Calgary Wranglers 2024–25 season thread

[Canada 02]

Bru assisted on the Kerins goal, not Hunt. AHL scorekeeper got it wrong

[drewtastic]

Just home from the game. Some thoughts:

-Jurmo looked decent, overall. No real panic to his game. One 2-on-1 against goal, but not sure it was his fault he found himself in that spot…

-…Solovyov was caught up ice on the goal. I am not convinced he’s going to make the jump, full-time anyway. From the games I’ve attended, Kuznetsov has been more solid on D. Aspirot too…

-Brz shows poise beyond his years. He’s gonna be a beaut. I also really like Poirier, but maybe I just really want him to get a shot with the Flames, sooner rather than later.

-Hunt had a fantastic game. Uptempo all night. Kerins continues to pot goals. He’s hungry to score. Wouldn’t mind seeing him get a couple games up.

-Honzek and Stromgren continue to develop in positive directions, IMO. More physical, more confident, both. As they mature physically, they could both be impactful players for the Flames.

-Ignatjew was there when the Wranglers sagged a bit in the third. Very solid. (Tucson’s GK kept them in the game in the 2nd when Calgary was running wild…)

I’m so glad my buddy convinced me to go in on Wrangerls tix when they first came to town—even if I can’t get to every game. It’s been awesome seeing the young talent develop and progress first-hand. This edition of the team particularly is fast, skilled and determined. A joy to watch. My advice: if you haven’t already, get out to some games this year!

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Bru assisted on the Kerins goal, not Hunt. AHL scorekeeper got it wrong

Excellent! That would give Bru 4 points in his last 4 games.

[Hockey-and_stuff]

Originally Posted by edslunch

Nice pass by Honzek. How has he been looking? Stats aren’t much

Stats look great for a 20yo in the AHL who essentially missed his entire D+1 season to injury.

From my own viewings he looks really solid. He has good speed and he is a very intelligent player. The points seem to be coming now as well.

With Duehr and Pelts up on the main roster he may see PP1 time and could pick up the scoring even more too!

Sent from my Pixel 7 Pro using Tapatalk

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Bru assisted on the Kerins goal, not Hunt. AHL scorekeeper got it wrong

Brzustewicz officially credited with the assist

[Sandman]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

Brzustewicz officially credited with the assist

Awesome! Hopefully he’s breaking out!

[IceBergYYC]

As the year goes on, my preseason prediction about Stromgren being on a significant upwards trajectory after a slow start to last year is thankfully proving to be very true. Another goal tonight.

[Sandman]

Dec.10th:

The league-best Wranglers defeat the Moose, 6-1. They are the top-scoring team in the AHL, with 92 goals.

-Kerins was first star, with 1g, 2a, and a +1. He is back on top of the AHL scoring race (tied with Vinnie Hinostroza), second in goals, and tied for first in plus/minus (with fellow Wranglers Solovyov and Kuznetsov), with 24gp/17g/10a/27pts,+15, 8 PIM.

-Second star was Hunt, with 1g, 2a, and a +1. He is tied for 8th in AHL scoring, and 4th in plus/minus with 22gp/6g/17a/23pts,+14, 18 PIM.

-Third star was Cooley, stopping 30 of 31. He is 14-3-0-3, 2nd in GAA with 1.80, and 2nd in SV% with .942. Askarov is first in both categories.

-Also getting points were Brzustewicz (1a, extending his points streak to 5 games), Solovyov (1a), Stromgren (1g), Ciona (1a), Bishop (1a), Frk (1g), Kuznetsov (1g), Honzek (1g), and Klapka (2a).

-Solovyov is tied for 7th in D scoring, and first in plus/minus, with 20gp/4g/10a/14pts,+15, 6 PIM.

-Stromgren has 17 points in his last 15 games. 24gp/6g/13a/19pts,+4, 6 PIM, and is tied with Duehr for 24th in scoring.

-Ciona is putting together a good season, and has 7 points in his last 10, for 20gp/2g/9a/11pts,+8, 36 PIM.

-Frk has 10 points in the last 10, for 20gp/5g/8a/13pts,-2, 14 PIM.

-Honzek is up to a respectable 14gp/2g/5a/7pts,+3, 8 PIM.

-Klapka has put up 10gp/5g/5a/10pts,+8, 22 PIM. Both of his assists tonight were primary.

[IceBergYYC]

It's a bit of a chicken/egg situation for me. But 17 of the 24 Wranglers games this season were against teams currently at or below .500 (Putting up a 13-4 record against said teams)
The remaining schedule includes 29 games against teams currently over .500 (They've gone 5-1-1 so far, but have only faced their perennial weak spot the CV Firebirds once, with 7 more meetings this season to go)

I guess we'll have to see if the other teams suck because they've faced us, or if we're great because we've mostly played the teams that suck

[Charcot]

Does anyone know why Grushnikov is not playing? I don’t think he has played in at least the last three games.

[BrownDrake]

I follow most of the prospects but I have honestly no sense of what Kerins was when he was drafted or is now, haven’t watched any wranglers games. His Dplus 1 stats with the greyhounds is crazy and he seems to have produced well in the ECHL and in his rookie and sophomore seasons in the AHL. Is he fast or slow, hands, bad/good shot, poor defensively ???? Curious why no one seems to high on him and why he doesn’t seem to get a lot of attention?

