A raucous crowd at Abbotsford Centre cheered all night long as the “Baby Nucks” picked up their franchise record ninth straight victory.
The march to the Calder Cup Playoffs continued in the Fraser Valley, as the Abbotsford Canucks picked up another big two points in a 4-2 win over the Bakersfield Condors on Tuesday night. Sheldon Rempal notched goals #32 and #33 on the season, Madison Bowey and Matt Alfaro added a tally each, and Mikey DiPietro was strong in goal yet again, making 20 saves for his 6th straight victory.
Tuesday night also saw the unveiling of Abbotsford’s Team awards for the season, with Noah Juulson winning “Man of the Year”, Jack Rathbone winning both “Rookie of the Year” and the “Fan Favourite” award, and Sheldon Dries was voted as the team’s Most Valuable Player, scoring 35 goals and adding 27 assists in 54 games.
Abbotsford is currently sitting in 3rd place in the AHL’s Pacific Division, with a 0.636 winning percentage, ahead of the Colorado Eagles 0.625. The Canucks hold their own destiny in their hands as they get set to head out to Winnipeg to face the Manitoba Moose in the final two games of the regular season. With at least one win over the Moose, and a Bakersfield loss to Stockton, Abby can clinch 3rd Place in the Pacific Division, and guarantee home ice advantage for the first two rounds of the Calder Cup Playoffs, and Abbotsford is only slated to get better when the playoffs begin, as Will Lockwood, Nic Petan, Sheldon Dries, and Spencer Martin will all return when Vancouver wraps up their season this week. Vancouver rookie Vasily Podkolzin is also slated to join Abbotsford for the playoffs.
Abbotsford’s penultimate game of the regular season goes down tomorrow at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg, before they finish the season out on Saturday night with their second matchup with the Moose.
(Photo: Abbotsford Canucks / twitter.com/abbycanucks)