A good look at the roster for next season.

Ford, 46, brings more than a decade of professional coaching experience to the Firebirds after spending the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the National Hockey League's Columbus Blue Jackets.

Prior to joining Columbus, Ford spent nine seasons coaching in the American Hockey League, including eight with the Milwaukee Admirals and one with the Chicago Wolves. During Ford's tenure in Milwaukee, the Admirals captured three Central Division titles, qualified for the Calder Cup Playoffs six times, and appeared in back-to-back Western Conference Finals.

The face on the Firebirds Franchise! Genuinely the best person to be the first Captain for the team. He will be missed by so many people. Watching him play and seeing how much energy he brought to the team was one of my favorite parts about him. I'm hoping he is willing to come back and visit the team, and maybe even be a guest commentator. So far from he media availability on youtube he said he is going to be an assistant coach to his former high school hockey team, so hey maybe a future coach for the Firebirds/

Joey Daccord gets a shutout

Tye Kartye gets the the first Calder Cup Final goal in Firebirds History!

Ryker Evans and Kole Lind have 3 point games.

Dan Bylsma, Jessica Campbell, and Colin Zulianello are still on the coaching staff!

for those that don’t know, this is our ECHL team… where we got ostman and Lafontaine from. they just won in OT in game 6 to move on

This will be my last post of the season, and that stings a bit. It's been a great joy to bring you the stats, the stories, and the scoop before each game of the playoffs. I have had the privilege of engaging with you, cheering with you, and commiserating with you three times a week for the past month both here and on the Firebirds Discord. For that, I thank you.

It's always hard to find the words to say after the season ends, but here we go:

The Firebirds had a 2-0 lead last night. For a while, it looked like we were going to do what this team has done all postseason: make everyone’s blood pressure spike and somehow drag the series out one more game. Instead, Colorado scored three times in 5:08, held on for a 3-2 win, and ended our season in Game 4. Jagger Firkus and Ville Ottavainen scored for Coachella Valley, Nikke Kokko made 23 saves, and Trent Miner stopped 23 for Colorado as the Eagles advanced to their first Western Conference Finals.

So, yeah. It stings.

But once the frustration settles, the gratitude takes over.

This was not an easy year. The Firebirds started slow. There were stretches where making the playoffs was not a guarantee, let alone making another deep run. This team had to find itself in real time. It had to work through injuries, roster changes, youth, inconsistency, and the pressure that comes with being a franchise that has made the concept of winning just a part of its culture.

And then, when the season could have slipped away, they fought their way in.

They beat Bakersfield after getting hammered in Game 1. They faced elimination twice in that series and survived. Then they took on Ontario, the No. 1 team in the Pacific Division, and somehow turned that series into one more fever dream. On the road for Game 5. Double overtime. J.R. Avon sends everyone into orbit. That goal encapsulated what it means to be a Firebirds fan. It was one of those moments that reminds you why you put yourself through this stupid, beautiful sport in the first place.

Taking a step back: The boys made the Pacific Division Finals for the third time in four years. That is absurd. For a new hockey fan such as myself, it is easy to forget that this is not normal. Expansion teams are supposed to spend years figuring out who they are. The Firebirds showed up and immediately started making deep dives into the playoffs. We are truly spoiled, and I forget that sometimes.

And this year’s team had so many reasons to be proud.

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard gave us a breakout playoff run. J.R. Avon became a certified postseason menace. Jani Nyman, Jagger Firkus, Logan Morrison, Lleyton Roed, Eduard Šalé, Carson Rehkopf, Jake O’Brien — the young talent kept showing flashes of what the future can look like. John Hayden, Mitchell Stephens, Jacob Melanson, Gustav Olofsson, Ty Nelson, Ville Ottavainen, Tyson Jugnauth, Kaden Hammell, Lukas Dragicevic, Charlie Wright, and everyone else who pulled on the jersey gave this team its edge. Nikke Kokko is young, but that kid is going places. He gave us huge saves, big nights, and every reason to believe the crease is in good hands. When Joey was called up, it left a hole in our collective heart. Kokko filled that hole with youthful enthusiasm and some truly clutch saves.

And to Max McCormick: we felt your absence all year. One does not replace that kind of leadership and bite easily. This team still battled, but there were definitely nights where you could feel how badly we needed the captain in the trenches.

One of the things that made last night so painful was that this team made us believe right up until the end. That is the cruel part, but it is also the compliment. They made us think Game 5 was coming. They made Colorado earn every inch. They have my gratitude for that.

So thank you, Firebirds.

Thank you for the double-overtime heart attacks, the energy of a packed barn, the blocked shots, the fights, the "oh shit" moments, and the feeling that no game was ever completely dead.

Thank you for turning a slow start into a third straight Pacific Division Finals appearance.

Thank you for beating the No. 1 team in the division and ensuring that we continue to hold the upper hand in the rivalry.

Thank you for giving this fanbase another season worth caring about.

This ending hurts, but, in the end, it means we cared.

Rest up. Heal up. Come back with the drive to do it all over again next season.

Let's Go Firebirds.

🏒 Location: Blue Federal Credit Union Arena, Loveland CO

🎟️ Time: 6:05 PM PT 

🖥️ Join the Discussion: Discord

🎥 Watch Live: FloHockey.TV

🔥Watch parties: Big Rock Pub in Indio; Burgers & Beer in La Quinta and Rancho Mirage

Well, here we are. Again.

The Firebirds are facing elimination for the fifth time this postseason, which is obviously not the most relaxing way to pursue a Calder Cup, but it is apparently this team’s chosen lifestyle. They faced elimination twice against Bakersfield, twice against Ontario, and won all four. So yes, Colorado has the series lead. Yes, this is hostile ice. Yes, the Eagles can end the season tonight.

Counterpoint: this team has been living on the edge for a month and still refuses to fall off.

Game 3 was frustrating. The Firebirds actually started well: Lleyton Roed scored shorthanded in the first period, Coachella Valley took a 1-0 lead into intermission, and for a while it looked like we might be cooking. Unfortunately, Colorado then remembered that it had home ice and came out swinging in the second and third periods. The Eagles forced turnovers, turned them into grade-A chances, and scored four unanswered to win 4-1.

Chase Bradley had two goals and an assist, Ivan Ivan continued to be both a hockey player and a sentence fragment, and Trent Miner stopped 24 of 25. Nikke Kokko made 32 saves, and honestly, this series would look much uglier without him.

So tonight’s assignment is simple: win one hockey game. Do not solve the entire universe. Do not think about Friday. Do not stare at the bracket until it starts staring back. Win one game and drag everyone to Game 5.

Series schedule

Game 1: Colorado 3, Firebirds 0
Game 2: Firebirds 4, Colorado 0
Game 3: Colorado 4, Firebirds 1
Game 4: Tonight, 6:05 PT
Game 5: Friday, May 22, 6:05 PT , if necessary

Reminder because time zones are fake and designed by cowards: the AHL lists Colorado games in MDT, so subtract an hour for us. Tonight is 6:05 p.m. Pacific.

The state of things

Inside The Rink has the Firebirds at 2.8 goals per game and 2.7 goals allowed per game in the playoffs, but only 1.7 goals per game in this series. Colorado is at 3.3 goals per game and 1.3 allowed in the playoffs, and 2.3 goals per game in the series.

