Calgary Wranglers | |
---|---|
City | Calgary, Alberta |
League | American Hockey League |
Conference | Western |
Division | Pacific |
Founded | 1977 |
Home arena | Scotiabank Saddledome |
Colours | Red, yellow, white |
Owner(s) | Calgary Sports and Entertainment |
General manager | Brad Pascall |
Head coach | Trent Cull |
Captain | Brett Sutter |
Affiliates | Calgary Flames (NHL) Rapid City Rush (ECHL) |
Franchise history | |
1977–1987 | Maine Mariners |
1987–1993 | Utica Devils |
1993–2003 | Saint John Flames |
2005–2007 | Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights |
2007–2009 | Quad City Flames |
2009–2014 | Abbotsford Heat |
2014–2015 | Adirondack Flames |
2015–2022 | Stockton Heat |
2022–present | Calgary Wranglers |
Championships | |
Regular season titles | 1 (2022–23) |
Division titles | 1 (2022–23) |
Current season |
The Calgary Wranglers are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. They are members of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL).The team plays at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the home of their National Hockey League (NHL) affiliate team, the Calgary Flames.
On May 23, 2022, the Calgary Flames announced the relocation of the Stockton Heat to Calgary. [1] This followed a recent trend of Canadian NHL teams moving their AHL affiliates closer to home, principally to allow for players to be called up on a shorter notice. On August 2, 2022, the team announced its name, bringing back the "Wranglers" moniker used by the WHL team of the same name from 1977 to 1987. [2] Mitch Love, the head coach of the Heat, would remain with the team during their relocation to Calgary. Ahead of the 2022–23 AHL season's start, on October 14, 2022, former Flames draft pick Brett Sutter was named as the team's first captain, with Nick DeSimone and Matthew Phillips being named as alternate captains. [3]
The Wranglers played their first game on October 16, 2022, a 6–5 loss against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. [4] [5] Despite a slow start to the season, [6] the Wranglers enjoyed significant success in their inaugural year, capturing the regular season championship with 51 wins, and being awarded the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy. [7] Their overall 51–17–4 record was the ninth-best record in AHL history. [7]
The Wranglers' dominant regular season performance would result in several members of the team winning substantial awards during the inaugural season: star goaltender Dustin Wolf would win every trophy available for his position, including being named as the league's MVP. [8] Wolf, along with forward Matthew Phillips, would be named to the First All-Star Team, with defenseman Jeremie Poirier being named to the All-Rookie team. [9] Head coach Mitch Love would be named as the AHL's coach of the year, winning the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award. [10]
As a result of capturing the Pacific Division title, the Wranglers would earn a bye past the first round of the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs. During their second-round match-up against the Abbotsford Canucks, the Wranglers would win the best-of-five series three games to one. [11] Ultimately, the Wranglers would fail to live up to their regular season success during the playoffs, losing during overtime in the fifth and final game of the third round to the Coachella Valley Firebirds. [12]
Following the 2022–23 season, head coach Mitch Love would earn a job as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals. [13] Resultingly, former Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Trent Cull was hired as the Wranglers head coach for the 2023–24 season. [14] During the first half of the season the Wranglers would enjoy continued success, finishing 2023 at the top of the Pacific Division, resulting in head coach Cull being tapped as a coach for the season's All-Star Classic. [15] However, as the season wore on, many of the team's top talent was depleted, either by trades or call-ups to the Flames, and the team fell behind in a tight playoff race, not clinching their spot in the 2024 Calder Cup playoffs until March 31, 2024, nearly 3 weeks later than the previous season. [16]
Ahead of the playoffs, key players Dustin Wolf, Ilya Solovyov, Adam Klapka, and Matt Coronato would be returned to the Wranglers roster after the conclusion of the Flames 2023–24 season. [17] During the playoffs, the 7-seed Wranglers would sweep the 2-seed Tucson Roadrunners in the best-of-three first-round, moving on to face the division champions in the Coachella Valley Firebirds for a second consecutive postseason. [18] [19]
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Games | Won | Lost | OTL | SOL | Points | PCT | GF | GA | Standing | Year | 1st Round | Div Semi-finals | Div finals | Conf. finals | Finals |
2022–23 | 72 | 51 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 106 | .736 | 256 | 174 | 1st, Pacific | 2023 | BYE | W, 3–1, ABB | L, 2–3, CV | — | — |
2023–24 | 72 | 35 | 28 | 6 | 3 | 79 | .549 | 203 | 212 | 7th, Pacific | 2024 | W, 2–0, TUC | L, 1–3, CV | — | — | — |
Updated May 10, 2024. [20]
The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). As of the 2023–24 AHL season, 31 of the 32 AHL teams had an official affiliation with an NHL team; immediately following season's end, the Chicago Wolves and Carolina Hurricanes finalized an affiliation agreement, resulting in all AHL teams having an NHL affiliation for the upcoming 2024–25 season. Historically, when an NHL team does not have an AHL affiliate, its players are assigned to AHL teams affiliated with other NHL franchises.
The Abbotsford Heat were a professional ice hockey team that played five seasons in the American Hockey League (AHL) between 2009 and 2014. The team was based in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, and played its home games at the 7,046-seat Abbotsford Entertainment & Sports Centre. The franchise was the National Hockey League (NHL) affiliate of the Calgary Flames and arrived in Abbotsford in 2009 as a relocated franchise formerly known as the Quad City Flames. The team played five seasons in British Columbia before the Flames' lease agreement with the City of Abbotsford was terminated following the 2013–14 season.
Mitchell Ryan Love is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL).
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Trent Cull is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently serving as the head coach of the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League (AHL). Previously, Cull served as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL).
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Matthew Phillips is a Canadian professional ice hockey right wing who currently plays for the Hershey Bears in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Jakob Pelletier is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger for the Calgary Wranglers of the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Flames with the 26th overall pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds are a professional ice hockey team based in Southern California's Coachella Valley. They are members of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). The Firebirds began play in the 2022–23 AHL season. The team is an owned-and-operated affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Seattle Kraken. The team plays their home games at Acrisure Arena in the town of Thousand Palms, California.
Dustin Wolf is an American professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the Calgary Wranglers in the American Hockey League (AHL) as a prospect to the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, 214th overall, by the Flames.
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