For the third consecutive year in team history, the Wranglers are post-season bound. As of Saturday evening, the Calgary AHL affiliate has punched their ticket to the Calder Cup playoffs. The Wranglers have qualified every year in team history and earned a first round bye in their inaugural season by clinching the Pacific Division.
This is the fourth year in a row a Flames AHL affiliate has qualified for post-season play when you include the last year the Stockton Heat was a team before relocation. Calgary was well into their third last regular season game against the Abbotsford Canucks when a lower ranked team, the Tucson Roadrunners fell in an overtime decision and mathematically prevented any lower seeded teams from disqualifying Calgary.
The Wranglers have had dramatically different looks for their season between the first half and second half. In the first half, they were almost unbeatable and held the top spot in the division and the league overall for many weeks. This was at a time when Adam Klapka, Matt Coronato (briefly), Jakob Pelletier and Dryden Hunt were all with the team.
Come the second half of the season and into early 2025, they faced their first signs of adversity. Devin Cooley suffered a concussion that kept him out of the lineup for a few weeks and it took him time to settle back in upon his return. Pelletier’s trade, some season ending injuries up at the big club and some AHLer’s making good use of their opportunities, left the Wranglers pretty lean for lineup choices. This affected them on ice and put them on a record-high losing streak between late January and into most of February.
Despite the highs and lows in the season, they still found a way to get it done. They sit at a 36-27-4-3 record with 79 points. They have currently clinched the sixth seed in the Pacific Division, with one more open seed remaining for the Tucson Roadrunners or Bakersfield Condors to take.
For AHL playoff format, the Pacific Division has the most teams qualifying as they are the largest division. The first placed team in the Pacific earns a first round bye while the remaining six teams play a best of three series in the first round. Where things stand currently, the Wranglers would play the third placed Ontario Reign in the first round.
Last season, the Wranglers narrowly qualified for playoffs as the seventh seed in the Pacific Division. They played the second placed Tucson Roadrunners in their opening best of three series and beat them in two games. For the Division finals, they went 1-3 against the Coachella Valley Firebirds and fell 3-0 in game four. The Firebirds went on to be runner-ups for the Calder Cup.
Calgary has two games remaining in the regular season and they will take place at home next weekend. They host the San Jose Barracuda for their last series on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Both games get going at 1:00 p.m. MT and these results will determine their final place in the standings.
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