Connor Zary's First Night Back on the Farm Ended With a Goal
Four days after the Flames waived him, Connor Zary played his first AHL game since 2023-24, scored off a Dryden Hunt pass and was named first star.
Saddledome — Connor Zary scored the first goal and was named first star as the Calgary Wranglers beat the Bakersfield Condors 2-1 on Friday night, in his first American Hockey League game since the 2023-24 season. On October 1 he had an assist on Calgary’s only goal in the Flames’ 6-1 opening-night loss to Seattle.
Why Connor Zary cleared waivers
Four days earlier the Flames had put him on waivers. Nobody claimed him by Tuesday, and he was assigned to the Wranglers along with defenceman Brayden Pachal. He carries a $3.775-million cap hit through 2027-28. “Zary not being claimed is contract-related,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman posted on Tuesday. “We will see if a trade can be worked out.” David Pagnotta said on Daily Faceoff Live that there was interest, “but he’s got a $3.775 million cap hit for the next two years, and that’s the reason why he wasn’t plucked.” Those are reports. As of Friday night, he had not been traded. What follows is what happened on the ice.
What Zary said on Wednesday
Zary spoke after his first practice with the Wranglers on Wednesday, and he did not pretend.
“If I stood here and told you I’m not pissed off, that would just be me lying,” he said. He had about 150 text messages within a couple of hours of the news, he said, and he was going to try to “prove people wrong.” Asked whether he still had a future with the Flames, he said: “I think that’s kind of up to them.”
Brett Sutter put him on a line with Dryden Hunt and William Strömgren at that practice, calling them “puck possession type monsters.” On Friday the three of them started the game with Axel Hurtig and Pachal on the blue line and Arsenii Sergeev in goal.
Connor Zary’s goal
It came at 10:34 of the second period. Hunt tried to get the puck to Zary in front, and a Bakersfield stick broke it up. Hunt got it back. Zary, by his own account, saw the open ice and decided there was no point going down to help.
“He’s going to be trying to make a play here to the front of the net, and he made a hell of a pass,” Zary said afterward. “It was pretty easy for me to score that one.”
Pachal, Hunt and Strömgren met him at the boards. Before this season, Zary had 38 goals and 62 assists in 140 AHL games, 21 of the goals in his 72-game 2022-23 season with the Wranglers.
Calgary Wranglers: Connor Zary's goal, 10:34 of the second period (video, Oct. 9, 2026)
He was candid about the rest of his night. The AHL gives you a second to look up, he said, and it took him a couple of shifts to stop rushing the puck. “I feel like I didn’t really have my best,” he said. “The goal kind of helped me get a little bit of momentum.”
Ben Jones’s winner and a 6-on-5 finish
Ben Jones scored the winner at 17:59 of the second, on the power play, tipping a Hunter Brzustewicz shot from the point after Riley Stillman went off for roughing. It came on the second unit. Sutter said after the game that it was good to see the power play “finally get going.”
Calgary Wranglers: Ben Jones's power-play goal, 17:59 of the second period (video, Oct. 9, 2026)
Quinn Hutson got one back for Bakersfield at 5:11 of the third. The Wranglers challenged it for offside and lost. The Condors pulled Matt Tomkins for an extra attacker with about two and three-quarter minutes left, and Calgary spent most of that time in its own end. Sergeev made 21 saves on 22 shots.
“That was the longest two and a half minutes of my life, if you want the truth,” Sutter said.
Pachal played beside Hurtig. Sutter said he was physical when he needed to be and simple with the puck. Abram Wiebe, the former North Dakota alternate captain, was paired with Mike Benning. In the North Dakota stands, one family still has the “Unleash the Wiebe” photo he signed. Alex Gallant, who had not dressed for either game on the opening weekend, played his first game of the season on the fourth line. Attendance was 2,239.
The Wranglers are 3-0. The Flames, who lost 7-3 at home to Colorado on Thursday, are 0-4.
Pachal had his own version of the week on Wednesday. “There’s people watching all the time, whether it’s here or other teams,” he said. The two teams play again Sunday at 1 p.m.
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