Abbotsford vs Charlotte
Abbotsford vs Charlotte
Pros. Red vs Pros. Blue
Pros. Black vs Pros. Green
Pinnacle U17 vs Selects U17
Aces U17 vs Gold Star U17
Gold U15 vs Red U15
Black U15 vs White U15
Pros. Red vs Pros. Black
Pros. Blue vs Pros. Green
Red U15 vs Black U15
White U15 vs Gold U15
Selects U17 vs Aces U17
Gold Star U17 vs Pinnacle U17
Charlotte vs Abbotsford
After another season of entertaining and action-packed AHL hockey, only the Charlotte Checkers and Abbotsford Canucks remain standing. It only took a 72-game regular season and five rounds of playoffs to earn their way to the 2025 Calder Cup Playoff finals. 
The Florida Panthers affiliate take on the Vancouver Canucks affiliate in Game 1 on Friday night at the Bojangles Coliseum streaming live on FloHockey.
The two No. 2 seeds left a trail of despair behind them, toppling the back-to-back defending champion Hershey Bears, the AHL regular season points winner Laval Rocket, plus the Colorado Eagles, the No. 1 seed and regular season points leader in the West.
Abby’s Linus Karlsson leads the way between the two in postseason points with 17, 9 goals and 8 assists. Between the pipes for the Checkers, 28-year-old goalie Kaapo Kähkönen has been a brick wall with 1.73 GAA and .927 SAV% over 12 games.
Follow along on FloHockey for the latest news, results, highlights, and more for the AHL, ECHL, and new in 2025-26, the QMJHL.
To kick off the final series right, FloHockey is streaming Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals for free on YouTube, with both home and away broadcasts available. You can also stream the game on Facebook and X.

See the latest stats, watch the highlights, and read live updates for game one of the Calder Cup Finals: Charlotte Checkers vs. Abbotsford Canucks. The newest updates can be found directly below.
Last Update: 7:41 p.m. ET
Despite eight shots on goal, Arturs Silovs was able to withstand the double minor penalty and keep the puck out of the net.
Shots were in favor of the Checkers 12-5 with under 6 minutes remaining in the 1st period.
In a two-on-two rush, Lockwood dropped it back to Entwistle who was able to use the Canucks defense to screen the shot and get it past Silovs.
Just 8 seconds later, Abbotsford was called for a 4-minute double minor high sticking penalty on Danila Klimovich to put the Checkers on the power play for the first time tonight.
During the first two minutes of the power play, the Checkers poured on the pressure earning four shots on Abbotsford’s goaltender.
TIE GAME pic.twitter.com/SXcxMPpMX5
Just two minutes into the game, Abbotsford Canucks had two strong chances to test Kaapo Kahkonen early. Puljujarvi had an early breakout chance against Silovs but the Latvian stood strong.
Phillip Di Giuseppe took a hard crosscheck into the boards from Trevor Carrick to put the Canucks on the power play for the first time in this final series.
Max Sasson scored off the rebound on the blocker side from a shot after a beautiful move by Sammy Blais to get the puck out in front of Kahkonen. Kurdryavtsev on the assist as well.
It’s the @abbycanucks with the first goal of the Calder Cup Finals!@Canucks | @CanucksArmy#AHL #CalderCup #ProudlyAbbotsford #Canucks pic.twitter.com/ZDVrR7BYvL
Read the full write-up by Patrick Williams.
Charlotte: After placing second in the Atlantic Division with a 44-22-3-3 record, the Checkers earned a first-round bye. From there they proceeded to eliminate the Providence Bruins, going the distance in the best-of-five Atlantic Division Semifinals. Next, they swept the back-to-back Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears in the best-of-five Atlantic Division Finals to earn a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Laval Rocket. Matched up against the AHL’s regular-season champion, they swept the Rocket.
They come into the Calder Cup Finals holding an eight-game winning streak, and this is the first time that a Florida Panthers affiliate has reached the Calder Cup Finals. With Florida pursuing another Stanley Cup title, the Panthers and Checkers represent the first organization to reach the finals in both the NHL and AHL since the Pittsburgh Penguins and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins did so in 2008. The last time that an NHL organization won both the Stanley Cup and Calder Cup in the same year was 1995 when the New Jersey Devils and Albany River Rats did so.
Abbotsford: The Canucks (44-24-2-2) entered the postseason hot, but they got an early scare from the Tucson Roadrunners in the teams’ best-of-three first-round series. Tucson put the Canucks on the brink of elimination before Abbotsford closed out that series. From there they eliminated the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the Pacific Division Semifinals and then went the distance with the Western Conference regular-season champion Colorado Eagles in the Pacific Division Finals, surviving that series as well. In the Western Conference Finals against the Texas Stars, they took the first two games of that series at home, before dropping two of the next three games on the road. However, they prevailed in Game 6 back at Abbotsford Centre last Sunday.
This is the first time that a Vancouver Canucks affiliate has reached the Calder Cup Finals since 2015 when the Utica Comets did so. Vancouver affiliates have also reached the Finals in 2009 (Manitoba) and in 1988 (Fredericton as part of a dual affiliation with the Quebec Nordiques) but were defeated both times.
Charlotte Checkers
Abbotsford Canucks
Noted beverage holder Kaapo Kahkonen, reporting for duty 🫡 pic.twitter.com/Wm8UGi6qui
Game 1 of the Calder Cup Finals is 75 minutes away 🕖
Are you ready?@TheAHL | @abbycanucks | @CheckersHockey #AHL #CalderCup #ProudlyAbbotsford #CheckersHockey pic.twitter.com/zlJPqM4grN
The Checkers and Canucks took two very separate and winding paths to meet each other in the Calder Cup Final. For the Canucks, it all comes down to the special teams—scoring on 22% of their chances in the postseason. They also hold an impressive 90.57% on the kill, only allowing 5 goals on 53 attempts. 
The Checkers penalty kill is also a strong suit for them, allowing just 4 goals on 41 attempts (90.24%). However, their ability to convert with a man-up leaves more to be desired with just 3 goals on 43 power plays (6.98%).
Postseason Stats
Goals For
Goals Against
Power Plays – Home
Power Plays – Away
Penalty Killing – Home
Penalty Killing – Away
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