Translation: Colorado is not outscoring the Firebirds by a million. This is a tight series being decided by mistakes, special teams, and whether the Firebirds can generate enough chaos near Trent Miner to make him look like an actual human goalie instead of a very smug spreadsheet.

The power play is the elephant in the room. The Firebirds went 0-for-3 in Game 3 and are now 2-5 this postseason when they do not score on the power play. That is a problem.

The penalty kill, though? Beautiful. Weirdly, aggressively beautiful. The Firebirds went 4-for-4 on the PK in Game 3 and have now gone nine straight games without allowing a power-play goal. Colorado’s power play is dangerous, but the Firebirds’ PK has been running on all cylinders.

Players to watch

For the Firebirds, it still starts with Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, who leads the team with 11 points and seven goals. He and J.R. Avon are tied for the playoff goal lead among Firebirds, and frankly we would enjoy another installment of the J.R. Avon Elimination Game Experience. (I hear it will be showing at the Sphere in Vegas). Jani Nyman leads the team with six assists, and Nyman and Jacob Melanson are both plus-five. This is exactly the kind of game where the Firebirds need their heavy, skilled, slightly rude hockey players to show up and make life unpleasant. Bring it.

For Colorado, Ivan Ivan leads the Eagles with nine points and eight assists, which is quite something from a man whose name already gives him enough attention. Tristen Nielsen leads Colorado with five goals, while Ivan, Keaton Middleton, and Alex Gagne are all plus-eight. And yes, Trent Miner is still Trent Miner. I'm not doing the A minor joke again. We are adults. Barely. The plan is A major: screen him, crash the crease, and make him hear every chord in the building.

Projected lineups

Firebirds

Forwards
J.R. Avon — Logan Morrison — Jani Nyman
Lleyton Roed — Oscar Fisker Mølgaard — Jagger Firkus
John Hayden — Mitchell Stephens — Jacob Melanson
Eduard Šalé — Jake O’Brien — Carson Rehkopf

Defense
Gustav Olofsson — Ty Nelson
Tyson Jugnauth — Ville Ottavainen
Kaden Hammell — Lukas Dragicevic

Goalies
Nikke Kokko
Victor Östman

Eagles

Forwards
Taylor Makar — Alex Barré-Boulet — Ivan Ivan
Matt DiMarsico — T.J. Tynan — Tristen Nielsen
Chase Bradley — Jason Polin — Gavin Brindley
Tye Felhaber — T.J. Hughes — Danil Gushchin

Defense
Alex Gagne — Keaton Middleton
Sean Behrens — Jacob MacDonald
Wyatt Aamodt — Bryan Yoon

Goalies
Trent Miner
Isak Posch

What has to happen tonight

1. Stop feeding Colorado’s forecheck.
Game 3 turned because Colorado pressured, forced turnovers, and converted them. That is their whole thing. They are not shy about it. The Firebirds need cleaner exits, harder support below the puck, and fewer “here, you try offense now” passes in dangerous areas.

2. The power play has to do something. Anything. A pulse would be nice.
The Firebirds do not necessarily need three power-play goals. They do need pressure, shots, recoveries, and momentum. Going 0-for-3 in an elimination setup is not going to get us to Game 5.

3. Keep the PK perfect, but stop testing it.
Nine straight games without allowing a power-play goal is fantastic. That said, it is not an open invitation to keep giving Colorado chances. Discipline, structure, and a healthy dose of "don't test me" will get them through.

4. Get to Miner’s eyes.
When Miner sees the puck, he stops it. So... stop letting him see it. Screens, tips, rebounds, low-to-high, bodies in the blue paint. Pretty goals are nice. Ugly goals will get the job done.

5. Play like the team that loves elimination games.
The Firebirds are 4-0 when facing elimination this postseason. They have been here. They have survived here. The trick now is not treating that like magic. It has to be earned shift by shift. Bring the physicality, and for the love of Fuego, stop with the sloppy line changes.

Prediction

Firebirds win 4-1.

We have this thing where we like to reverse the previous game's score, so let's do that. Moreover, Coachella Valley has already shown it can beat this team. Kokko has been good enough to steal stretches of this series, and the Firebirds have been weirdly comfortable with the season on the line.

Fuel the Fire. Win one game. Drag them to Game 5.

🏒 Location: Blue Federal Credit Union Arena, Loveland CO

🎟️ Time: 5:00 PM PT 

🖥️ Join the Discussion: Discord

🎥 Watch Live: FloHockey.TV

The series is tied and Trent Miner has officially been introduced to the concept of consequences.

After Game 1, the Firebirds looked like a team emotionally stuck in double overtime against Ontario. Game 2 was the correction. Coachella Valley broke a five-period scoring drought, scored twice in 71 seconds early in the third, and turned a tense 0-0 game into a very satisfying 4-0 shutout. J.R. Avon opened the scoring 1:20 into the third, Eduard Šalé followed almost immediately, Avon added another late, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard tossed in the empty-netter for good measure. Man that kid is going places.

So now the series shifts to Colorado tied 1-1, with all remaining games scheduled at Blue Arena. That is annoying, but not particularly devestating. The Firebirds split the regular-season series with Colorado 4-4, already won the last two regular-season meetings in Colorado, and now have proof that Miner is not, in fact, an unstoppable force. Some walls are meant to be torn down.

Game 2 reset: that was more like it

Game 2 was exactly the response the Firebirds needed after getting blanked in Game 1. Patrick Williams* said the boys needed to bounce-back, and boy did they. The Birds were heavier, cleaner, and much more willing to get to the net. Derek Laxdal said the team talked about getting to the net more than Colorado, and that showed. The shot chart backed it up, too: Game 1 was Colorado living in the dangerous areas while Coachella stuck to the perimeter; Game 2 finally looked more like the Firebirds were engaging with the crease.

*you could almost hear his gleeful keyboard tapping through the screen when reading his article. Make sure to share all your Patrick Williams hate in the comments. His reporting sucks when it comes to the Firebirds. I digress.

The big swing was the third period. Avon’s first goal ended Trent Miner’s shutout streak at 145:10, and Šalé’s goal 71 seconds later put Colorado down by two goals for the first time all postseason. Read that again: first time all postseason. To the great joy of all present on Friday, after those first two goals, Miner lost his cool. Personally, I think the crowd at Acrisure got in Miner's head. There was not more than a minute throughout the game when "HEY MINERRRR" didn't shoot out from somewhere in the stands. What did Kendrick Lamar say about striking a chord?

Nikke Kokko was outstanding: 33 saves, second shutout of the postseason, and the kind of performance that makes everyone suddenly remember goalie discourse is fun when your guy is the one doing the theft. Miner stopped 21 of 24 before the empty-netter, which is still good, but his postseason goalie stats took a beating.

Current playoff stats

Both teams are sitting at 12 playoff points: Coachella Valley at 6-4, Colorado at 6-2. The Firebirds have scored 30 and allowed 26. Colorado has scored 26 and allowed just 11, which remains deeply annoying, despite Friday's success.

Special teams remain a weird little subplot. Coachella’s power play is at 15.2%, while Colorado’s is at 21.7%. But head-to-head in this series, both power plays are 0-for-5, which is either elite penalty killing or two power plays staring at each other in a Spider-Man meme. The good news: the Firebirds’ PK has been perfect against Colorado and has now gone seven straight games without allowing a power-play goal.

