Abbotsford Canucks: Calder Cup Incentives for Will Lockwood

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Will Lockwood scored two goals for the chess piece of Sword Saint Charlotte in the most impressive Eastern innings in the final of the Eastern Conference in the impressive East Division to reach the AHL vote for the Calder Cup final.

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This is not outstanding news, but it is important for the former Vancouver Canucks winger. He has five goals in the last 10 playoff games, just 10 of his 52 regular season outings, and has reached a two-year, $155,000 U.S. contract with his parents, the Florida Panthers.

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Checkers won eight straight playoffs, won the game 10-2 in the playoffs and swept the last two series.

Lockwood, 26, will receive additional incentives in North Carolina’s seven-title series against Western Division champion Abbotsford Canucks on Friday. He was the Canucks’ third-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, ranked 64th in total, 44 spots higher than the NHL Central Scout forecast – but has never received attention in Vancouver or Florida. He has two assists in 52 professional games.

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Lockwood has only assisted in just 28 outings in three NHL seasons here, but does have 12 goals in 26 games in the 2022-23 season. He was traded to the New York Rangers in February 2023 for insufficient winger Vitali Kravtsov, who scored only one goal in 16 NHL games before a restricted free agent returned to the KHL.

The pressure of hockey in Vancouver has reached a lot of prospects. For Lockwood, it was a combination of tailoring his game to the NHL and trying to be a tenacious four-line fit. With the increased lineup, it is a physical ordeal and mental challenge. He even paid attention to it.

“I asked people to come and say, ‘They are picking up this guy and this guy.’ I don’t have any ideas,” Lockwood told Postmedia. “You have to focus on controlling your abilities. It’s a business. If the team wants to win, you have to understand that.

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“I won’t score from the top of the circle, nor will I always beat the goalkeeper with a clear shot. If I could get to those dirty areas, I would produce.”

“He’s very fast, tough, and for a not-so-large guy, he’s really hard to hit. If you give him enough ice time, like he has enough goals in the AHL to score, that’s going to build his confidence.”

Fast forward, if that’s the ending of Lockwood in his latest adventure – hosting the Calder Cup Trophy – then he might accept it, even though he wants to keep playing. 25-year-old former Carnac winger Aidan McDonough and 35-year-old center Zac Dalpe are also Checkers Captain.

McDonough is Vancouver’s seventh round of 2019 and has not yet participated in the playoffs. He scored 10 goals in 16 games, which was shortened frequently due to leg injuries in the season. In the Canucks game, he scored one in six games and 11 in 58 games against Abbotsford, without making a qualified offer.

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Dappe made the same deal with Rockwood, playing in only nine regular season games, and not one in the playoffs. He was acquired by the Ganak in a deal and scored 7 points (3-4) in 55 games in 2013-14.

Charlotte and Abbotsford have more in common this season.

Checkers scored 44-22-3-3 in 94 regular season points, the same as Abbotsford’s total, including a franchise record of 13 consecutive wins. In the playoffs, checkers scored only twice as many goals, and after leading the AHL with 16 brief goals in the regular season, they have six out of 11 playoff games.

Charlotte won the league’s highest penalty kicker in the regular season at 86.6%, with Abbotsford ranked 17th with 82.5%. However, in the playoffs, the Canucks had a kill of 90.6 and the chess piece was 90.2. The same story of electric games. Charlotte accounts for 21.2%, Abbotsford has 18.3, but in the playoffs, Canucks has 22% and checkers are just 7%.

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The biggest factor in this series is probably between the pipes.

Arturs Silovs and Kaapo Kahkonen competed in the playoffs. Schillovs averaged 1.94 goals, .929 savings percentage and 5 lockdowns. Same as the AHL record set by former Canucks Mika Noronen, he is shy. he It was established while lowering the Rochester Americans back to the league title in 2000.

Kahkonen is 10-2, GAA is 1.73, .927 saves percentage and 1 closing.

bkuzma@postmedia.com

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