tear that they carried through the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Texas has had a difficult road as well. The Stars’ roster remained relatively intact from last season, but the losses that it did incur were significant. Most notably, Matěj Blümel took his league-leading 39 goals to the Boston Bruins organization via free agency and Justin Hryckowian, the Dudley “Red” Garrett Memorial Award as last season’s rookie of the year, is in the NHL now with Dallas. That’s 132 points to replace from those two players alone.
And Texas, which has had remarkable stability behind the bench for the past decade, also had a rare coaching change as Neil Graham earned him a promotion to the Dallas bench as an assistant. Toby Petersen, who won the Calder Cup with Texas in 2014, has taken over for Graham.
Early on, those changes took a toll. The Stars managed just 10 goals in their first six games, losing them all (0-5-1-0). But things have turned around this week, as Texas swept a two-game visit to Manitoba before defeating the Moose again at home on Friday night. Remi Poirier is heating up with just three goals allowed in his last four starts, and Samu Tuomaala has a goal and an assist in three games since being acquired from Philadelphia last week.
With a lineup that features proven producers like Cameron Hughes, Kole Lind and Curtis McKenzie up front, it is reasonable to expect that the rest of the Stars soon will find the offense as well.
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