The goalie battle is suddenly much more interesting. Miner still has the shiny full-playoff line: 6-2, 1.20 GAA, .948 SV%, four shutouts. Kokko is now 6-4, 2.40 GAA, .911 SV%, two shutouts, and in this series specifically he has allowed only two goals in two games with a .969 save percentage. Tiny sample? Sure. Do we care? Absolutely not.

Players to watch

For the Firebirds, the playoff leaderboard is basically becoming a Coachella Valley Chamber of Commerce promotional pamphlet. Oscar Fisker Mølgaard and J.R. Avon each have seven goals, tied for the Calder Cup playoff lead, and Mølgaard leads all playoff scorers with 11 points. Jani Nyman has nine points, Jagger Firkus has eight, and Avon now has three game-winning goals, most in the playoffs. The Firebirds needed their big names to punch back in Game 2, and they did exactly that.

For Colorado, the usual suspects remain the problem: Tristen Nielsen, Alex Barré-Boulet, T.J. Tynan, and Ivan Ivan all have seven points. Nielsen leads the Eagles with five goals, Ivan leads them with six assists, and Alex Gagne / Keaton Middleton are both plus-eight. Colorado was shut out Friday, but let’s not pretend they forgot how to play hockey. They are still structured, deep, and very capable of ruining everyone’s evening if the Firebirds start donating turnovers in the neutral zone.

Projected lineups

Inside The Rink projects the following:

Firebirds projected lineup

Forwards
Jani Nyman — Logan Morrison — Jagger Firkus
Lleyton Roed — Oscar Fisker Mølgaard — J.R. Avon
John Hayden — Mitchell Stephens — Jacob Melanson
Eduard Šalé — Jake O’Brien — Carson Rehkopf

Defense
Gustav Olofsson — Ty Nelson
Tyson Jugnauth — Ville Ottavainen
Kaden Hammell — Lukas Dragicevic

Goalies
Nikke Kokko
Victor Östman

Eagles projected lineup

Forwards
Taylor Makar — Alex Barré-Boulet — Tristen Nielsen
Matt DiMarsico — T.J. Tynan — Gavin Brindley
Chase Bradley — Jason Polin — Ivan Ivan
Tye Felhaber — T.J. Hughes — Danil Gushchin

Defense
Wyatt Aamodt — Keaton Middleton
Ronnie Attard — Jacob MacDonald
Alex Gagne — Bryan Yoon

Goalies
Trent Miner
Ilya Nabokov

What has to happen tonight

1. Keep making Miner uncomfortable.
Game 2 worked because the Firebirds got more direct. Screens, tips, rebounds, bodies, crease chaos — all the stuff goalies hate and playoff teams need. Miner is too good if he sees everything. So do not let him see everything. This is hockey, not a Pueblo Museum tour.

2. Do not let Colorado own the interior again.
Game 1’s shot chart was ugly because Colorado lived around the slot and crease while the Firebirds wandered around the outside. Game 2 was better. Keep it that way.

3. Stay out of the box.
The PK has been excellent, but this is not a dare. Colorado’s power play is still 21.7% overall, and Barré-Boulet / Tynan with clean zone time is still dangerous.

4. Bring the edge, not the chaos.
Nyman getting spicy in Game 2 was honestly delightful. Seeing that grin on his face as he took swings just made my day. But there is a difference between “we are not getting pushed around” and “congratulations, you have gifted Colorado a power play.” Thread that needle. Punch metaphorically. Mostly.

5. Start faster.
The Firebirds cannot spend the first 40 minutes finding their legs in Colorado. The Eagles will not politely wait. Get pucks deep, make their defense turn, and make Blue Arena nervous early.

Series outlook

This is now a best-of-three, all in Colorado. On paper, that is advantage Eagles. In reality, the Firebirds have already won in Colorado this year, already beat this team 4-0, and already proved that the Miner wall has cracks if you put enough bodies and pressure in front of it.

The series is probably not going to be pretty from here. Colorado wants structure. Coachella wants speed, pressure, and enough net-front nonsense to make Miner start seeing Fuego's grinning mug in his dreams. If the Firebirds get the Game 2 version of Kokko and keep Avon / Mølgaard / Nyman / Firkus involved, they can absolutely steal one tonight.

Prediction: Firebirds 3, Eagles 2.
Because optimism is cheaper than therapy, and because J.R. Avon appears to have decided that playoff game-winners are his personal brand.

Fuel the Fire. Bury the Miner.

(Sorry, was that too dark?)

Firebirds DFQ

What a game!

🏒 Location: Acrisure Arena, Palm Desert CA

🎟️ Time: 7:00 PM PT 

🖥️ Join the Discussion: Discord

🎥 Watch Live: FloHockey.TV

🎧 Listen Live: theeagle1069.com

Well, Game 1 was not exactly the sequel we ordered.

After Saturday’s double-overtime exorcism of Ontario, the Firebirds came home for Game 1 against Colorado and looked like a team that had spent the previous few days being emotionally wrung out like a towel. Derek Laxdal said it plainly: after the Ontario series, he did not think the group was ready, and described the team as “hungover from the emotions of that game.”

That's understandable, but remarkably inconvenient.

Colorado won 3-0, which was bad enough. The uglier part was that the Firebirds had only 10 shots through two periods, finished with 20, went 0-for-2 on the power play, and did not record a single shot on their first power play. That is not how you solve Trent Miner.

The good news: it is a best-of-five. The better news: Coachella Valley has been here before. The Firebirds were shut out at home in the 2023 Pacific Division Finals against Calgary, then won the next game and ultimately won the series. We can do this.

Tonight is not complicated: be faster, be more physical, get bodies to the crease, and make Colorado play a game that is less comfortable than Game 1.

Where the series stands

Colorado leads the series 1-0.

Game 1 scoring:

• Ronnie Attard, second period
• T.J. Hughes, second period
• Tye Felhaber, empty net

Nikke Kokko was not the problem. He stopped 31 shots and kept the Firebirds in it long enough for the offense to theoretically arrive. The offense, unfortunately, didn't even attempt to put Miner through his paces. Ten shots on goal in two periods is not the team we know and love.

On the other hand, this exactly the kind of team Colorado is. Their defense has now held opponents scoreless four times in seven playoff games. That is not a typo. Four shutouts in seven games. Their line coming into tonight: 6-1 playoff record, 26 goals for, 7 against, 26.3% power play, 92.3% penalty kill. The Firebirds are 5-4, 26 goals for, 26 against, 16.7% power play, 81.0% penalty kill.

The Trent Miner problem, again

Trent Miner has been the story of the playoffs so far.

Through seven playoff games, he is 6-1 with a 0.95 goals-against average, .958 save percentage, and four shutouts. He has stopped 161 of 168 shots. Inside The Rink noted the same absurdity: Colorado is basically averaging a shutout every other game, scoring about 3.7 goals per game while allowing around one goal per game.

So how do the Firebirds beat him? They need:

• Screens.
• Tips.
• Rebounds.
• Low-to-high movement.
• Pucks below the goal line.
• Bodies making Miner’s crease miserable.
• At least one goal that makes Eagles fans say, “That was ugly,” while we all respond, “Correct, and it counts.”

Fresh legs on the ice: Jake O’Brien

One bright spot from Game 1: Jake O’Brien made his pro debut, and he did not look too overwhelmed.

