Abbotsford Canucks pre-season game shows great potential for the coming season
The Abbotsford Canucks hosted the first ever pre-season game against the Calgary Wranglers on September 27 at Rogers Forum. The game showed the fans what they can expect this coming season and it showed a lot of potential.
Coming into this game there were a lot of questions around how the team would look with new coaching staff and players. With such a shift there is a lot of space for growing and learning going into the season. However, with many of the players training together in various camps you could see a bond had started to form already.
The game started strong for both Abbotsford and Calgary, however, Calgary was playing on offense more as Abbotsford took back-to-back penalties early one. However, Abbotsford remained strong in their penalty kill which looked solid as they killed off all four throughout the game.
Ty Young was a wall in the crease. He stopped 40 goals by the end of the game and started the pre-season with a shutout. His game play has developed a lot since last season and there was a calmness to his defense in net.
This game was dominated by the new Abbotsford Canuck players. One such player was Ryan St. Louis, who made his Abbotsford debut as well as got the opening goal of the game. When asked about what his game play was like and what he’s working on this season he stated; “[I] like to use my speed…winning is the ultimate goal. So I feel like just trying to be a winner…It’s my first year pro so [I'm] trying to get used to the pace, the corners…just you know, try to learn every day and try to get better.”
The assists on the first goal went to Matthew Stienburg and Chase Wouters. Stienburg is new to Abbotsford this season and is already proving to be a key player. Wouters has been captain of the Abbotsford Canucks for 6 seasons now. When asked what the focus of the season is he said; “[Getting] back to our basics, get acclimated to the new staff and the new guys.”
Going back to basics was key to this game. Though there were some areas of growth with turnovers and drop passes throughout the game, focusing on the basics helped keep them going, and being aware of those areas gives them a place to focus on moving forward.
Trey Fix-Wolansky, another new player to Abbotsford got the second goal of the night. This goal was assisted by Ty Mueller, another veteran in Abbotsford.
These moments of new and returning players building this kind of teamwork early in the season shows a lot of potential for what the season could possibly look like.
Sean Chisholm got the final goal of the night with an empty netter in the third. He is also new to the Abbotsford roster.
This game was truly a testament to the new players abilities and skills. They showed the hometown crowd what they have to offer and what they hope to continue to build upon in the coming season.
Some veterans to watch are Anri Ravinskis and Sawyer Mynio. Ravinskis was sidelined with an injury last season, but came out proving he is one to watch. He played hard throughout the entirety of the game and was a noticeable presence on the ice. His physicality and game play was energetic and there was a new sense of confidence in his game play.
Sawyer Mynio was solid on defense, breaking up plays and supporting Young in defending the net. He was physical and you could see the growth in his confidence from his first season.
The Abbotsford Canucks play again tomorrow Monday, September 28 at 1 pm at Rogers Forum for their second and final game of the pre-season, before heading to Calgary for their season opener.
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