Calgary Wranglers series preview: Renewing a rivalry with the Silver Knights
7 months ago
The Henderson Silver Knights gave the Calgary Wranglers quite a bit of problems last season. Henderson was an odd opponent for Calgary last year as regardless of where they were in the standings, they’d still look like the better team in the majority of their match-ups. The Wranglers finished their season series last year with a 3-4-1-0 record and have yet to face this Pacific Division rival this season. This weekend, that will change.
Projected lineups
Calgary
Dryden Hunt – Clark Bishop – Matt Coronato
Rory Kerins – Cole Schwindt – Adam Klapka
Emilio Pettersen – Ben Jones – William Stromgren
Lucas Ciona – Ilya Nikolaev – Mitch McLain
Jonathan Aspirot – Nick DeSimone
Yan Kuznetsov – Brady Lyle
Jarrod Gourley – Sam Jardine
Dustin Wolf
Oscar Dansk
Henderson
Grigori Denisenko – Mason Morelli – Brendan Brisson
Gage Quinney – Jakub Brabenec – Jonas Rondbjerg
Tyler Benson – Byron Forese – Sheldon Rempal
Mason Primeau – Jabuk Demek – Adam Cracknell
Jake Bischoff – Christoffer Sedoff
Layton Ahac – Brandon Hickey
Daniil Chayka – Dysin Mayo
Jiri Patera
Jordan Papirny
Leaders
Calgary
Ben Jones – 18GP, 6G, 10A
Matt Coronato – 12GP, 7G, 8A
Adam Klapka – 18GP, 8G, 6A
Henderson
Grigori Denisenko – 19GP, 8G, 11A
Sheldon Rempal – 19GP, 9G, 7A
Brendan Brisson – 19GP, 8G, 7A
Notes and expectations
The Wranglers have a few lineup shuffles going into this series. Nick DeSimone was officially sent down to the Wranglers halfway through their last Abbotsford game on Sunday and should be travelling with the team for this road trip. He will likely retake his position on the top pairing with long-time defensive partner, Ilya Soloyvov. (Editor’s Note: Solovyov was called up to the NHL on Friday morning, so we’ll see what the pairings look like…)
There has also been some disciplinary action announced since Calgary was last in action. The league announced that Alex Gallant would be suspended for four games for his cross-checking hit on Abbotsford’s Jett Woo. This hit appeared to be in the neck area and was a dangerous play in a game the Wranglers had little hope of getting back into. This will put Gallant out of the lineup for the next two weeks of games with his first available game to return being Fri., Dec. 15 against the San Jose Barracuda.
To backfill some missing pieces, the Wranglers also called up Mark Duarte from the Rapid City Rush on Monday afternoon. That isn’t even the end of it either. They also lost a piece to the Flames as Jordan Oesterle was called up on Wednesday afternoon. Oesterle had eight assists in 12 games with the Wranglers.
I had a feeling he may be who would be trading spots with Nick DeSimone this week and talked to him after their loss to Abbotsford on Sunday. In regards to a possible call-up, he said,
“I’m here with the Wranglers now. I’m not looking too far forward. I’m just taking it day-to-day and I’ve really been enjoying playing with these guys. It’s been a lot of fun.”
The Silver Knights, on the other hand, played one other game this week already against the Bakersfield Condors. Despite going three for seven on the power play and controlling shots all game, they fell 4-3 in the shootout. They’ll be looking to turn things around in front of their home crowd. After 19 games, they sit fourth in the division and the Wranglers still hold the top spot in the Pacific.
This road series starts with a Friday night match-up at 8:00 p.m. MT. The team will have an extra day in Henderson, NV then play the back half of the series on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. Note the later start game for this Sunday game as the Wranglers have typically taken the matinee spot on Sundays. You can stream these games for a fee at AHL.tv and FlamesNation contributors Mike Gould and I will have updates on X (formerly Twitter).
This article is presented to you by BK Bowfort Liquor Store!
Serving Calgary since 1997. Located at 97 Bowridge Drive, NW.
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