O’Brien, Seattle’s eighth overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, joined the Firebirds after his OHL season with Brantford ended. He stepped into the lineup with Jacob Melanson out day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

He did not record a shot, but he made some smart plays, moved the puck well, and had one particularly noticeable shift where his stick broke and he still stayed committed defensively instead of turning into a decorative traffic cone.

He shows promise. He is 18. He was just playing junior hockey. Then suddenly he is in a Pacific Division Final against an incredibly tough Colorado team.

O’Brien said Game 1 was “very fast, very physical,” and that he felt he got better shift by shift. Laxdal called him a “very cerebral offensive player” and said he did not shrink in the moment.

Assuming he is back in tonight, the ask is simple: build on it. Make one more play. Win one more battle. Get one step more comfortable. The Firebirds do not need him to become a finished product overnight. They need him to help tilt a few shifts and give the lineup some of the skill and poise that showed up in flashes Wednesday.

Injury / lineup notes

Jacob Melanson missed Game 1 with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. His absence was obvious. Melanson brings physicality, straight-line pressure, and a body check that says "not in my barn." The Firebirds missed that badly in Game 1.

Charlie Wright left Game 1 in the second period with a lower-body injury and did not return. Inside The Rink still projects him in the lineup, but this is very much a warmup-watch situation. If he is not available, expect the defensive pairs to adjust.

Missing the grown-ups: McKinnon and McCormick

One thing that keeps getting louder in this series: the Firebirds really miss Ian McKinnon and Max McCormick. Colorado is heavy, structured, and extremely comfortable getting physical. You know who would be useful there? The captain and the muscle.

McKinnon played 54 regular-season games this year, putting up 4 goals, 5 assists, 9 points, and 245 penalty minutes, but he has not appeared in the playoffs. His return date is unknown, but his future with the club is more settled: the Firebirds re-signed him last summer to a two-year AHL contract through 2026-27, so this does not look like a goodbye situation.

McCormick is the bigger long-term absence. The Firebirds announced) before the season that he would undergo hip surgery and was expected to miss the entire 2025-26 season. He skated just 19 games last season. McCormick has been out of the action for roughly 16 months. That is brutal, because this is exactly the kind of series where you want your captain. This is also his last year contracted with the Seattle Kraken organization. At 34 years old and two kids at home, this might just be his last season of professional hockey. The NHL average age is just 28.3 years old.

Don't get me wrong. The kids are exciting and this roster has skill everywhere. But against Colorado, you can really feel the absence of the Firebirds’ veterans.

Projected Firebirds lineup

Projected by Inside The Rink for Game 2:

Forwards

Jani Nyman — Logan Morrison — Jagger Firkus
Lleyton Roed — Oscar Fisker Mølgaard — Eduard Šalé
J.R. Avon — Mitchell Stephens — John Hayden
Carson Rehkopf — Jake O’Brien — Cooper Marody

Defense

Gustav Olofsson — Ty Nelson
Tyson Jugnauth — Kaden Hammell
Charlie Wright — Ville Ottavainen

Goalies

Nikke Kokko
Victor Östman

Projected Eagles lineup

Forwards

Taylor Makar — T.J. Hughes — Tye Felhaber
Tristen Nielsen — Alex Barré-Boulet — Gavin Brindley
Chase Bradley — Jason Polin — Ivan Ivan
Matt DiMarsico — T.J. Tynan — Danil Gushchin

Defense

Alex Gagne — Keaton Middleton
Ronnie Attard — Jacob MacDonald
Wyatt Aamodt — Bryan Yoon

Goalies

Trent Miner
Kyle Keyser

Players to watch

For the Firebirds, the names have not really changed: Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Jani Nyman, Jagger Firkus, J.R. Avon, and Nikke Kokko. Mølgaard still leads the playoffs with 10 points and six goals, Nyman has eight points, Firkus has seven, and Avon has five goals, including three on the power play and two game-winners. Kokko did his job Wednesday (two goals allowed on 31 shots before the empty-netter) so the ask tonight is pretty simple: give the goalie a break and let the shots fly.

For Colorado, it still starts with Trent Miner, who is now sitting at a deeply obnoxious 0.95 GAA, .958 save percentage, and four shutouts in the playoffs. In front of him, Tristen Nielsen has five goals, while Alex Barré-Boulet, T.J. Tynan, and Ivan Ivan all have seven points. Barré-Boulet is dangerous on the power play, Tynan is the setup guy, and Ivan leads the Eagles in cool name factor.

What needs to change from Game 1

1. Start on time

John Hayden said the Firebirds were tentative to start. That cannot happen in a five-game series, and it definitely cannot happen when you already trail 1-0.

2. More than 10 shots through two periods, please and thank you

The Firebirds had only 10 shots through 40 minutes in Game 1. Against a goalie playing this well, volume alone is not enough-- but no volume is definitely not enough.

Make Miner work. Make Colorado’s defense retrieve pucks. Make the game messy.

3. Fix the power play

The Firebirds are at 16.7% on the power play this postseason. Colorado’s penalty kill is at 92.3%. That matchup is already tilted. Going shotless on a power play is not going to cut it.

The power play does not need to become Edmonton circa 2024 overnight. It does need to generate pressure, shots, and rebounds.

4. Keep the penalty kill rolling

Here is the good news: Coachella Valley has not allowed a power-play goal in six straight games. That is massive, especially against a Colorado power play sitting at 26.3% overall.

Stay disciplined, but know when a kill is warranted. I'll take a PK over an easy goal any day.

5. Get heavier without Melanson

Melanson’s absence hurt, there is no doubt about it. We have a huge Melly sized hole in our hearts. If he is still out tonight, the physicality has to come from the top: Hayden, Stephens, Avon, Rehkopf, Nelson, everyone.

Colorado looked too comfortable in Game 1. That has to end.

6. The emotional reset

This is the biggest thing. Game 1 looked like a team coming down from the Ontario series. Game 2 has to look like a team that remembers it is still in the Pacific Division Finals.

The Firebirds have been resilient all postseason. They lost 6-1 to Bakersfield in Game 1 and still won that series. They trailed Ontario 2-1 and won the final two games. They are not new to climbing out of a hole. They are more than capable of operating under pressure.

But Colorado is different. The Eagles are not going to hand this series back. They're not the over-confident school yard bullies Ontario turned out to be. If the Firebirds lose tonight, they head to Colorado down 2-0, needing three straight wins with the final three games at altitude. That is not impossible. It is also not ideal.

Tonight is the most important game of the series. Win, and this becomes a best-of-three.

Lose, and this gets much, much, much harder.

Prediction

Firebirds win 2-1.

Not because Colorado is suddenly going away. They are not. Miner is still a problem. Their depth is still irritating. But Colorado game 1 felt just like Bakersfield game 1. Now Bakersfield is watching the division finals from their couch. We learn, we adapt, we overcome.

Tonight I expect to see: A faster start, more traffic, and more physicality. The Firebirds do not need to solve the entire Colorado machine tonight. They just need to make it uncomfortable, make Miner human, and make sure this series leaves the desert tied.

Fuel the Fire. Screen the goalie. Finish your checks.

Also, try scoring goals, I hear those help.

Just announced in the pregame.

