Memories of last spring fuel Firebirds | TheAHL.com

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer

Last June the Coachella Valley Firebirds endured an ultimate gut punch. They had built a 2-0 series lead in the Calder Cup Finals by shutting out Hershey in Games 1 and 2. They had staved off elimination by taking Game 6. They were in front of their passionate fans in Palm Desert, and had built a two-goal second-period lead in Game 7.

Then came a pair of Hershey goals. Then a scoreless third period. Then overtime. Then the bitter end of what had been a storybook inaugural season, as the Bears skated the Calder Cup around Acrisure Arena ice while the Firebirds went to their dressing room to begin their summer.

“I think… When do you get over it?” Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma said, searching for his words. “You don’t ever get over it, I don’t think.”

But a team can grow and move forward, and Bylsma’s club is ready for another shot – even if there have been some trying lessons on the path back to the Calder Cup Playoffs this year.

So a loss in Game 1 of their Pacific Division semifinal series to Dustin Wolf and the Calgary Wranglers on Friday night is not going to faze this group. Much of the Firebirds’ core returned after going through a five-round grind last spring that saw them face elimination six times.

This is a team that can play pressure hockey.

“It was just such a long, drawn-out battle… We gained so much experience from it,” said captain Max McCormick, who supplied a career-best 32 goals this season to rank second in team 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 were in a tie game through 40 minutes until Calgary pulled away. They put 36 shots on Wolf. But they still find themselves down 1-0 in the best-of-five.

Game 2 is in Calgary this afternoon, and then the Firebirds have home ice for the remainder of the series. Against a team like the Wranglers – who endured their own heartbreak with a winner-take-all overtime loss to Coachella Valley in the division finals a year ago – the Firebirds will need to reach back to that experience they have acquired the hard way. They know that.

“They’re a battle-tested, playoff-type of team,” Bylsma said of the Wranglers, who finished seventh in the Pacific Division before upsetting Tucson in a…