'Great ride': Calgary Canucks are back in the AJHL final

The Calgary Canucks now have eight pucks on the wall and just four more to go to win another AJHL Championship.

The Canucks will go to the league final after taking down the Drumheller Dragons in five games.

Forward Ethan Short was acquired by the Canucks at the trade deadline and played a big role in that series. He scored two game-winners against the Dragons.

Short says it's the best time he's had in hockey.

"I was happy that I was able to step up and score some game-winners," said the 19-year-old.

"We've got a lot of good players, so I was happy to chip in. It felt really good. We had some great goaltending and all around, we played well."

Canucks have proved a lot of people wrong

The last time the Canucks won the league championship was back in 1999. 

"There’s been a lot of lean years since and I’m not sure many people would’ve predicted the Canucks would battle it out for the championship when the season began," said head coach Brad Moran.

"I would've been taken back, but at the same time, we believe in the group and when you put your mind to it, you can accomplish good things and that's where we're at."

Who will they play in the final?

The Canucks will find out who they play in the final as the Whitecourt Wolverines and Canmore Eagles battle it out in Game 7 of their semi-final series.

Canucks forward Julien Gervais says they'll be ready for whoever it is.

"For me, it doesn't really matter," he said. 

"Obviously, home ice is nice, so you kind of root for Canmore a little bit, but then again, they're a scary team and Whitecourt is a scary team as well.  

"I think with whoever we end up getting, I think we'll be excited and not nervous to go up and play them."

Worry about yourself

Moran says you can't control who the opponent will be, so you just have to worry about yourself.

"That will sort itself out, you never pick teams because it never works out for you," he said.

"We've played them both well, pretty evenly actually. We're excited to find out who we play so we can really get into the details of preparing."

If the Wolverines win, the league championship will open up in Whitecourt on Friday.

If the Eagles win, Calgary gets home ice and the series would begin Friday night at the Ken Bracko Arena at Max Bell.