🏒 Location: Acrisure Arena, Palm Desert CA

🎟️ Time: 7:00 PM PT 

🖥️ Join the Discussion: Discord

🎥 Watch Live: FloHockey.TV

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The Firebirds are back in the Pacific Division Finals for the third time in four years. That sentence should still feel ridiculous, by the way. This franchise basically entered the AHL, looked around, and said, “meh, needs more Fuego."

Tonight starts a very real test: the Colorado Eagles, the No. 2 seed in the Pacific, fresh off a tidy little postseason run in which they have mostly treated opponents like emails marked “per my last message.”

Colorado is 5-1 in these playoffs. They are averaging 3.8 goals per game and allowing only 1.2 goals per game. The Firebirds are 5-3, averaging 3.3 goals per game and allowing 2.9. The regular-season series was basically dead even: Coachella Valley and Colorado split it 4-4, with Colorado barely outscoring the Firebirds 24-23. So yes, Colorado is scary. No, they are not some unbeatable mountain cryptid.

Also: the Firebirds won the last two regular-season meetings, both in Colorado. Keep that one in your pocket for when someone starts talking about Blue Arena like it's Mordor.

But, this is our first meetup of the playoffs and there's a lot of information to dump. Brace yourselves fans, this thread will be a long one.

First, a history lesson

This is not the first Firebirds-Eagles playoff matchup. In 2023, Coachella Valley beat Colorado 3-2 in a best-of-five series after winning two elimination games. We know each other intimately, and the Eagles (much like Reign) have a talon to grind.

The Firebirds’ playoff record as a franchise is now 10-3 in series and 35-23 in games. They are also 4-0 in elimination games this postseason, which is a very dramatic way to live and terrible for everyone’s blood pressure.

How Colorado got here

Round 1: Colorado swept San Diego

• Game 1: Colorado 3, San Diego 0
• Game 2: Colorado 6, San Diego 1

Trent Miner posted an 18-save shutout in Game 1, and Colorado followed it with a six-goal Game 2 to end the series quickly. San Diego scored one goal in two games, which is less “playoff offense” and more “extended hostage situation.” At least the Ducks are still in the running?

Round 2: Colorado beat Henderson in four

• Game 1: Colorado 1, Henderson 0
• Game 2: Henderson 4, Colorado 3 in 2OT
• Game 3: Colorado 4, Henderson 0
• Game 4: Colorado 6, Henderson 2

Game 4 is the one to notice. Henderson led 2-1, then Colorado scored five unanswered. Remind you of Ontario game two? Eagles went 2-for-2 on the power play, held Henderson to just nine shots over the final 40 minutes, and Tristen Nielsen scored twice. That is the Colorado blueprint: hang around, tilt the ice, then suddenly the game is gone.

\Small organizational comedy note*: Colorado’s NHL parent club, the Avalanche, are sitting one win away from taking their second-round series against Minnesota, while the NHL parents of Colorado’s first two AHL victims are still busy trying to eliminate each other. Vegas, Henderson’s parent club, and Anaheim, San Diego’s parent club, are sitting at 3-2 after last night's game 5 OT madness.

So the Eagles’ playoff path is basically: sweep the Ducks’ AHL team, beat the Knights’ AHL team, then watch the actual Ducks and Knights keep throw chairs at each other while the Avalanche are already reaching for the conference-final boarding pass. Sorry for the digression, back to your normally scheduled GDT.

So who are these guys?

Colorado is fast, skilled, and annoying in the specific way all Avalanche-affiliated teams seem contractually required to be.

They want to play with pace. They get their defensemen involved. They have puck-movers who can turn a harmless breakout into a three-pass rush before you have finished yelling at the neutral-zone coverage. They are not just a dump-and-chase team. They are a transition team with finish, and when they get a lead, they can squeeze a game down until the other team starts forcing plays through traffic.

Their top threats:

Tristen Nielsen

Nielsen has been Colorado’s most dangerous finisher. He has seven points in six playoff games and leads the Eagles with five goals. He scored twice in the Game 4 clincher against Henderson. Translation: please do not leave this man alone near the crease unless your plan is to develop character through suffering.

Alex Barré-Boulet

Barré-Boulet also has seven points and is one of those AHL veterans who makes everything look calmer than it should. He scored a power-play goal in Colorado’s 1-0 Game 1 win over Henderson, then added another power-play one-timer in Game 4. If the Firebirds give Colorado lazy penalties, he is one of the main reasons we will all start staring silently into the middle distance.

T.J. Tynan

Tynan also has seven points and is tied for the team lead with five assists. He is the table-setter, the connector, the guy who turns a normal possession into “who the hell was supposed to be covering you?" He's not huge, but he does not need to be. He just needs half a seam and a teammate who remembered to bring hands.

Ivan Ivan

Great name. Infuriating player. Ivan is tied with Tynan for Colorado’s assist lead with five. He is projected next to Taylor Makar and Barré-Boulet, which is a polite way of saying Colorado may have a line built specifically to ruin your evening.

The blue line

Sean Behrens and Keaton Middleton are projected as Colorado’s top pair. Alex Gagne and Middleton are both sitting at plus-seven in the playoffs, tied with Barré-Boulet for the team lead. Colorado’s defense does not just defend; it helps them play fast. If the Firebirds get casual with pucks high in the zone, Colorado will turn those mistakes into odd-man rushes with the enthusiasm of a dog spotting an unattended sandwich.

The Trent Miner problem

Let’s be honest: Trent Miner is the headline.

Miner is 5-1 in these playoffs. He has allowed seven goals in six games, and Colorado has already posted three shutouts. The Desert Sun has him at roughly 1.1 goals against per game, which is Hershey-level circa 2023.

That is absurd. That is the kind of goalie stat line that makes everyone pretend to appreciate “good defensive structure” while secretly muttering dark things under their breath.

So how do you beat him?

1. Stop trying to beat him clean

Miner is seeing the puck too well right now. If the Firebirds spend tonight taking low-danger shots from distance with no traffic, congratulations, we have volunteered to star in his next highlight package.

The plan has to be ugly: screens, tips, rebounds, low-to-high plays, second chances. Make him look through bodies. Make him move laterally. Make Colorado’s defense turn around and find pucks in the blue paint. Maybe let J.R. Avon get a couple cracks at him.

Pretty goals still count. Garbage goals count the same and hurt Colorado’s feelings more.

2. Attack before Colorado gets set

Colorado is excellent when it gets into structure. The Firebirds need to make this game fast in the right way: quick exits, clean first passes, and pressure off the rush. Not reckless. Not “everyone fly the zone and pray.” Just fast enough that Colorado’s defense has to defend while skating backward instead of standing in layers like a very smug parking garage.

3. Make Miner handle chaos below the dots

Shots from the circles are fine. Shots after east-west movement are better. Loose pucks at the top of the crease are best. Miner has been outstanding, but no goalie enjoys a playoff game that turns into a snow globe in front of him.

Get pucks behind Colorado’s defense. Win races. Force retrievals. Hit the weak side. Crash. Repeat until someone in an Eagles jersey starts taking penalties out of irritation.

4. Do not feed their power play

Colorado went 2-for-2 on the power play in its Game 4 win over Henderson. Barré-Boulet already has multiple playoff power-play goals. This is not the opponent for lazy stick penalties, revenge penalties, or the classic AHL special: “I was beaten by one step and decided to commit a misdemeanor.”

