The cheers started early at Abbotsford Centre, and they didn't stop all evening as the Vancouver Canucks travelled to the Fraser Valley to take on the Calgary Flames in a preseason match on Sept. 24.
Hours before the puck even dropped, dozens of hockey fans had gathered at the main entrance of the stadium to try to grab a signature or picture with the handful of Canucks players as they walked into the stadium.
Longtime NHL veterans such as Tyler Myers, Thatcher Demko, Nils Hoglander, and Nils Anman were some of the players who stopped to greet the Abbotsford fans, while newer Canucks such as Max Sasson and Port Moody's Parker Alcos also stopped to interact with the fans.
When the game finally began at 7 p.m., it didn't take long for the Canucks to take control of the match.
After Flames defenceman Jeremie Poirier took a roughing penalty only three-and-a-half minutes into the first period, Hoglander took advantage of the man advantage and buried a puck in the back of the net at around the five-minute mark with the help of Filip Chytil and Tom Willander.
About two minutes later, some Abbotsford Canucks magic shone through as three former Calder Cup winners from last year teamed up to put another goal on the board. It was Victor Mancini who lit up the scoreboard, with assists from Linus Karlsson and Arshdeep Bains.
In the second period, another Flames roughing call, this time by Joel Hanley, resulted in a second power-play goal for the Canucks, giving them the 3-0 advantage.
However, the Flames weren't about to give the Canucks a shutout win, and came back with their own power-play goal about halfway through the second period after the Canucks took a penalty for having too many players on the ice.
Hoglander didn't return to the game after the second period and was later seen exiting the arena in a walking boot, with details on his injury not yet available.
The third period had no scoring from either team, resulting in a 3-1 win for the Canucks, which is the first preseason win for the squad after dropping a 5-3 loss against the Seattle Kraken on Sept. 21.
The Canucks outshot the Flames by a considerable margin, getting 31 shots on goal, with the Calgary squad only putting up 19.
A total of approximately 5,785 people came out to watch the Canucks net their first win of the preseason.
After the game, Demko said that he was proud of how his fellow teammates played on the ice, especially the younger Canucks.
"You could tell the guys were competing really hard," Demko said. "These guys are trying to make the team, and it's good to see."
Mancini, who played a big role in last year's Abbotsford Canucks playoff run, said that it felt really good to be reunited with so many of his fellow Abbotsford Canucks championship players.
At some points, five of them even shared a line together during the match, which Mancini explained was a very memorable moment.
"It was really cool," Mancini said. "I'll remember that for a while. It was pretty fun and good to be back in the building."
The Vancouver Canucks have a few more preseason games to get through before the regular season kicks off on Thursday, Oct. 9.
