For the third consecutive year, former Black Hawks forward Max Sasson opened a new season in the American Hockey League with the Abbotsford Canucks. For the second straight year, it appears Sasson has been quickly called up to Vancouver.

Canucks broadcaster Brendan Batchelor shared that note on Tuesday.  The Canucks are about to begin a five-game road trip in Dallas tomorrow.  If confirmed, Sasson will have missed just five Vancouver games while assigned to the team's American Hockey League affiliate.  In that time, he made two appearances for Abbotsford and scored a goal in each game against the Henderson Silver Knights last weekend.  His goal last Friday was the overtime winner during a season-opening 2-1 victory.
 
Last November, Sasson was called up to make his NHL debut for Vancouver just before Thanksgiving.  He played in 29 games, recording seven points (three goals, four assists), splitting the year between the NHL and AHL.  Since Vancouver was out of the playoffs, Sasson was part of Abbotsford's successful run to the Calder Cup, an experience which perhaps rivaled playing in his first NHL game and certainly brought the 2024/25 campaign to a satisfying conclusion. Sasson notched assists in three of four appearances during the Calder Cup final and posted five goals and nine assists in 24 total AHL playoff games last spring.

With the NHL schedule now two weeks old and the AHL moving into Week Two, Sasson isn't the only former Waterloo player hoping for a call-up, either sooner or later.  Seven other alumni are currently signed to NHL contracts as they skate for affiliates; a few others are also hoping to make an impression in hockey's top development league.

Here are the Hawks who are currently in the AHL:

Matej Blumel – Providence Bruins 
NHL Contract – Boston Bruins

During the summer, Blumel signed with Boston after an exceptional 39-goal AHL season with the Texas Stars.  Blumel led the league in goals and was named a First Team postseason All-Star.  He spent three seasons in the Dallas organization and scored 89 times at the AHL level.  Adding two more goals for Providence last weekend, he is up to 91 in 199 career AHL games.  He could make his 200th appearance in the league Friday against Bridgeport.  Blumel also played in 13 NHL games for Dallas during his time with the organization.

Shane Bowers – San Jose Barracuda
NHL Contract – San Jose Sharks

Bowers was also on the move during the offseason, relocating to Northern California after a trade from the New Jersey Devils.  This will be his seventh full professional season.  He previously spent time in the Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins organizations.  Bowers did not play when the Barracuda opened their slate against the Bakersfield Condors last weekend.  Spending much of last season with the Utica Comets, he had three goals and 14 assists.  Bowers also skated in four Devils games, bringing his NHL total up to 13 career appearances.

Gabriel Carriere – San Jose Barracuda
NHL Contract – San Jose Sharks

Like Bowers, Carriere did not play in the Barracuda's first game of the schedule, dressing as the backup goaltender.  As a pro hockey rookie, he went 10-9-2 last winter with a 3.06 AHL goals-against average.  Carriere had a pair of shutouts in March.  He was also briefly called up to San Jose but did not appear in a game.  The Sharks had signed him partway through the season after he opened the year in the ECHL.  Carriere and the Sharks agreed to a new one-year contract in the offseason.  If recalled, he could become just the second former Waterloo goalie to make an NHL appearance.

Jackson Cates – Rockford IceHogs

With less than two minutes to go on Saturday, Cates' first goal of the new season forced overtime.  Rockford went on to slip past the Milwaukee Admirals, 3-2.  Cates has now played in more IceHogs games than for any other team during his professional career.  Earlier during his time as a pro, Cates made stops with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and Bridgeport Islanders, as well as a stint with the Philadelphia Flyers after completing his college career at Minnesota-Duluth.  His most productive AHL year was in 2023/24 when he recorded a dozen goals and 26 total points.

David Gucciardi – Hershey Bears
NHL Contract – Washington Capitals

The offensively gifted defenseman had a goal in his very first AHL game last spring.  After finishing his final season at Michigan State, Gucciardi joined Hershey in April and scored against the Hartford Wolf Pack.  Before returning to Hershey this season, he played in a pair of NHL exhibition games for the Capitals, picking up one assist.  The AHL slate opened with a pair of Bears losses to the Syracuse Crunch.  Gucciardi was notably involved in a fight Sunday with former Des Moines Buccaneer Lucas Mercuri.

Blake Hillman – Hartford Wolf Pack

This will be Hillman's fourth season in Hartford.  For a time, he bounced between the AHL and ECHL but has been a Wolf Pack regular since 2022/23.  Hillman now has 140 regular season games to his credit in Hartford among his 236 total AHL appearances.  He had three goals and seven assists in 2024/25.  Hillman is one of six Black Hawks alumni currently in the AHL who has some NHL experience.  Immediately after finishing his college career at Denver, he played four games for the Chicago Blackhawks at the end of the 2017/18 season.

Miko Matikka – Tucson Roadrunners
NHL Contract – Utah Mammoth

If Matikka is called up by the Mammoth at some point this season, he would become the first former Hawk to appear for Utah since the organization relocated from Arizona.  Last year was the Finnish forward's first season as a pro.  He split his time between the Roadrunners and the Allen Americans of the ECHL, where he build momentum in the latter part of the schedule.  In 28 2024/25 games for Tucson, Matikka had two assists, but he was already recorded his first assist of this season; it came against the Ontario Reign in a 5-4 win last Friday.

Cal Petersen – Iowa Wild
NHL Contract - Minnesota Wild

Petersen stopped 24 of 27 shots against the Chicago Wolves during his first game for Iowa Saturday.  He was the backup the next day was the Wild fell to Rockford 6-2.  The Waterloo native is as close to home as he has ever been during a career which has included long stays with the Los Angeles Kings and Philadelphia Flyers organizations.  Petersen is approaching 100 AHL victories (currently at 92) to go along with his 46 NHL wins.  He will turn 31 this weekend as the Wild return from a road trip to Charlotte.

Rem Pitlick – Bakersfield Condors

Pitlick made the move across California from San Jose to Bakersfield this season.  The Condors are Pitlick's seventh AHL team (he has also skated for four NHL clubs), and he made a splash during his initial appearance for Bakersfield, producing a goal and two assists during a 7-6 loss to San Jose Saturday.  Although Pitlick has bounced around, he has never played more than 63 games for any one AHL club; that was when he was a member of the Milwaukee Admirals during his first professional season in 2019/20.

Ryder Rolston – Milwaukee Admirals
NHL Contract – Nashville Predators

Early last season, Rolston was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks to Nashville Predators.  In practical terms, it meant relocating from Rockford to Milwaukee.  The move seems to have been a good one.  As a rookie in 2023/24, Rolston scored 10 goals and notched nine assists in 62 IceHogs games.  Following the trade last fall, the now-24-year-old produced 13 goals and 18 assists in 57 Milwaukee contests.  Just as significantly, he moved from -5 as a rookie to +12 after the trade.  The Admirals only play two games in the first two weeks before the schedule accelerates in late October.

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