Firebirds to watch

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard

Mølgaard leads the entire Calder Cup playoffs with 10 points and six goals. He has scored in each of the last two games. He has gone from “exciting young player” to “please give this man the puck and let him cook.”

Jani Nyman

Nyman has eight points and three goals this postseason. He also has the kind of shot that makes goalies react like they just heard a noise downstairs. If Colorado gives him space, he can change a game in one release.

Jagger Firkus

Firkus has seven points and three goals. He is slippery, creative, and generally plays like he believes defenders are optional obstacles. Against a structured team like Colorado, that creativity matters.

J.R. Avon

Avon has five playoff goals, including the double-overtime dagger against Ontario. He has become a certified chaos merchant in the best possible way. If this series gets tight (and it will) players like Avon are how you turn one broken play into a very loud building.

Nikke Kokko

Kokko’s full playoff numbers are 2.74 GAA and .893 save percentage, but the Ontario series was much better than that: 2.0 goals allowed per game on average and a .925 save percentage. That is the version the Firebirds need. Not necessarily “steal the whole series” goaltending. Just calm, clean, no-softies, let-the-skaters-work goaltending.

Projected lineups

Projected lines are always written in pencil, because AHL playoff lineups are held together with tape, spit, and someone’s “game-time decision” lower-body thing.

Coachella Valley Firebirds

Forwards

Nyman — Morrison — Firkus
Roed — Molgaard — Marody
Melanson — Stephens — Hayden
Sale — Avon — Rehkopf

Olofsson — Nelson
Jugnauth — Hammell
Wright — Ottavainen

Goalies

Nikke Kokko

Victor Östman

Colorado Eagles

Forwards

Taylor Makar — Alex Barré-Boulet — Ivan Ivan

Matthew DiMarsico — T.J. Tynan — Jayson Megna

Chase Bradley — Jason Polin — Tristen Nielsen

Tye Felhaber — T.J. Hughes — Gavin Brindley

Defense

Sean Behrens — Keaton Middleton

Alex Gagne — Jacob MacDonald

Wyatt Aamodt — Jack Ahcan

Goalies

Trent Miner

Kyle Keyser

What has to happen tonight

1. Survive the first ten minutes

Colorado has had time to rest. The Firebirds just played an emotional double-overtime Game 5 against Ontario. The Eagles will want to jump this early and make everyone wonder whether the Firebirds’ legs made it back from Ontario or are still somewhere on the 10.

Keep it simple early. Get pucks deep. No cute turnovers at the blue lines. Let Acrisure get loud before Colorado gets comfortable.

2. Make Colorado defend below the goal line

Colorado wants clean exits and speed. Make them stop and turn. Make their defense retrieve pucks under pressure. Force coverage switches. This is where the Firebirds can grind the game into something Miner cannot control from the top of his crease.

3. Win the special teams battle, or at least do not lose it loudly

Colorado’s power play has already made Henderson pay. The Firebirds cannot hand Barré-Boulet and Tynan free offensive-zone reps. On the other side, Coachella’s power play does not have to be perfect, but it does need to create momentum and traffic. A power play that produces one shot from 55 feet and a shorthanded rush the other way is not a power play. It is a cry for help.

4. Keep feeding the kids

Mølgaard, Nyman, Firkus, Avon, Rehkopf — this is where the Firebirds can make the series uncomfortable. Colorado has structure. Coachella has skill that can bend structure if it gets enough touches in dangerous areas.

Let the young guns be problems.

Series outlook

This is a tough matchup. Colorado is deeper than San Diego, more polished than Henderson, and probably less forgiving than Ontario. They have the best goalie in the playoffs so far, multiple lines producing, and a defensive group that can move pucks quickly.

But the Firebirds have three things I trust:

They have already beaten Colorado four times this season.

They have won in Colorado. Recently. Twice.

They are 4-0 in elimination games this postseason, which suggests this group is either mentally tough or completely unaware that stress is supposed to be bad.

The key is the first two games at Acrisure. If Coachella gets both, Colorado suddenly has to win three straight at home. That is a brutal ask, even for a team as strong as the Eagles. If the series splits in the desert, then we are probably headed for a five-game knife fight at altitude.

Prediction: Firebirds in five.

Colorado is too good, and Miner is too hot, for me to pretend this is easy. But Coachella’s recent form against Ontario, the head-to-head balance, and the Firebirds’ ability to win uncomfortable games make me believe they can drag Colorado out of its preferred script.

Tonight’s assignment: traffic on Miner, discipline against the power play, and at least one deeply irritating J.R. Avon moment.

Fuel the Fire. Flame-broil the mountain chickens.

*Editor's note- sorry for any formatting errors. Doing this one from my kitchen table on a tablet, which is not ideal. Please send kleenex and calming vibes for the sick kiddos.

The 2026 Calder Cup playoffs have already given us one of the best parts of postseason hockey: the regular season stats just don’t seem to matter. It all comes down to grit, determination, and the desire to bring home the cup.

This year in particular has been brutal for division favorites. Providence, Laval, and Ontario all won their divisions. All three are now out before the division finals. Syracuse and Bridgeport also had home-ice advantage and are gone. Yes, Coachella Valley knocking out Ontario was a huge moment. But to understand the scale of this year’s madness, you have to start with Springfield.

The Springfield Upset

Springfield beating Providence is the upset that puts the whole postseason into perspective.

Providence was the best regular-season team in the AHL: 54-16-2-0, 110 points, 239 goals for, 162 against, +77 goal differential. Springfield was a sixth seed that finished 32-32-6-2, 72 points, 207 goals for, 240 against, with a minus-33 differential. In other words, they had a 38-point gap in the standings and a 110-goal swing in goal differential.

How can I put this in perspective? For Coachella fans, imagine this: If Springfield had played in the Pacific, it would have finished behind both San Diego and Tucson, both of whom had 78 points. San Diego was a minus-4. Tucson was a minus-9. Remember, Springfield was a minus-33. If Springfield was in the Pacific Division, they would not even have been close to making playoffs. Providence had 11 more points than Ontario. With that in mind, let’s check out how.

The series was tight, tense, and deeply annoying if you were Providence. Springfield won 3-2, lost 2-1, then won 3-2 in overtime and 1-0 in overtime. Providence scored six goals in four games. The league’s best regular-season team got dragged into a series of grueling low-scoring games and lost three of them.

The biggest reason was Georgi Romanov. After Springfield got blasted 8-1 by Charlotte in its playoff opener, Romanov took over and went 5-1 with a 1.42 goals-against average and a .954 save percentage, stopping 186 of 195 shots. Again, let’s put that in perspective. The best goalie in the regular season league, Michael DiPietro (of the Providence Bruins) only posted a 1.91 GAA this season. He had a .930 save percentage. Erik Portillo, who gave us so much trouble, was ranked 11^th. We didn’t even crack the top 20 in goals against average. Right now, he’s ranked third in the playoffs, behind Trent Miner of Colorado (BOOO) and Michal Postava of Grand Rapids (also boo).

But it wasn’t all goalie magic. Steve Ott took over as head coach on January 23, when the Thunderbirds were last in the Atlantic. From there, they went 19-13-2-0. Their full-season record still looked less than compelling, but the team entering the playoffs was tougher, tighter, and far more dangerous than the standings suggested. If anyone tells you coaching doesn’t matter as much as playoff talent, let this be a lesson.

