Quick shoutout to those in the Fraser Valley and BC Interior who read the AHL Nucks Harvest:
I spent my last few recaps lamenting a broken down vehicle which, in hindsight, is a joke compared to the devastating damage caused to my fellow British Columbians by mass flooding.
If you wish to help those impacted by BC’s flooding disaster, check out this GoFundMe page.
Apologies for this ugly segue into less-important escapism in tonight’s Abbotsford Canucks gameday recap.
It’s Been a While
Aaron Lewis said, “it’s been a while since I could hold my head up high.”
A feeling presently held by the Vancouver Canucks farm team as they rematch the Tucson Roadrunners after a disappointing 4-1 loss, Friday.
Scoring two goals for the Roadrunners was former Vancouver Canucks prospect Michael Carcone.
On top of having won just two regulation games out of twelve. This season, the Abbotsford #Canucks have consistently been outshot at 5v5
Haven't fully tracked the latest game, but I highly doubt they out-attempted Tucson to the tune of 13++
11 points out of a possible 24
😬 pic.twitter.com/YKUYuGzu4M— Cody Severtson (@CodySevertson) November 28, 2021
The latest loss represents a concerning trend for the Canucks farm team.
For the seventh time in twelve games, the Junior Nucks were outshot at 5v5, giving up thirteen shots on goal, thirty-nine overall to the Canucks thirty.
- I haven’t tracked the game yet, but fellow Abbotsford watcher, Michael Liu, said it was BAD.
The Canucks organization hasn’t paid much attention to their farm team, historically, and with the NHL season looking to be over before it ever really began, wandering eyes will begin to turn to the future.
These are the players developed by the Canucks through the AHL since 2009-10
criteria:
-less than 10GP AHL/NHL before debut AHL season
-50+ GP in AHL with Canucks org
-15+ GP with NHL Canucks
-50+ NHL GP since last AHL seasoncurrent ROI:
1 goalie (a #1 goalie at that)
0 D
0 F https://t.co/erhm60jrzF pic.twitter.com/gflNZCisYr— Cody Severtson (@CodySevertson) November 26, 2021
Oh, right.
About that…
I’ve written, at length, about the Vancouver Canucks organizations’ failures to make use of their AHL system.
At the risk of spending 6000 words on the lack of bodies in the current regime’s cupboards after eight years behind the wheel, let’s instead do a quick check-in on the current U24 prospects in Abbotsford.
- Jack Rathbone – one point in three games
- Will Lockwood – three points in last three games after a six-game stint on IR
- Jett Woo – 25th in U22 AHL defencemen scoring
- Carson Focht – two points at 5v5, five total
- Alex Kannok Leipert – zero points
- Ethan Keppen – zero points
- Chase Wouters – two points in twelve games and has established himself as one of the team’s best penalty killers
- Danila Klimovich – one point in his last eight games (still a wee baby, however)
- Tristen Neilsen – actively scratched in favour of a defenceman playing out of position as a forward
Feeling good Canucks fans?!
Yeah, me neither!
Let’s get into tonight’s game and pretend it’s all going to work out just fine!
THE OPPOSITION
Those are some good looking names😍#LetsGoTucson pic.twitter.com/WsmMJzV6Ot
— Tucson Roadrunners (@RoadrunnersAHL) November 28, 2021
Starting in net for the Roadrunners is former Utica Comet, Zane McIntyre.
STARTING ROSTER
Our lineup in Tucson tonight! 💪
➡️ Brisebois making his Abby debut!
➡️ Petan enters the game with a three-game point streak (2-2–4).
➡️ Silovs will make his first start since Nov. 6.#AbbyCanucks pic.twitter.com/1eDNRLChoQ— Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) November 28, 2021
Jack Rathbone hurt himself in last night’s action. In his place comes Guillaume Brisebois, who makes his season debut after an injury sidelined him through season-opening training camp.
Don’t feel like reading? Click here for spoilers!!
GAME 13:
1st period:
- Three shots on goal for the Roadrunners through the opening two minutes
- Canucks draw a roughing penalty against Tucson’s Jan Jenik to give themselves the game’s first powerplay!
PP2: Lockwood, Dries, Di Giuseppe, Woo, Klimovich
- Canucks lose the faceoff and reset from their zone
- GOAL – ABBOTSFORD – 1-0 Canucks: Will Lockwood capitalizes on an uncontrolled rebound from Tucson’s Zane McIntrye to open the scoring on the powerplay. Sheldon Dries (#15) dumps the puck on McIntyre from the Roadrunner’s blue line, and McIntyre kicks the puck out to Lockwood (#10), who dips around McIntyre and flips the puck into the net off his backhand.
