Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer

Last June the Coachella Valley Firebirds endured an final intestine punch. They had constructed a 2-0 collection lead within the Calder Cup Finals by shutting out Hershey in Games 1 and a pair of. They had staved off elimination by taking Game 6. They had been in entrance of their passionate followers in Palm Desert, and had constructed a two-goal second-period lead in Game 7.

Then got here a pair of Hershey objectives. Then a scoreless third interval. Then time beyond regulation. Then the bitter finish of what had been a storybook inaugural season, because the Bears skated the Calder Cup round Acrisure Arena ice whereas the Firebirds went to their dressing room to start their summer season.

“I think… When do you get over it?” Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma stated, trying to find his phrases. “You don’t ever get over it, I don’t think.”

But a group can develop and transfer ahead, and Bylsma’s membership is prepared for an additional shot – even when there have been some attempting classes on the trail again to the Calder Cup Playoffs this yr.

So a loss in Game 1 of their Pacific Division semifinal collection to Dustin Wolf and the Calgary Wranglers on Friday evening is just not going to faze this group. Much of the Firebirds’ core returned after going by way of a five-round grind final spring that noticed them face elimination six occasions.

This is a group that may play strain hockey.

“It was just such a long, drawn-out battle… We gained so much experience from it,” stated captain Max McCormick, who provided a career-best 32 objectives this season to rank second in group scoring. “The way that ended was heartbreaking. I think it motivated us even more over the summer and throughout the season, and I think there’s a lot of hunger on our team, for sure.”

In their 2024 postseason opener at Scotiabank Saddledome on Friday, the Firebirds had been in a tie sport by way of 40 minutes till Calgary pulled away. They put 36 pictures on Wolf. But they nonetheless discover themselves down 1-0 within the best-of-five.

Game 2 is in Calgary this afternoon, after which the Firebirds have residence ice for the rest of the collection. Against a group just like the Wranglers – who endured their very own heartbreak with a winner-take-all time beyond regulation loss to Coachella Valley within the division finals a yr in the past – the Firebirds might want to attain again to that have they’ve acquired the laborious approach. They know that.

“They’re a battle-tested, playoff-type of team,” Bylsma stated of the Wranglers, who completed seventh within the Pacific Division earlier than upsetting Tucson in a first-round sweep.

Coachella Valley misplaced two massive items of final yr’s group in playoff hero Joey Daccord and AHL rookie of the yr Tye Kartye, who each locked down full-time roles with the mother or father Seattle Kraken. But core gamers like McCormick, Kole Lind, Cameron Hughes and Andrew Poturalski are all again. Top prospect Shane Wright now has a full yr of professional expertise underneath his belt. Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison and Ville Ottavainen all impressed of their rookie AHL seasons.

A brand new id needed to be cast that blended the hard-earned expertise from final spring with the know-how of arriving gamers. And the trail to rectifying that Game 7 loss to Hershey themselves needed to be traveled in phases, starting with a full six-month, 72-game common season. Fast-forwarding to this postseason was not an possibility.

It took a while, because the Firebirds began the season at 6-5-0-0. But the remainder of the best way, they went 40-10-6-5, rolling to a division title with the second-best document within the league at 103 factors.

“I think the burning desire is to get back there as quickly as you possibly can,” Bylsma stated. “You need to have redemption for that loss. We began the season eager to get again there immediately, and that doesn’t occur in a single day. You don’t get to go replay it.

“It happens over the course of 72 games. It happens over the course of building a good team, building how you’re going to win hockey games together with this group, so that you do have an opportunity to do it in the playoffs.”

Today’s Game 2 is an enormous one if the Firebirds need a totally different end result this postseason. They have had success in opposition to Calgary and in opposition to Wolf, whose numbers in opposition to Coachella Valley (3.11, .902) are properly off his numbers in opposition to the remainder of the AHL (2.09, .933) during the last two seasons.

“I think we left that bitter pill behind us a long time ago,” Bylsma stated. “We focused on what this team can become. I think the guys have done a great job of that, and they’ve given themselves the opportunity now to rewrite that story that we left last year with.”

TheAHL.com options author Patrick Williams has been on the American Hockey League beat for practically twenty years for shops together with NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM! Sports, and was most lately the co-host of The Hockey News On The ‘A’ podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his excellent protection of the league in 2016.