Abbotsford Canucks close out season with two wins in California

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The Abbotsford Canucks closed off the 2025-26 American Hockey League regular season with wins in California on Saturday (April 18) and Sunday (April 19).

The club challenged the Pacific Division champion Ontario Reign on Saturday and blanked the 2-0.

The Canucks got goals in the first period from Ben Berard (2:42) and then a power play goal from Bennett Schimek (13:39) to earn the win. Abbotsford goalie Jiri Patera stopped all 25 shots he faced to record his lone shutout this season and the third in his AHL career.

Ontario held a 25-19 shots edge and it was only the third time this season that the Reign were shut out. Ontario had previously only been blanked on Jan. 11 by the Bakersfield Condors and on Oct. 17 by the Henderson Silver Knights.

The Canucks then travelled to the desert to face the Coachella Valley Firebirds and posted a 4-2 win on Sunday.

Abbotsford’s Danila Klimovich opened the scoring at 12:36 of the first period and that goal stood until Firebirds forward Eduard Sale scored at 1:45 of the second. Canucks captain Chase Wouters put his team back up at 10:04 and Berard put the Canucks up 3-1 with a goal at 18:18 of the second.

Abbotsford’s Joe Artnsen made it a three-goal margin at 4:22 of the third, but Coachella’s Charlie Wright added his first career AHL goal at 4:48 to reach the 4-2 final.

Klimovich had a three-point night for Abbotsford and had a game-high eight shots on goal. Defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev added a pair of assists and Schimek recorded four shots. Canucks goalie Ty Young had a strong game and made 30 saves to record his sixth win on the season.

The Canucks ended the season on a four-game win streak, which was the longest of the 2025-26 campaign. The team reached three games several times, but did not crack the four-game mark until game 72. Abbotsford finished with a record of 28-37-4-3, which was good for ninth in the Pacific Division and 29th overall in the 32-team AHL.

The team scored an AHL low 173 goals and averaged 2.4 goals per game this season. The team’s power play surprisingly weren’t that bad for the Canucks, as they finished 14th overall at 19.5 per cent. However, the penalty kill was poor and ranked 31st to finish at 76.6 per cent.

Abbotsford was tied with the Milwaukee Admirals for the worst road record this season and won just 12 of 36 games away from the Rogers Forum. The team recorded 20 regulation wins overall, which was tied for 30th in the AHL.

Nils Aman was the team’s top scorer and posted 41 points, while Berard led the team in goals with 20. Abbotsford had six players reach double-digits in goals (Berard, Klimovich, Ty Mueller, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Chase Wouters and Arshdeep Bains) and four players cross the 30-point mark (Aman, Berard, Mueller and Klimovich).

Among players who played at least half the season, no one finished as a positive player in the plus/minus category. The top players were Nils Aman at -1 and Dino Kambeitz at -4. Artnsen led the team with 92 penalty minutes and Klimovich had a team-high 172 shots. Patera finished with solid numbers in goal and posted a record of 12-14-2, a goals against average of 2.63 and a save percentage of .910.

Rookie defenceman Saywer Mynio recorded 21 points in 58 games, while late-season college addition Schimek produced 11 points in 13 games.

This season was the first time that the Canucks failed to make the playoffs in franchise history. The club had previously never finished lower than fifth in the Pacific Division.

The team now enters an offseason, which will likely see significant changes both on and off the ice. The team’s parent club in Vancouver, who placed 32nd overall, recently relieved general manager Patrik Allvin of his duties. Meanwhile the Kalamazoo Wings, the team’s ECHL affiliate, also failed to make the playoffs.

The next big date on the calendar for Canucks fans is the NHL draft lottery on May 5.