Abbotsford’s Ty Young backstops Canucks to shutout win over Colorado

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Turning the calendar from 2025 to 2026 has worked out well so far for Abbotsford Canucks goalie Ty Young.

After a rough start this fall in Abbotsford, Young was assigned to the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings in December and quietly rebuilt his game.

The 2022 fifth round pick was reassigned to Abbotsford on Feb. 17 and has earned wins in his last two AHL starts. He put an exclamation mark on his return with a 4-0 win over the Colorado Eagles on Satruday (March 7). It was the first career AHL shutout for Young, who made 23 saves in the win.

He said recording the shutout was a team effort, but it’s a night he will remember for a long time.

“The team came out hot and played really good in front of me,” he said. “And you get two goals to start off and that carried the momentum forward. I felt more comfortable after that and it takes away the nerves a little bit. Guys were blocking shots like heck in front of me, I think it was a confidence booster for us.”

Young said the experience in Kalamazoo helped him battle through a frustrating start to the season.

“The opportunity I got there to kind of go down and play a ton to figure out my game a little bit – I could not be more grateful for that,” he said. “Obviously I didn’t want the start I had to this year, but all you can do is build, grow and learn from it. I felt a lot looser after playing down there and just kind of went back to having fun again and feeling less pressure.”

Several of Young’s starts earlier this season for Abbotsford was when the team was severely hampered by injuries and the Canucks failed to give him much offensive support. He lost all seven of his starts for the team in 2025, but now has two wins in 2026.

Another shot to the confidence for Young was being called up to Vancouver and getting the chance to practice with the NHL team last month.

“That was a dream come true,” he said, with a grin. “That was my favourite team growing up so to be able to be a part of that group and be one of the guys was a dream. Hopefully I’ll go up there full-time one day.”

NHL dreams might have been on the minds of several Abbotsford Canucks player on Saturday, as they look to potentially earn a call-up in the final months of the regular season.

One of those players could be forward Ty Mueller, who opened the scoring on Saturday was his 12th on the season at 6:42 of the first. Newly-acquired Jack Thompson added a power play goal at 8:05 and the Canucks led 2-0 after one. They also held a 9-8 shots edge.

Another player eyeing NHL opportunities could be forward Danila Klimovich, who recorded his 10th goal of the season to put the Canucks up 3-0 at 18:07 of the second. Klimovich has now hit double-digits in goals in three of the last four AHL seasons. Abbotsford out shot Colorado 8-7 in the middle frame.

Mueller scored again at 1:11 of the third as the Canucks connected again on the power play. Mueller, who played two games for Vancouver in 2024-25, now has 13 goals and is tied for the team lead with Ben Berard and Jonathan Lekkerimaki. He’s also the top scorer on the team with 30 points.

The Canucks finished 2/7 on the power and were a perfect 3/3 on the penalty kill. They also out shot Colorado 26-23. Klimovich and Thompson both had three point nights, while Klimovich also had a game-high five shots on goal. Thompson, who was traded for defenceman Jett Woo on Thursday (March 5), has five points in two games for Abbotsford.

Klimovich said one day getting to Vancouver is on his mind.

“Of course it’s my dream,” he said. “I don’t know how long it’s going to take but I have to stay present, be here in the moment, try to do my best and do what the coaches expect. So when the chance comes I can be ready for it.”

Saturday also featured appearances from Vancouver Goldeneyes players Jenn Gardiner and Maddy Samoskevich. The pair participated in a women in sports panel in the first intermission. Reported attendance on Saturday was 3,704.

Saturday’s win comes off a 5-2 loss to the Eagles on Friday (March 5).

Colorado dominated the first two periods and out shot the Canucks 30-12 after 40 minutes. Eagles forward Jason Polin opened the scoring at 9:24 of the first, but Thompson tied the game up at 8:59 of the second. The Eagles then got goals from Chase Bradley (9:20) and Luke Toproswki (15:21) take a 3-1 lead after two.

Ivan Ivan made it 4-1 Colorado just 57 seconds into the period, but Berard replied at 14:44 to cut the lead back to two goals. Bradley added an empty net goal to reach the 5-2 final. Canucks goalie Jiri Patera made 33 saves in the loss.

Reported attendance on Friday was 4,109.

Abbotsford’s record now moves to 21-30-3-3 after this weekend and they remain in 10th place in the Pacific Division. The Canucks sit 10 points out of the seventh and final playoff spot in the division.

The team returns to action with games against the Manitoba Moose in Abbotsford on Tuesday (March 10) and Wednesday (March 11). The Canucks then host the Henderson Silver Knights on Saturday (March 14) and Sunday (March 15).