[IceBergYYC]

Originally Posted by Charcot

Does anyone know why Grushnikov is not playing? I don’t think he has played in at least the last three games.

Out day to day (Upper body) as of last nights update

https://twitter.com/user/status/1866650735649214650

[IceBergYYC]

Originally Posted by BrownDrake

I follow most of the prospects but I have honestly no sense of what Kerins was when he was drafted or is now. Is he fast or slow, hands, bad/good shot, poor defensively ?

He's fine all around. At least to my eyes, he's not a "lights out good" player in any aspect. His shot is fine, his speed is okay, his defensive game is fine, it certainly seems to have improved compared to last year.

My honest assessment of this year is that he is simply very hard working, and doing the right things. He can drive the net, he has a few good shots, some of them get extra lucky, but the main thing is he is putting pucks on net. He is in second place on the team for shots, 21st in the league but a 28.3% shooting percentage is statistically unlikely to continue over the course of a full season.

Realistically he has the ceiling of a bottom six center, though I'd love to be proven wrong one day. As for the reason nobody's clamoring over him and begging the team to give him a shot the way they did for Matthew Phillips? Other than not being a hometown boy, Covid threw a curveball in his development, he lost his full D+1 year, and spent a year in the ECHL, and this is his first year that he's really lighting it up since turning pro. That combo on top of being a 6th rounder, so nobody was even really paying attention to start.

[Monahammer]

I really like Ciona as a long term bottom 6 option on the team. Big, fast, mean. Seems motivated.

[Funkhouser]

Gotta make some space on the big club

Kerins, Stromgren, Solo, Klapka, Ciona, Kuznetsov, Grush, & Cooley all deserve looks.

[DuckSauce]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

Gotta make some space on the big club

Kerins, Stromgren, Solo, Klapka, Ciona, Kuznetsov, Grush, & Cooley all deserve looks.

So fun! Would love to see these guys get some time after the deadline. How does Ciona’s skating look? Does he play a physical game for the Wranglers?decent size and I think was a good energy type player in junior.

With Cooley doing so well and having a great personality that was a hidden gem find and would make trading Vladar an option if there was a decent return. If that happened and he was called up he would need to clear waivers to go back down leaving Ignatjew as the starter for a Wrangler playoff run correct? I can’t see it but with Wolf being waiver exempt could he be an option to be AHL rostered and play in the playoffs assuming the Flames miss?

Always hoping to see positive news on Poirier and seemingly never do. I heard he looks miserable - does it seem like his window is closing?

[Muta]

I am elated at how well the Wranglers are doing. Watching our young guys develop is exciting, and I hope Connie has a plan to start giving these guys some cups of coffee in the show over the next couple months. In particular, I'm excited for Stromgren... his development should be taken slow (which seems to be the case here, which is good), but I think he has the potential to really add a special dynamic to our main lineup one day.

[CF84]

Originally Posted by IceBergYYC

He's fine all around. At least to my eyes, he's not a "lights out good" player in any aspect. His shot is fine, his speed is okay, his defensive game is fine, it certainly seems to have improved compared to last year.

My honest assessment of this year is that he is simply very hard working, and doing the right things. He can drive the net, he has a few good shots, some of them get extra lucky, but the main thing is he is putting pucks on net. He is in second place on the team for shots, 21st in the league but a 28.3% shooting percentage is statistically unlikely to continue over the course of a full season.

Realistically he has the ceiling of a bottom six center, though I'd love to be proven wrong one day. As for the reason nobody's clamoring over him and begging the team to give him a shot the way they did for Matthew Phillips? Other than not being a hometown boy, Covid threw a curveball in his development, he lost his full D+1 year, and spent a year in the ECHL, and this is his first year that he's really lighting it up since turning pro. That combo on top of being a 6th rounder, so nobody was even really paying attention to start.

Kerins strikes me as a guy who really struggles each time he's in a new level of hockey. After his initial struggles, he seems to dominate. I fully expect him to struggle when he plays his first NHL games, but at this point I won't be surprised if he surpasses the expectations anyone's had. On the other hand, I also won't be shocked if the NHL is a step too high for him to preform close to the same way he has in each league.

Man, Kerins succeeding would be such a welcome surprise for the Flames.

[Jiggy]

Originally Posted by CF84

Kerins strikes me as a guy who really struggles each time he's in a new level of hockey. After his initial struggles, he seems to dominate. I fully expect him to struggle when he plays his first NHL games, but at this point I won't be surprised if he surpasses the expectations anyone's had. On the other hand, I also won't be shocked if the NHL is a step too high for him to preform close to the same way he has in each league.

Man, Kerins succeeding would be such a welcome surprise for the Flames.

Trent Cull was on the Fan 960 the other day and he mentioned Kerins is a cerebral player. So I feel like he would adjust well to the NHL. It seems like conditioning was an issue past years, and he's since worked on that. It would be awesome to see him succeed in the NHL, and not just as a fan, but on a personal level.

[CFO]

Pretty sure one season kerins was the second highest points in OHL??