The Calgary Wranglers punch their ticket to the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs
3 months ago
On Saturday night, the Calgary Wranglers officially secured their spot in the 2024 AHL Calder Cup playoffs. A San Diego Gulls loss in any fashion was all they needed to qualify, otherwise, it would be left in their own hands for their Sunday afternoon game. The Gulls lost to the Tucson Roadrunners to punch the Wranglers’ ticket to the post-season.
This is the Wranglers’ second consecutive year in the playoffs and the third year in a row the Flames’ AHL affiliate has made a post-season appearance.
The Wranglers qualified last year as the best team in the Pacific and the best team in the league. In a larger Pacific Division, there are more first-round series and the top team gets a first-round bye. The Coachella Valley Firebirds have their eye on that this year.
In the playoffs last year, the Wranglers got their first-round bye and then eliminated the Abbotsford Canucks in the Division Semifinals going 3-1 in their best of five. They were then eliminated in the Division Finals by the Coachella Valley Firebirds in overtime in game five of their best of five.
The Wranglers now sit at the fifth seed in the Pacific Division. If they were to start their playoff series now, they would be facing the fourth seed, the Colorado Eagles, for their opening best-of-three series. They are mathematically eliminated from clinching the league title and quite a ways away from clinching the division with a magic number of 31.
Following Saturday’s win over the Los Angeles Kings, Flames head coach Ryan Huska – himself a veteran of the AHL – commented on the importance of the Wranglers making the playoffs:
“It’s a really big thing. It’s hard… when you look at the year they’ve had, we’ve taken a lot of guys off their roster. A lot of guys. And for them to keep trudging along the way they have and finding ways to win, with us having taken a lot of their best players as I mentioned, I think it’s a credit to their entire staff, from Pasc [Wranglers GM Brad Pascall] to Culler [Wranglers head coach Trent Cull] and all of his guys there.”
The Wranglers have seven games left in the regular season and will wrap up on Apr. 20 against the Abbotsford Canucks. The AHL regular season officially ends on Sunday, Apr. 21.
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