Abbotsford Canucks open season with pair of losses to Calgary Wranglers<\/p>\n
Published 8:15 pm Saturday, October 3, 2026<\/p>\n
The Abbotsford Canucks sit pointless after a pair of 4-2 losses to the Calgary Wranglers to open the AHL regular season.<\/p>\n
One of the more positive stories for Abbotsford from opening weekend was the play of rookie Braeden Cootes, who recorded his first professional goal on Saturday (Oct. 3) and fired nine shots over the two games.<\/p>\n
Cootes used a screen from linemate Ilya Safonov to fool Wranglers goalie Kirill Zarubin at 16:16 of the third period to suddenly make it a 3-2 game. Abbotsford pushed in the final minutes, but Calgary added an empty net goal to reach the 4-2 final.<\/p>\n
That was long overdue, Cootes records his first @TheAHL<\/a> goal #canucks<\/a><\/p>\n Now 3-2 Calgary late pic.twitter.com\/TtvjMkvgjx<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) October 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Abbotsford\u2019s Ty Mueller tallied the game\u2019s first goal at 10:44 of the first period and the Canucks were up 1-0 after one. Mueller is off to a strong start offensively and has two goals in two games. Abbotsford had the 12-8 shots edge in the first.<\/p>\n Calgary got on the board at 6:09 of the second period after Axel Hurtig beat Canucks starting goalie Ty Young. Abbotsford controlled the play for most of the second and had the 14-7 shots edge, but Zarubin stood tall in the middle frame.<\/p>\n Turnover leads to a Wranglers goal after the Canucks PP pic.twitter.com\/20QKYBkI5V<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Ben Lypka (@BenLypka) October 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The Wranglers took over early in the third period and made it 2-1 shortly after killing a penalty. Luke Philp cleanly beat Young at 1:06 of the third and Hurtig added his second of the game at 14:43 to give Calgary a 3-1 lead. <\/p>\n Sawyer Mynio and Cootes had a game-high five shots apiece, while defender Jimmy Schuldt finished at a -3. The Canucks finished with a 33-32 shots advantage. <\/p>\n Friday\u2019s (Oct. 2) game was a slightly different story, but had an identical 4-2 result. <\/p>\n Calgary\u2019s Jonathan Castagna gave the Wranglers a 1-0 lead at 5:13 and Tyson Gross made it 2-0 about six minutes later. Abbotsford managed just three shots in the first period and struggled to produce any sort of offensive pressure.<\/p>\n The Wranglers quickly made it 3-0 just 1:46 into the second when Mike Benning beat Canucks starting goalie Nikita Tolopilo. Abbotsford finally got on the board when Trey Fix-Wolansky set up Mueller at 18:19. <\/p>\n Jimmy makes it 2\ufe0f\u20e3! pic.twitter.com\/4JqOfLDYlM<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) October 3, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The third period was all Abbotsford and that momentum finally paid off when Schuldt wired a perfect shot past Calgary goalie Arsenii Sergeev at 8:15. The Canucks continued pushing the pace offensively, but were stalled when Castagna added an empty net goal at 18:27. Abbotsford outshot Calgary 16-4 in the third and 32-21 in the game. <\/p>\n Cootes, Fix-Wolansky and Bennett Schimek all had four shots, while defender Gavin White was a -3. Tolopilo made 17 saves in the loss. The weekend also marked the debut behind the bench for the Canucks new head coach Ryan Papaioannou, who was hired by the team in July. <\/p>\n Abbotsford begins the season in an 0-2 hole and next travel to Colorado to take on the Eagles on Oct. 9 and 10. The club\u2019s home opener sees them welcome the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Saturday, Oct. 17. For more, visit abbotsford.canucks.com.<\/a><\/p>\n