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Wranglers Series Preview: Home after the holidays to host the Canucks
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Photo credit: Angela Burger/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Dec 30, 2024, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 1, 2025, 21:17 EST
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The Calgary Wranglers play their first game since returning from the holiday break on Monday night. They host the Vancouver Canucks’ affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks for the first time this season. The Canucks are in the bottom half of a tight Pacific Division but still remain over .500 on their season with a 14-12-0-1 record. The Wranglers still hold the lead in the division and the league going into these games. 

Projected lines

Calgary
William Stromgren – Rory Kerins – Dryden Hunt
Sam Honzek – Clark Bishop – Martin Frk
Lucas Ciona – Sam Morton – Adam Klapka
Parker Bell – David Silye – Alex Gallant 
Joni Jurmo – Ilya Solovyov
Yan Kuznetsov – Hunter Brzustewicz
Artem Grushnikov – Jeremie Poirier
Devin Cooley 
Waltteri Ignatjew
Abbotsford
Arshdeep Bains – Aatu Raty – Jonathan Lekkerimaki 
John Stevens – Nils Aman – Danila Klimovich 
Sammy Blais – Ty Mueller – Nate Smith
Ty Glover – Chase Wouters – Cooper Walker 
Elias Pettersson – Mark Friedman 
Guillaume Brisebois – Kirill Kudryavtsev
Christian Wolanin – Cole McWard 
Nikita Tolopilo 
Arturs Silovs 

Leaders

Calgary
Rory Kerins – 30GP, 19G, 12A
Dryden Hunt – 28GP, 6G, 20A
Clark Bishop – 29GP, 12G, 10A
Abbotsford 
Jonathan Lekkerimaki – 18GP, 11G, 4A
Danila Klimovich – 22GP, 11G, 4A
Ty Mueller – 27GP, 4G, 11A

Notes and expectations

The biggest change for the Wranglers since their last game is behind the bench. Head coach Trent Cull got the call from the Flames to join them as interim assistant coach while Brad Larsen remains on an indefinite leave of absence tending to family matters. Cull’s game against the Henderson Silver Knights on December 22nd was his last game coaching the Wranglers for the foreseeable future. He made his Flames coaching debut on Saturday in their win against the San Jose Sharks and got a game puck for his contributions. 
Stepping up in Cull’s place is former Wranglers assistant coach and current interim head coach Joe Cirella. Cirella has been with the Flames’ AHL affiliate before they were even the Wranglers. His tenure dates back to the 2018-19 season with the Stockton Heat. Before that, he was with the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL for 13 seasons. He was a former NHLer himself, so he’s full of all of the qualities to pick up where Cull left off with this group. 
On the player side of things, there has been a bit of movement. Nothing earth-shattering or unexpected, however. Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier bounced back and forth between the AHL and NHL on paper to balance their waiver status, but that didn’t result in any in-game action with the Wranglers. From AHL to ECHL, Trevor Janicke and Charles Martin were recalled from the Rapid City Rush after being assigned on Dec. 22. 
After this week away from game action, the Wranglers’ focus needs to be on getting their scoring back. After losing Duehr and Pelletier to Flames call-ups, the drop off in production wasn’t instant but it’s starting to be felt. They were shut out in their last game and with the exception of their 5-3 win on Dec. 20 against Henderson, they’ve only been scoring a goal or two against their last three opponents. Hopefully, it’s just a bit of a mid-season slump so they can keep their hold on the standings. 
This series starts with a Monday night match-up. Note the start time is an hour earlier than usual with a 6:00 p.m. MT puck drop. The next game will be played on Wednesday for a New Year’s Day matinee at 2:00 p.m. MT. Streams are available on Flo Hockey for a fee if you’re unable to catch the action in person. Sportsnet 960 will be carrying the radio broadcast and multiple FlamesNation contributors will have updates on X (formerly Twitter). 

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