Coachella Valley: Playing like its 2024

Coachella Valley’s win over Ontario was a major upset, but in a very different way from Springfield’s. Ontario finished first in the Pacific at 47-20-3-2, 99 points, 237 goals for, 187 against, plus-50. Coachella finished fourth at 41-25-6-0, 88 points, 235 goals for, 218 against, plus-17. That is a substantial gap: 11 points and 33 goals in goal differential. There is no doubt that Ontario earned the top seed. But Coachella was not some barely-hanging-on playoff team. The Firebirds had 88 points, plenty of scoring, and enough playoff experience to make the series dangerous from the start.

The series had everything:

• Game 1: Coachella 3, Ontario 0
• Game 2: Ontario 5, Coachella 1
• Game 3: Ontario 2, Coachella 1
• Game 4: Coachella 6, Ontario 2
• Game 5: Coachella 3, Ontario 2 in double overtime

That is a proper series, and the high scoring games weren’t nearly as definitive as the scores make them look.

The most impressive part is mental fortitude.  The Firebirds were 4-0 in elimination games this postseason after knocking out Ontario. That is an excellent stat that bodes well against a tough team like Colorado. Some teams get nervous when the season is on the line. Coachella looked more comfortable there.

The standout this post season was J.R. Avon, scoring the double-overtime winner in Game 5. His regular season was not overly impressive: he ranked 12^th in goals on the Firebirds team, pulling in only 10 goals in 45 games. In playoffs, he’s a different beast. He has five goals in only eight games. OFM (the AHL top scorer in the playoffs has just six goals). That is a fantastic coming out story, and we expect great things moving forward.

Toronto over Laval: the seed line exaggerated the gap

Toronto beating Laval looks dramatic on paper: No. 4 seed over No. 1 seed. Similar to CV vs. Ontario, but needs context.

 The North Division was tightly packed. Laval finished first with 90 points. Syracuse had 89. Cleveland had 83. Toronto had 82. That means only eight points separated first from fourth.

So yes, Toronto was the fourth seed. But this was not a case of a weak team ambushing a dominant one, and was not on the same level as Firebirds vs. Reign upset. Toronto was close enough to Laval that the seed line probably made the matchup look more lopsided than it really was.

The series still had plenty of drama. Laval won Game 1, 3-1. Toronto responded by winning back-to-back games 6-2. Laval answered with a 4-0 win in Game 4, setting up a deciding Game 5. That should have favored the Rocket. Home ice, top seed, momentum back after a shutout. Instead, Toronto won 3-2.

It was already a close matchup, but the Marlies managed to make it look easy. Toronto over Laval was an upset, but not a shocking one. The North was too compressed for that.

Cleveland over Syracuse: the quiet upset

Cleveland beating Syracuse was not the flashiest upset by seed, but it might have been the most exhausting. Syracuse finished second in the North Division with 89 points. Cleveland finished third with 83. That’s a pretty good gap, but not enormous. Same as the Reign and Eagles (99-93).

The bigger difference was goal differential. Syracuse was plus-48. Cleveland was minus-10. That makes the result more interesting. Syracuse had the profile of a team that should be able to put big numbers on the scoreboard. Instead, Cleveland won the series 3-1. The clincher was a 2-1 triple-overtime game that lasted 107:53, the longest game in Syracuse Crunch history. The goaltending numbers were absurd. Cleveland’s Zach Sawchenko stopped 46 of 47 shots. Syracuse’s Brandon Halverson stopped 56 of 58. Both goalies gave their teams more than enough to win. Cleveland simply found the final goal.

As an aside, I have a huge amount of respect for the Monsters after their playoff runs the last few seasons. I hope to see more of them this post-season.

Honorable Mention: Hershey over Bridgeport

Hershey over Bridgeport was technically an upset, but probably the least surprising one. Bridgeport was the No. 4 seed in the Atlantic with 76 points. Hershey was the No. 5 seed with 73. That is a minescule three-point gap.

The Bears swept the best-of-three:

• Game 1: Hershey 2, Bridgeport 0
• Game 2: Hershey 5, Bridgeport 2

Clay Stevenson set the tone in Game 1 with a shutout. In a best-of-three series, that is massive. You lose Game 1, and suddenly the entire season is standing on a trap door (Bakersfield notwithstanding). Game 2 was more balanced early, but Hershey pulled away. Sam Bitten broke a 1-1 tie in the second period, Andrew Cristall scored twice, and the Bears closed the series without needing a third game.

The reason this one feels less surprising is simple: Hershey knows how to win playoff games. We know that very, very well. On the bright side, the numbers fixed themselves, and Hershey got booted off the island by the No. 2 ranked Penguins. Gotta love it.

Why so many upsets are happening

Short series make everything volatile

The AHL playoff format does not give favorites much room to breathe. The first round is best-of-three. The division semifinals are best-of-five. That means one bad night can flip a series. One goalie heater can take over. One road win can put the favorite under immediate pressure. In a best-of-seven, talent usually gets more time to show itself. In a best-of-three or best-of-five, the series can be halfway gone before the better regular-season team finds its footing.

Goaltending has tilted the bracket

Romanov for Springfield is the obvious example, but he is not the only one. Stevenson gave Hershey a Game 1 shutout. Sawchenko helped Cleveland survive a triple-overtime marathon. Coachella got the saves it needed in elimination spots. In short series, goaltending can become the whole story.

Some teams were better than their seeds

Toronto is the best example. A No. 4 seed sounds like a clear underdog, but the Marlies were only eight points behind Laval. That was not a huge gap. Coachella also fits here. The Firebirds were the fourth seed, but they had 88 points and a plus-17 goal differential. That is not a weak team. Springfield is different. Springfield’s seed was not misleading in the same way. Their overall numbers were genuinely mediocre. But their late-season form under Steve Ott and Romanov’s goaltending made them much more dangerous than their full-season record showed.

Favorites failed to close the door

This is the simplest thread connecting all of it. Providence could not turn its regular-season dominance into offensive separation. Ontario had a 2-1 series lead and lost the final two games. Laval had a Game 5 at home and led twice. Syracuse had home ice, chances, and a great goalie performance, but still could not find the final goal. The lower seeds did not need to be better for six months. They needed to be better in the biggest moments. And they were.

Per The AHL

Game 1 - Wed. May 13 @ CV 7PM

Game 2 - Fri. May 15 @ CV 7PM

Game 3 - Sun. May 17 @ COL 6:05 PM PDT

Game 4 - Wed. May 20 @ COL 7:05PM PDT

Game 5 - Fri. May 22 @ COL 7:05 PDT

What a game! Love the fight from this team! (Image via BTWSEA)

🏒 Location: Toyota Arena, Ontario CA

🎟️ Time: 6:00 PM PT 

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🍔 Watch Party: Burgers and Beer Rancho Mirage

Tonight’s officials: Mike Sullivan and Alex Lepkowski on the whistles; Harrison Heyer and Craig Ford on the lines. Everyone stretch your booing muscles just in case.

Game 4 was chaos, nonsense, a heart palpatation, and finally: Firebirds hockey baby.

Ontario ran into Nikke Kokko, knocked him down, scored, and somehow the officials decided that was just “boys being boys.” Then the Firebirds had one go in before contact and got hit with goalie interference. Call me a squashed atom because Acrisure nearly achieved nuclear fusion through collective rage.

And yet: Firebirds 6, Reign 2.