- Chase Wouters (#21) attempts a breakout pass to Vincent Arseneau (#18), but the puck deflects back into the d-zone off a Roadrunner skate. Arturs Silovs slides coast to coast to make a big stop on Michael Carcone.
- After icing the puck, the Canucks get caught on an extended shift after losing the d-zone faceoff.
- After playing the puck behind Silovs’ net, Tucson’s Boko Imama dumps Jett Woo (#22) with a hard hit from behind.
- Wouters (#21) leaves Silovs’ crease to chase a loose puck in the slot. Tucson’s Jan Jenik reaches the puck first and dangerously sets up Matias Maccelli for a shot attempt. Fortunately, Maccelli can’t get a piece of the pass, and Silovs stops play with his glove.
- John Stevens draws a tripping penalty against Tucson’s Cameron Hebig
- Canucks to their second powerplay of the game
PP1: Bailey, Stevens, Petan, Rempal, Schilling
- After the faceoff, Tuscon wins a puck battle, leaves the zone, and kills twenty seconds inside the Canucks d-zone.
- In the slot, John Stevens (#16) narrowly misses a tap-in feed from Nic Petan (#7).
- McIntyre makes a stop on Sheldon Rempal, allowing Tucson to clear the zone for a wholesale change.
PP2: Dries, Lockwood, Di Giuseppe, Klimovich, Woo
- PP2 hops on with less than thirty-five seconds remaining on the powerplay
- Powerplay expires with Klimovich registering a single shot attempt for PP2
- Cameron Hebig draws a tripping penalty against Carson Focht (#19)
- Please admire the pbp voice
PK1: Stevens, Wouters, Sautner, Juulsen
- GOAL – TUCSON – 1-1 Tie: Well, I definitely jinxed Chase Wouters in the pre-amble because, for the first time this season, he finds himself on-ice for a powerplay goal-against. As Stevens (#16) returns to the top of the PK-triangle, Wouters (#21) is late to switch off to become the rover, allowing Matias Maccelli to wade in towards the top of the left circle for a blistering wrist-shot that finds its way past a screened Silovs.
- Off the ensuing faceoff, a long shift for Tucson inside the Canucks zone results in a two-minute cross-checking penalty drawn against Madison Bowey.
PK1: Petan, Lockwood, Sautner, Juulsen
- Petan wins the d-zone draw then clears the zone for Abbotsford
- Sautner clears after the Tucson re-entry, allowing the Canucks to change forward personnel
PK2: Bailey, Stevens
- Bailey and Stevens prevent the Roadrunners re-entry, allowing for another Canucks line-change
PK3: Di Giuseppe, Dries, Woo, Brisebois
- Silovs stops a chance from Tucson’s Ryan McGregor; Woo (#22) picks up the rebound and clears the zone.
- Bowey’s cross-checking penalty expires
- GOAL – TUCSON – 2-1 Roadrunners: The Roadrunners overcome an early one-goal deficit to earn the lead for the second straight night. Boko Imama breaks the tie with a no-look feed off the rush that beats Silovs’ blocker side. The Canucks give up the two-on-one rush chance after getting caught with four skaters below the blue line without possession.
- GOAL – TUCSON – 3-1 Roadrunners: Sigh. The Canucks have given up three straight goals for the second straight night after opening the night’s scoring early. A bad line change with two Roadrunners at the Canucks blue line leads to Matias Macelli scoring his second of the period. Silovs beat on his blocker side twice in thirty-nine seconds.
- Nic Petan (#7) takes a bump inside Tucson’s zone and manages to draw a cross-checking penalty against Jan Jenik to give the Canucks their third powerplay of the period.
PP2: Lockwood, Dries, Di Giuseppe, Woo, Klimovich
- PP2 cycles for forty seconds before Jett Woo launches a shot through traffic that rebounds off McIntyre’s pads and out of the zone
PP1: Bailey, Stevens, Petan, Rempal, Schilling
- Tucson’s Hudson Elynuik blocks a massive one-timer from Cameron Schilling, then clears the zone to kill the remaining time off Jenik’s penalty.
PP3: Sautner, Juulsen, Arseneau, Wouters, Lukosevicius
- Final twenty seconds of the man-advantage, and Cull sends out the above for a late powerplay try.
- With less than one minute in the opening frame, Tucson ices the puck to give the Canucks an offensive zone faceoff.
- GOAL – ABBOTSFORD – 3-2 Roadrunners: The Canucks manage to avoid a complete carbon copy of Friday’s game as Sheldon Dries scores his team-leading seventh goal of the season. After the Tucson icing, Canucks win the o-zone faceoff to Guillaume Brisebois (#55), who dishes to Di Giuseppe (#34) for a backhander on McIntyre. PDG’s shot trickles to the right of McIntyre’s pad, and Dries (#15) easily bats in the loose puck to put the Canucks within one.
