Canucks just two wins from reclaiming AJHL title
Storied junior franchise hasn't won a league championship since the turn of the century
Ken Bracko would be proud of how the year has unfolded for the Calgary Canucks.
After seasons of falling well short, the team he believed in for decades is back in championship shape, threatening to finish on top of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
In fact, Bracko's bunch could reach that summit as early as Wednesday night at Max Bell Centre.
“It's really special,” said Riley Bracko, Ken's grandson and a first-year forward with the Canucks. “I grew up watching my grandpa really build this franchise and do a good job to try and get teams into this spot we are now.
“To be here now is really special.”
Young Bracko and his Canucks teammates are two games into the AJHL final, up 2-0 on the Whitecourt Wolverines heading into a pair of home-ice contests. Games 3 and 4 of the best-of-seven championship series are set for Tuesday and Wednesday at Ken Bracko Arena (7 p.m.).
Wins in both, or in two of the next five final tilts, gives them a 10th AJHL crown, but their first since 1999, and a ticket to their second Canadian Junior Hockey League (or Centennial Cup) championship.
“My dad (Carey) has been saying, `Just go out there and prove yourself and play hard, and grandpa will be proud either way,' ” said the 19-year-old Bracko.
“It can be really special if we can take this to the Centennial Cup, and win it there. It's a turning point for this organization in setting a new standard of how we want to be treated and respected in this league.”
Winning in the AJHL used to be a rite of spring for the Canucks, especially under Ken Bracko.
The Canucks qualified for the playoffs 34 straight seasons, a streak that ended in 2006–07. Along the way, the team won 11 regular-season banners, nine league titles and the 1995 Centennial Cup, under heralded coach Don Phelps and Bracko at the helm as president.
“There's a lot of pride there,” said Riley Bracko, whose grandfather died in 2015 after 32 years serving the Canucks, many as an active fundraiser helping to keep the club alive in the 2000s. “So this is bigger than just one of us. It's bigger than yourself. There's lots of people who were with the club or who were with the club a decade ago and since we last won that want to see us succeed. So we've got to go win it again for those people.”
Canucks Gm/head coach Brad Moran believes it's that foundation that is helping mould his charges as champions for the first time in 25 years.
“I think it's great for the organization,” Moran said. “We've made steps every year, but for these guys this year, there's some confidence in knowing that the organization has won championships and has contended. Even if it has been a while since we've been in the final, they've embraced that pride that the organization has and that the city will get behind you and you'll have that connection.”
On that front, the Canucks are drawing more eyeballs than they have in quite a while.
Winning will do that for anyone.
“It's been hard work to get this far,” Moran said. “And it's a lot of people behind the scenes that don't get the recognition: the board, the president, people putting on banquets and the AJHL Showcase volunteers. It's everything that gives us credibility on- and off-ice.
“Since I've been here, there's been ups and down. There's been the COVID seasons, there's been renovations (to Max Bell Centre), there's been movement … But it's solidified the last couple of years, and we've taken a big step this year.”
More like a major leap, actually. After all, it's been a quarter century since their last appearance in the final.
“The games have been great,” Moran said. “The crowds have gone up from 1,000 in the second round during the first couple of games to 1,500 and will continue to go up. And as it hits April and when the hockey dwindles in the city, people are looking for something to do. And when you're winning, people want to check it out.”
Tickets are on sale to check out the remaining playoff games in the AJHL final ahead of what they hope is a change of venue with continued championship hockey at the 2024 Centennial Cup next month.
The CJHL tournament to crown the next king after the departure of the three-time league and national champ Brooks Bandits to the independent BCHL is slated for May 9-19 in Oakville, Ont.
“It's a big goal all for us,” added Riley Bracko. “It's a dream. You grow up watching junior hockey, and you grow up watching people win these championships.
“And you want to go do it yourself. You hear the stories, and it's pretty special. Not many people can say they've done it. You want to be a part of the team that says, `We did it.' ”
I grew up watching my grandpa really build this franchise and do a good job to try and get teams into this spot.