‘Emotions are still sky high’: Fort St. John Calder Cup champion reflects on postseason run

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Fort St. John-based hockey player chatted about his Calder Cup victory on the latest episode of MooseFM’s This Week in the Peace.

Tristen Nielsen plays forward for the Abbotsford Canucks, who recently took the American Hockey League (AHL) championship on Monday, June 23rd in a hard-fought seven-game series against the Charlotte Checkers.

As the farm team for the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Vancouver Canucks, the championship is the first for the franchise as a whole.

For his part, Nielsen had five goals and four assists for nine points in 24 playoff contests.

“The emotions are still sky high,” said Nielsen. “Every day has been exciting, every day has been some new way to celebrate. 

“I’ve just been fortunate enough to be able to do it here in B.C.”

The 25-year-old began his hockey career with Fort St. John Flyers youth teams, and also spent time with the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Calgary Hitmen and Vancouver Giants prior to playing with Abbotsford.

Although the Canucks started off slowly with wins and losses throughout the first two months of the year, they finished the 2024-25 season with a franchise record for wins: 44 wins, 24 losses with three overtime losses and two shootout defeats for 92 points.

It was something Nielsen attributed to the team “finding its way,” with the late-season push a matter of the players “finding their groove.”

“It’s all about hitting your peak at the right time,” said Nielsen. “As a whole, I think our group did a very good job.”

Nielsen added he was “very proud” of himself for being able to adapt to being moved to different roles throughout the lineup.

“Everybody wants to be the goal scorer or a first liner,” said Nielsen. “But sometimes you have to be the grinder, the guy getting the job done on the fourth line.”

He says he’s unsure about what he might want to do with the Calder Cup when he has his day with it, saying he may take a trip to a hospital to visit children or spend time with his family.

The full episode of This Week in the Peace is available on Moose Media’s YouTube page and on all major podcast platforms.