- The buzzer sounds with Abbotsford edging the Roadrunners in shots, twelve to eleven.
2nd period:
- Back and forth, end to end action through the opening three minutes, with neither team generating any shot attempts
- Justin Bailey (#95) sees some open ice and turns on the jets to wheel down the left wing for a shot attempt that deflects high into the netting.
- More end-to-end nothingness
- The first shot of the period is registered when a pass from Madison Bowey redirects slowly off Sheldon Dries’ skate and off of McIntyre’s pad.
- Despite the pbp guy’s enthusiasm, a slapshot from Janis Moser that sails nowhere near Silovs net is the first sign of offence from the Roadrunners through the first five minutes of the second period.
- Guillaume Brisebois (#55) flubs a breakout transition, leading to Tucson’s Ben McCartney putting the moves on Madison Bowey (#4) for a dangerous scoring chance.
- Tucson’s Cole Hults heads to the penalty box for interference; Canucks to their fourth powerplay of the game.
PP1: Bailey, Stevens, Petan, Rempal, Schilling
- Canucks with an early shot off the faceoff
- Pbp calls Cam Schilling “Schillinger,” which is pretty great if you’re a fan of HBO’s ‘OZ.’
- PP1 loses the zone, and PP2 hops on in place
PP2: Lockwood, Dries, Di Giuseppe, Woo, Klimovich
- Klimovich (#46) pulls off the Jack Rathbone fake-clapper move to evade the Tucson defence for a shot on goal.
- Bowey (#4) puts on the moves for a shot through traffic; Wouters (#21) with a great effort to maintain the zone for Abbotsford.
- An incredible shift for the Canucks as they pressure the Roadrunners in their end for a full minute after the Hults penalty expires
- Vincent Arseneau (#18) fires a massive one-timer before laying a crushing hit along the boards.
- GOAL – ABBOTSFORD – 3-3 Tie: Comeback complete! Jarid Lukosevicius (#14), on the doorstep, bats in his own rebound after the initial stop by Zane McIntyre. Jett Woo (#22) starts the sequence by picking off a failed breakout pass by Tucson’s Cole Hults. Woo slips the puck through traffic to Lukosevicius (#14), and the rest is history!
- Lockwood (#10) wheels down the left wing for a shot attempt; Bailey wheels back into the d-zone to force Ben McCartney off the puck
- GOAL – ABBOTSFORD – 4-3 Canucks: And just like that, the Canucks have regained the lead! Chase Wouters (#21) with a great stick-lift to strip Tuscon of possession before handing off to Jett Woo (#22) on the blue line. Woo fires a shot, and John Stevens (#16) fights through his check to tip the puck past McIntyre.
- Abbotsford continues to pressure with shots from Bailey and Bowey; Canucks are repeatedly looking for the ‘late-tip on perimeter shot’ play.
- With four minutes left in the middle frame, Cole Hults records Tucson’s second shot of the period.
- Seconds later, Hults records Tuscon’s third shot of the period after a Canucks d-zone faceoff.
- [checks notes] Vinny Arseneau (#18) wheels through open ice and into the offensive zone before colliding into the half-wall and knocking open the zamboni door.
- Boko Imama rifles a shot on Silovs with less than five seconds remaining in the second period.
- Dominant middle frame for Abbotsford as they spend the majority of the frame inside the offensive zone, outshooting the Roadrunners nine to four.
3rd period:
- Arseneau (#18) throws a hit in the offensive zone that’s mostly absorbed by Woo (#22), haha
- John Stevens (#16) picks off Ben McCartney’s pass in the neutral zone and turns to set up Arseneau (#18) for a shot on goal.
- Eight minutes deep into the period, and the Canucks are playing very passively.
- Dries (#15) flubs a clearance, leading to a dangerous chance for Travis Barron after Jett Woo loses the puck in his skates in front of Silovs’ net.
- Victor Soderstrom attempts the fake-clapper play, but fans on the necessary follow-up shot attempt.
- Just a nifty little tuck from Danila Klimovich (#46) before making a d-zone breakout pass
- Matias Macelli, playing with the puck at the Canucks blue line, in front of Cameron Schilling (#5).
- Cameron Hebig puts on some heBIG moves around Dries (#15) and Di Giuseppe (#34) for a drive towards Silovs.
