OHL Alumni crowned 2025 Calder Cup Champions with Abbotsford Canucks

For the first time in franchise history, the Abbotsford Canucks are Calder Cup champions.

Fueled by contributions from five OHL alumni, the Canucks defeated the Charlotte Checkers 3-2 in Game 6 of the Finals on Monday night in Charlotte, North Carolina. Down 2-0 in the first period, Abbotsford stormed back to tie the game early in the second. The winner came with less than four minutes left in regulation when Linus Karlsson buried a one-timer down low past Checkers goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen.

Barrie Colts alumnus Arturs Silovs was named the recipient of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

The 24-year-old Latvian netminder was in goal for all 16 of Abbotsford’s postseason wins, backstopping the Canucks to the first AHL championship in the history of the Vancouver Canucks organization. It also marked the first time a Canadian-based team captured the Calder Cup since the Toronto Marlies did so in 2018.

A sixth-round selection by Vancouver in the 2019 NHL Draft, Silovs was nothing short of dominant in the playoffs, stopping 695 shots and posting a 2.01 goals-against average, a .931 save percentage, and five shutouts – just one shy of the all-time AHL postseason record. Remarkably, three of those shutouts came in series-clinching games. He also tied an AHL record for most wins in a single postseason.

In the Calder Cup Final alone, Silovs turned aside 214 of 229 shots for a .934 save percentage. And the Canucks needed every bit of his magic, as five of the six games were decided by a single goal, with three contests going to overtime, including one double-overtime thriller.

The Canucks entered the playoffs as the Pacific Divisions second seed with a 44-24-4 regular season record before embarking on the playoffs, where they eliminated the Tucson Roadrunners, Coachella Valley, Colorado Eagles and Texas Stars before besting the Charlotte Checkers. 

OHL Alumni crowned 2025 Calder Cup Champions with the Abbotsford Canucks:

Forwards:
Vilmer Alriksson (Guelph Storm, 2023-24 & Brampton Steelheads, 2024-25)
Cooper Walker (Guelph Storm, 2019-23)

Defenceman:
Kirill Kudryavtsev (Soo Greyhounds, 2021-24)

Goaltenders:
Arturs Silovs (Barrie Colts, 2019-20)
Mack Guzda (Owen Sound Attack, 2017-21 & Barrie Colts, 2021-22)

Hockey Operations:
Manny Malhotra, Head Coach (Guelph Storm, 1996-2000)
Jordan Smith, Assistant Coach (Soo Greyhounds, 2001-05)