Series Preview: Wranglers start eight game homestand with a pair against the Canucks
6 months ago
The Calgary Wranglers return home after the Christmas break for the first time since December 10th. They went on a two-week, five-game road trip before the holidays, resulting in a 2-3-0-0 record. The wins came against the Colorado Eagles at the end of the trip, so things appear to be turning around. They’ll host the Abbotsford Canucks next for a back-to-back series this week on Thursday and Friday. Going into this match-up, the Wranglers have a 3-1-0-0 season series record against the Canucks.
Projected lineups
Calgary
Rory Kerins – Ben Jones – Matt Coronato
Dryden Hunt – Clark Bishop – Cole Schwindt
Emilio Pettersen – Mitch McLain – William Strömgren
Lucas Ciona – Ilya Nikoloaev – Alex Gallant
Ilya Solovyov – Mark Pysyk
Colton Poolman – Yan Kuznetsov
Jonathan Aspirot – Brady Lyle
Dustin Wolf
Oscar Dansk
Abbotsford
Tristen Nielsen – Sheldon Dries – Vasily Podkolzin
Arshdeep Bains – Max Sasson – Linus Karlsson
Aatu Raty – Chase Wouters – Marc Gatcomb
Aidan McDonough – John Stevens – Ty Glover
Christian Wolanin – Jett Woo
Matt Irwin – Nick Cicek
Quinn Schmeimann – Cole McWard
Arturs Silovs
Nikita Tolopilo
Leaders
Calgary
Ben Jones – 27GP, 10G, 12A
Matt Coronato – 19GP, 8G, 13A
Emilio Pettersen – 27GP, 6G, 15A
Abbotsford
Arshdeep Bains – 24GP, 5G, 21A
Sheldon Dries – 25GP, 13G, 11A
Linus Karlsson – 23GP, 7G, 16A
Notes and expectations
Calgary lineups are subject to change. There are some injuries listed as week-to-week that might return to the lineup. Another notable player who will likely slot back in is Adam Klapka. Klapka missed their last two games with an illness. Their last game was on Dec. 23 so he may have recovered by now. Klapka has been slotting in between the second and third line so that change may trickle down the lineup causing a scratch for someone like Ilya Nikolaev.
It is a good time for Calgary to play in front of a home crowd again after some of the adversity they have faced in December. The most motivating part of their last win was some individual performances from players who needed a push. Among those was William Strömgren, who scored his first goal in the league. It took him 26 games to get to this goal so hopefully, it brings some confidence to keep that going.
Cole Schwindt also had a two-goal game on the 23rd that was much needed. Schwindt contributes but can be a very streaky player when it comes to scoring. He had a five-game, seven-point streak towards the end of November and into the start of December, then went quiet on the scoresheet for five games afterwards. The good thing about being streaky is if he picks up where he left off, he should find a way to the scoresheet in these next handful of games.
As far as their opponents go, the Canucks have been a team that continues to sneak up on the Wranglers in the standings. Going into this series, they sit at third in the Pacific, while Calgary still holds the top spot. Overall, the Wranglers sit at third in the AHL, while the Canucks sit at seventh.
We will see if this series shakes up the standings or if the Wranglers can start their eight-game homestand on the right foot. This series kicks off on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. MT and continues into Friday for a slightly earlier start at 6:00 p.m. MT. There are still tickets available for these games or you can stream them for a fee on AHL.tv. The Fan 960 will have live radio coverage as well. 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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