Firebirds Can Grab 2-0 AHL Final Lead Sunday On Road vs. Bears

What do you do with nearly a week off in June in Hershey, Pennsylvania?

If you're the Coachella Valley Firebirds, farm club of the Seattle Kraken, you rent a vacation home.

The Firebirds arrived in south-central PA, 90 miles north of Baltimore, 90 miles west of Philadelphia, last Sunday. They'd polished off the Milwaukee Admirals in five games the day before in Wisconsin, and decided against returning to Palm Desert.

Hershey seemed a natural destination, because the Bears were leading the Cleveland Monsters 3-0 in the Eastern Final, and the inevitable 2023 rematch was slated to begin in Chocolatetown.

Only a funny thing happened on the way to Hershey's sweep; Cleveland won the next three games, and it took a Game 7 overtime on Wednesday for the Bears to advance.

Meanwhile, the Firebirds bonded, according to AHL.com . They fished, they hiked, they used the vacation home's sauna, they cooked team meals, they watched the Stanley Cup Final on TV.

The team also practiced at Hersheypark Arena, while the coaching staff watched the Bears and Monsters beat each other's brains out in Games 6 and 7, which both went to OT.

Coachella Valley Team Playoff Notes

Boosted by four scores in Game 1 of the Final, Coachella Valley is averaging an AHL-best 3.6 goals per game in the playoffs. That's not surprising, because CV's 252 goals led the league in the regular season, too.

The Firebirds special teams have been less than special. Its 18.8% power play ranks 12th in the postseason, while its penalty kill of 78.4% is 15th.

History is on the Firebirds side, according to AHL.com . "The Game 1 winner in the Finals has gone on to win the Calder Cup 74.1 percent of the time (63 of 85)." Of course, Coachella Valley won the opener against Hershey last year.

Firebirds Individual Standouts

Forward John Hayden's 9 playoff goals, including five in his last two games, is tied for 2nd. Two of his tallies have come shorthanded, tied for 1st.

Forward Cameron Hughes' 11 assists is tied for 2nd in the postseason.

Cale Fleury's +10 is best in the league among defensemen.

Among the 20 goalies who have played this postseason, Chris Driedger ranks 4th with a .923 save percentage. He's nipping at the heels of the leader, Cleveland's Jet Greaves, at .926.

Center Andrew Poturalski is looking for his third AHL championship, all with different teams. He previously won Calder Cups as a member of the Charlotte Checkers in 2019 and Chicago Wolves in 2022.

Defenseman Connor Carrick played 130 total games in a Bears sweater over three seasons between 2013-16.

The Firebirds would do well to win playoff games against Hershey in regulation. Bears goalie Hunter Shepard is 7-1 in postseason OT, including Game 7 of the 2023 Final against Coachella Valley.

Then: Maine & New Brunswick; Now: CA & PA

The coaches in this year's Final, Coachella's Dan Bylsma and Hershey's Todd Nelson, opposed each other as players in the 1994 Calder Cup championship. Nelson's Portland Pirates defeated Bylsma's Moncton Hawks in six games.

An oddity about those teams: this was the first season for the Pirates, who had relocated from Baltimore, as well as the last for the Hawks, which folded after the season. (The Pirates moved to Springfield, MA in 2016.)