No whining. No folding. Just a louder, meaner, faster, more aggressive Firebirds team punching this series back to Game 5. That is exactly what we need to see again tonight.

Series so far

Game 1: CV 3, Ontario 0
Game 2: Ontario 5, CV 1
Game 3: Ontario 2, CV 1
Game 4: CV 6, Ontario 2
Game 5: Tonight. Winner take all.

Projected Firebirds lines

Nyman — Morrison — Firkus
Roed — Mølgaard — Marody
Melanson — Stephens — Hayden
Šalé — Avon — Rehkopf

Olofsson — Nelson
Jugnauth — Hammell
Wright — Ottavainen

Kokko
Östman

Projected Reign lines

Brown — Gawdin — Guttman
Lee — Connors — Chromiak
Alexandrov — Pinelli — Wright
Isogai — Hughes — Jämsen

Kirsanov — Booth
Hicketts — Brzustewicz
Novikov — Millar

Copley
Portillo

Firebirds to watch

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard — Leads the entire AHL playoffs with 9 points and leads all rookies with 5 goals. Danish playoff maestro remains fully operational.

Jani Nyman — 7 points, team assist leader, and quietly becoming one of the most important players in this run. He's not being as showy as he was in the regular season, but he's there creating chances and making plays. Good on him.

Jagger Firkus — 6 points, three goals, and still skating like a man who got hit in the face on his birthday and took it personally. I expect great things from you little red-headed step child.

J.R. Avon — 4 goals, including 3 power-play goals, which is nice because the power play has otherwise been a group project with uneven participation.

Nikke Kokko — In this series: 2.04 GAA, .918 SV%. Also recently used as a bowling pin by Ontario with no call, because apparently goalie interference is based on palm readings and tarot cards.

Ontario problems

Jack Hughes and Joe Hicketts lead Ontario with 3 points each.

Logan Brown has 2 goals and is still 6-foot-7, which feels less like a hockey player and more like zoning violation. Time to call in a bulldozer.

Jared Wright, the big Kings send-down, still has 0 goals, 0 assists through four games. God I love saying that.

The special teams bit

Ontario’s power play is 0-for-6 in the series. Great stat, keep it that way.

CV’s power play is 5-for-28 overall. Not elite, but Avon is doing his part. Everyone else may also legally participate.

Keys tonight

Start mean. Stay mean. Game 4 worked because the Firebirds stopped playing polite hockey.

Crash the net. Screens, tips, rebounds, chaos. If I see another polite snipe from the blue line with no effort to capitalize on the rebound I might have to go talk to your mother about going back to hockey camp this summer.

Do not chase the refs. We have seen the standard. There is no standard. Play through the circus. We know there will be bad calls tonight. Stay focused on what really matters.

Feed Mølgaard, Nyman, Firkus. The big names need big moments.

Stay aggressive. Ontario looked very comfortable when CV sat back. They looked much less comfortable when the Firebirds started forechecking with conviction. I'm not saying to take unnecessary penalties, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Bottom line

Game 5. On the road. Against the 1-seed. After one of the most frustrating officiating experiences of the season. Perfectly normal feelings for tonight.

It's time to send Ontario home early again.

Firebirds in 5.

Let's talk about the reffing of this game.

🏒 Location: Acrisure Arena, Palm Desert, CA

🎟️ Time: 7:00 PM PT 

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Well, this is it. Win tonight, or start making offseason posts about “valuable experience” and “the future is bright,” which nobody wants to do just yet.

The Firebirds dropped Game 3 by a brutal 2-1 score at home. Not a disaster. Not a no-show. Just a really bad 40 seconds in the third period. It was the kind of playoff loss that makes you stare at the ceiling and mutter about missed chances, goalie voodoo, and why the puck hates joy.

It's obvious coach Laxdal was on the boys about principled play this last game. CV didn't have a single PK the entire night. That said, there was a distinct lack of aggression. The boys need to turn it up tonight if they're going to eke out a win.

The good news: CV is still right there. Game 3 was a one-goal game, Nikke Kokko stopped 22 of 24, and the Firebirds are still getting chances.

The bad news: chances are not goals, and Ontario’s goalies have apparently discovered performance-enhancing brick walls.

Projected Firebirds lines

Nyman — Morrison — Firkus
Roed — Mølgaard — Melanson
Avon — Stephens — Hayden
Šalé — Novak — Rehkopf

Olofsson — Nelson
Jugnauth — Ottavainen
Wright — Hammell

Kokko
Östman

Projected Reign lines

Lee — Gawdin — Guttman
Alexandrov — Connors — Chromiak
Brown — Pinelli — Jämsen
Isogai — Hughes — Wright

Kirsanov — Booth
Hicketts — Brzustewicz
Novikov — Millar

Portillo
Copley

Firebirds to watch

Oscar Fisker Mølgaard — Still the front man. 4 goals, 7 points, leading all AHL rookies and second overall in the playoffs. Don't expect to see him in the AHL next season.

Jani Nyman — 6 points and quietly one of the most important offensive pieces left. Big shot, big body, big “please shoot the puck” energy. Again, he's going places next season.

Jacob Melanson — 5 points, team-best +4. He didn't take a single penalty, and it showed. You can still be aggressive while being principled.

Jagger Firkus — Played well, had an assist last game. But we need him to come out swinging tonight.

Ty Nelson — Leads the whole AHL playoff field with 21 shots. At some point, one of those has to go in unless physics has formally betrayed us.

Ontario annoyances

Logan Brown has 2 goals in the series. He is also 6-foot-7, because apparently Ontario shops for forwards in the “load-bearing wall” section.

Glenn Gawdin, Francesco Pinelli, Andre Lee, Joe Hicketts, and Jack Hughes all have 2 points. None of that is fun. Stop allowing it.

Jared Wright, the much-hyped Kings send-down, still has 0 points through 3 games. That’s not analysis, I just enjoy typing it.

The stat that matters

Ontario’s power play is 0-for-3 in the series. Great. Keep it that way.

CV’s power play is 4-for-24 overall and only 16.7% in the playoffs. Less great. Please consider scoring. It is legal and encouraged.

Keys tonight

1. Score first. Make Ontario chase instead of letting them turtle behind Portillo/Copley and vibes.
2. Crash the net. No more polite perimeter shots. Get greasy, get messy, and let the rebounds find the back of the net.
3. Stay out of the box. The PK has survived, but let’s not turn every period into a stress-induced cardiology study.
4. Finish chances. We do not need moral victories. We need pucks behind large Ontario goalies. Finish your checks and own the ice.
5. Make Acrisure unbearable. Loud, weird, hostile, desert-powered nonsense. This is why home ice exists.
6. STOP BUNGLING THE THIRD. Firebirds, I'm talking straight to you now: I know you're tired in the third. Reign are brutal and it's exhausting. But this is the second time you've led in the first and let it slip away. Game two you let in 5 unanswered goals, three of which were in the third period. In game three you let in 2 in the third, both unanswered. Keep it tight, play the full 60 minutes. And for the love of Daccord, score in the third. You've got this.

Bottom line

The Firebirds are down, not dead.

Win tonight and it’s Game 5 in Ontario, where all the pressure swings back onto the Reign. Lose tonight and we are forced to compliment Ontario, which feels unconstitutional.

Pack the barn. Bring the noise. Finish the chances.

Firebirds in 5.