History was made in Charlotte, NC last night, as the Abbotsford Canucks won the Calder Cup, a first for the Abbotsford franchise and the Canucks system.

ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS 3 CHARLOTTE CHECKERS 2 (Canucks win series 4-2)

Being a Canucks fan over the year has trained us all to expect disappointment. Last night, everything changed. Linus Karlsson, as he's done throughout this playoff run, came through with a massive goal late in the second, and the Canucks, thanks to some outstanding defensive play and another amazing performance from playoff MVP Arturs Silovs, held on for the 3-2 win.

There are so many incredible stories with this team, that all culminated in this moment. It starts with Abbotsford GM bringing in local boy and member of that 2011 Cup run, Manny Malhotra to head up the coaching staff. They added other BC born and raised pieces, assembling a team that didn't look like it would be capable of this at the start. On January 4th, they had more losses than regulation wins, but then something changed. Two long winning streaks, as the team, to a man, bought in to what Malhotra and his coaching staff were trying to implement.

That led to 5 series wins, and going 16-8 over that stretch. As evidenced by his winning the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy for AHL playoff MVP, Arturs Silovs was an absolute beast in the post season. Five shutouts, a 2.01 GAA and .931 sv% was the driving force for this team. Silovs gave them a chance to win every night, and most importantly, he bounced back from losses, and the Canucks didn't lose two games in a row for the entire run.

And then there was the offense, led by the leading scorer of the playoffs, Linus Karlsson. His game winner was so fitting, giving him 14-12-26 in 24 playoff performances. Arshdeep Bains wasn't far behind, his play an absolute catalyst for the Canucks offense on this run. Bains had two assists last night to leave him with 7-17-24. While it was absolutely a team effort, the play of Sammy Blais, who was an absolute terror physically along with scoring some huge goals, Max Sasson, and Phil DiGiuseppe were also bringing their absolute best every night.

On defense, shot blocking and working hard to neutralize some of the most lethal scorers in the AHL was a task they handled well, as we saw guys like Jett Woo, Akito Hirose and Kirill Kudryavtsev step up big time. A great mix of seasoned vets at both the AHL and NHL level, along with a youth movement in the Canucks that is going to help make the parent club better down the road was what helped them to this amazing moment.

So, with that, we await the celebration to come in Abbotsford when the boys arrive home. It's a week until free agency starts, and there are a metric fuckton of questions facing the Canucks and how they're going to fix the disaster that was this past season. For now though, enjoy this. Let's hope it's a sample of what we've been dying to see, for so long now.

When the Utica Comets made the AHL Finals back in 2015, we could see that while it was good for the franchise, having the affiliate closer to home was vital to long term development and success. And in just four years, Ryan Johnson, Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin have done that. The support of the community for this team, as well as from Canucks fans across the province (and elsewhere!) have also been massive in helping this team grow into champions.

As for us, we're likely going to take a couple days off. With all of us dealing with various challenges at the moment, a little break is well deserved. So, on behalf of Jimmi, Westy and myself, thanks to all of you who still come round to see what we have to say. We love ya for it.