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Wranglers forward Lucas Ciona embraces community connections in sophomore season
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Photo credit: Terence Leung/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
May 23, 2025, 12:00 EDTUpdated: May 22, 2025, 18:21 EDT
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When you think of players who take the off-ice community work seriously in the Flames organization, the names are highly regarded. Mark Giordano, Mikael Backlund, Lanny McDonald to name a few, as well as the other guys in the room they motivated to do the same. The Calgary Flames’ identity has branched outside of the rink and embraced the city and all they can offer it. The next generation of that has been building with the Wranglers and spearheading that initiative is Lucas Ciona.
Ciona just finished his second season with the Wranglers and was awarded the “Man of the Year,” for his contributions to the community. It is not an award that is taken lightly, as it is given to players who have made outstanding contributions to their community and local charities during the season and is voted on by their team. The overall winner is essentially the AHL equivalent of the Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award, and at a team level, is essentially the equivalent of the Peter Maher Good Guy Award that MacKenzie Weegar was awarded this season. 
When he found out he was awarded this honour, he said:
“It was really special. I mean, to get something like that, you know you’re doing good things.”
Ciona continued:
“That was one of the biggest highlights of my year. Doing all those events this year and just enjoying time with all those organizations.” 
Prior to joining the Flames organization, Ciona was unaware of just how involved this hockey club is in the community and said:
“I didn’t know too much before I got here but I clearly saw last year how much, you know, the Flames did and the Wranglers did and this year, I really wanted to get involved as well. So yeah, it was just a really really rewarding experience and I’m going to do that for the rest of my career.”
Lucas Ciona has a history of success in his minor hockey career, where he captained the Seattle Thunderbirds, who won the Memorial Cup back in 2023. His leadership capabilities were known and they really started to show through this season with the Wranglers. Most recently, especially when Parker Bell took a punch square in the middle of the face during a fight late in the season and was knocked down and in visible disarray. The first person to rush to his side was none other than Ciona:
“That was pretty scary to see him go down like that. I think it was just instincts, you know, getting under him. Don’t want his head to get any more hurt or anything. But luckily, it was alright, and you know, he was a little upset with me that I grabbed him in the first place. But honestly, you see a teammate go down like that, any of the guys, I would hope they’d do the same for me.”
In Ciona’s sophomore season in the AHL, he had a career year with 68 games played and 22 points, consisting of eight goals and 14 assists. He mostly played the third and fourth line but did emerge into a more physical role than what we saw in his rookie season. Even with his tough play on ice, he made sure to bring a sense of softness and care to his community work. In regular social media posts from the Wranglers, you can often see Ciona’s smiling face among a crowd of kids playing floor hockey, visiting schools, dropping by minor league practices and other activities that help make a kid’s day. 
Having highly skilled hockey players within a hockey club is an important part of the success of the organization, but pairing that with all around great guys on and off the ice builds a culture that outlasts their professional career.
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