- GOAL – TUCSON – 4-4 TIE: Well, this felt inevitable, honestly. The Canucks park the bus for fifteen minutes, show zero effort, and Cameron Hebig ties the game at four for Tucson. Matias Macelli drives down the right-wing and, despite getting hauled down, forces the puck into the slot. Noah Juulsen (#47) lazily pokes at the loose puck, but it goes straight to Hebig, who scores the equalizer.
- Petan (#7) sets Bailey (#95) up for a one-timer that sails wide of the net. Bailey tilts his head high in frustration.
- With less than three minutes remaining in the game, Sheldon Rempal (#56) fails to clear the puck out of the d-zone, which leads to Tucson’s Terry Broadhurst drawing a cross-checking penalty against Madison Bowey (#4).
PK1: Sautner, Juulsen, Di Giuseppe, Dries
- Janis Moser flubs a shot from the blue line, forcing the Roadrunners to reset from their end.
PK2: Stevens, Wouters, Sautner, Juulsen
- John Stevens loses his stick, and Silovs dives onto a loose puck to ensure personnel change.
- Tucson calls for a timeout.
PK3: Petan, Dries, Sautner, Juulsen
- GOAL – TUCSON – 5-4 Roadrunners: lol. Seven seconds left on the Bowey penalty, and Janis Moser scores from the point with a slapshot that rolls up Silovs’ blocker and into the net.
- lol
- Canucks earn an offensive zone faceoff with forty-two seconds left in the third period.
6v5: Bailey, Rempal, Di Giuseppe, Dries, Schilling, Petan
RESULT:
Tucson Roadrunners def. Abbotsford Canucks 5-4
SCORESHEET:

TAKEAWAYS:
- lol
- No, actually, lol
- What is there to say, really? If the Junior Canucks third period gameplan was “park the bus, don’t do anything stupid, just play mistake-free hockey and eke out the one-goal victory,” then I don’t know what to say. The team has TWO regulation wins this season. TWO! There is no excuse to sit back and play defensive hockey when you’ve only won a single game in November!
- Now, maybe the game plan was to press, build off their second-period dominance, and bury this Roadrunners squad? Begging the question, is this Abbotsford Canucks squad hungry enough? I hate to use shitty hockey cliche questions. Three straight goals-against in the first period, followed by a solid second-period comeback effort, preceding a four-shot third period while holding a one-goal lead is pathetic! Show some consistent effort!
- Only two shots on net were recorded by Canucks defencemen tonight.
- There were some bright spots tonight, but when the organization is top-to-bottom failing, it’s not even worth mentioning them.
- Zane McIntyre held a 3.16 goals-against-average, and a 0.894 save percentage while playing for the Utica Comets on their dynamite (offensively) 2019-20 team. Since leaving the organization, McIntyre has averaged a 2.02 GAA, and a 0.926 save percentage while posting a record of 17-3-4.
- Carson Focht barely saw ice-time in the third period. 99% sure he was benched after the Boko Imama tiebreaker goal in the first. 5v5 continues to be a problem for him. He doesn’t appear to have the footspeed to engage in one-on-one battles for loose pucks. He’s been fine on the powerplay with the extra time and space, but 5v5, he’s just a non-factor.
- Chase Wouters had a rough read on the powerplay goal that tied the game at one; Cull took him off that PK pairing with Stevens on the Bowey penalty but re-inserted him for the second Bowey penalty when things were tight in the third. Hopefully, this is a sign that Cull isn’t going to sour on Wouters’ development. He was good at 5v5 and one of the few players who played with consistency through all sixty minutes.
- Will Lockwood looked alright in the first and second periods but was invisible in the third.
- Justin Bailey did not look good.
- This might be the first game I’ve watched where Sheldon Rempal was completely invisible.
- Jett Woo picked up two points (both at 5v5), but his shot needs so much work from the blueline. His aim is an issue, yes. But, the lack of power on his shot is gravely concerning.
- The last time this organization audited their AHL club, they said all was fine before really investigating. After investing considerable dollars into the AHL club’s roster, I genuinely wonder if they take a longer look now that they are sitting at the bottom of the Pacific Division alongside the San Jose Barracuda.
- Credit to Thomas Drance for pointing out how the Canucks organization’s inaction is similar to Wile-E Coyote falling off a cliff. The audience is waiting for Wile-E to realize he’s no longer standing on the cliff but about to fall. That was the Abbotsford Canucks tonight. Fifteen minutes of zero effort play results in the team’s ninth loss of the season.
Cody’s Three Stars
- Jett Woo, I guess?
- Chase Wouters, I guess?
- N/A
Next Up on the Docket
The Abbotsford Canucks are in for a quick turnaround when they head home for a four-game home stint versus the Ontario Reign and San Jose Barracuda. Their first home games since massive flooding shuffled their schedule.
Plugs
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