Preview: Calgary Wranglers return from All-Star break for weekend series in San Jose
1 year ago
The Calgary Wranglers are back in action after a week-long break for the AHL All-Star Classic. Mitch Love, Dustin Wolf, and Matthew Phillips represented the team in last weekend’s event and came home as Pacific Division winners and Wolf picked up one of the MVP recognitions.
The Wranglers went into the break off the backs of a huge win against the Bakersfield Condors when they scored the game-winner with less than five seconds to go in regulation. They have a lot of momentum rolling into their first game back as they will be on the road to face the San Jose Barracuda for a two-game weekend series.
Projected lineups
Calgary
Connor Zary – Radim Zohorna – Matthew Phillips
Brett Sutter – Kevin Rooney – Walker Duehr
Mitch McLain – Ben Jones – Cole Schwindt
Emilio Pettersen – Clark Bishop – Adam Klapka
Brett Sutter – Kevin Rooney – Walker Duehr
Mitch McLain – Ben Jones – Cole Schwindt
Emilio Pettersen – Clark Bishop – Adam Klapka
Ilya Solovyov – Nick DeSimone
Yan Kuznetsov – Nicolas Meloche
Jeremie Poirier – Colton Poolman
Yan Kuznetsov – Nicolas Meloche
Jeremie Poirier – Colton Poolman
Dustin Wolf
Daniil Chechelev
Daniil Chechelev
San Jose
William Eklund – Andrew Agozzino – Martin Kaut
C.J. Suess – Kyle Criscuolo – Tristen Robins
Danil Gushchin – Thomas Bordeleau – Brandon Coe
Jeffrey Viel – Luke Johnson – Adam Raska
C.J. Suess – Kyle Criscuolo – Tristen Robins
Danil Gushchin – Thomas Bordeleau – Brandon Coe
Jeffrey Viel – Luke Johnson – Adam Raska
Derrick Pouliot – Darren Brady
Nikolai Knyzhov – Patrick Sieloff
Artemi Kniazev – Nick Cicek
Nikolai Knyzhov – Patrick Sieloff
Artemi Kniazev – Nick Cicek
Aaron Dell
Strauss Mann
Strauss Mann
Leaders
Calgary
Matthew Phillips – 38GP, 24G, 24A
Connor Zary – 44GP, 14G, 28A
Jakob Pelletier – 33GP, 16G, 20A (Inactive on NHL call-up)
San Jose
Andrew Agozzino – 40GP, 15G, 18A
William Ecklund – 45GP, 12G, 21A
Thomas Bordeleau – 45GP, 18G, 11A
Notes and expectations
Dennis Gilbert was expected to be on this trip with the Wranglers until the news broke that Rasmus Andersson was involved in a scooter accident commuting to dinner in Detriot on Wednesday night. Gilbert has since been called up for defensive depth. Gilbert was with the Flames before the NHL All-Star break.
Another call-up since the Wranglers last played was Jakob Pelletier. Pelletier was absent from the lineup in the Wranglers’ last game against the Condors and played on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri on Feb. 6 against the New York Rangers and again on Feb. 9 against the Detriot Red Wings.
That still isn’t the end of the roster shuffling over this past week. Oscar Dansk was pulled out of the Wranglers’ last game against the Bakersfield Condors due to an injury after colliding with a Condors player in front of the net. It appears his injury may keep him out of the goaltending rotation for the time being as the Wranglers called up Daniil Chechelev from the Rapid City Rush on Feb. 7.
That completes my preamble for the transactions across the organization directly affecting the Wranglers. Looking forward to this series, the San Jose Barracuda actually aren’t that familiar of an opponent for Calgary this season. They have only played each other twice so far this season and that was all the way back in November.
The Wranglers delivered quite the stomping last time winning their first game 8-2 and winning their next 4-0. Keep your eyes on number 34 throughout this series. Walker Duehr was also up with Calgary before the All-Star break but remains with the Wranglers at the moment.
He has five points in his last four games with the Wranglers and is currently on a four-game point streak. He also scored the game-winner in their last game against the Condors. Duehr is going to be itching to be back with the Flames and his play with the Wranglers is going to be his best bet to get back on the Flames’ radar.
The Wranglers will kick off this series on Friday night at 8:00 p.m. MT. They will play the following night at 7:00 p.m. MT. Both games can be streamed on AHL.tv and FlamesNation contributors Mike Gould and myself will have updates on Twitter.
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