Fixtures
| AHL | 04/21 01:00 | 1 |
CV Firebirds
vs
SD Gulls
|
- | View | |
| AHL | 04/21 22:00 | 1 |
CV Firebirds
vs
SD Gulls
|
- | View |
Results
| AHL | 04/18 02:00 | 1 |
[2] TUC Roadrunners
v
CV Firebirds
[1] |
L | 3-2 | |
| AHL | 04/14 22:00 | 1 |
[9] SD Gulls
v
CV Firebirds
[1] |
W | 1-2 | |
| AHL | 04/13 02:00 | 1 |
[6] BAK Condors
v
CV Firebirds
[1] |
L | 3-2 | |
| AHL | 04/11 02:00 | 1 |
[3] ONT Reign
v
CV Firebirds
[1] |
W | 1-3 | |
| AHL | 04/07 23:00 | 1 | [1] CV Firebirds v ABB Canucks [5] | W | 7-2 | |
| AHL | 04/07 02:00 | 1 | [1] CV Firebirds v ABB Canucks [5] | W | 2-1 | |
| AHL | 04/05 02:00 | 1 |
[10] SJ Barracuda
v
CV Firebirds
[1] |
W | 1-3 | |
| AHL | 03/31 02:00 | 1 | [1] CV Firebirds v HND Silver Knights [8] | W | 3-2 | |
| AHL | 03/28 01:00 | 1 | [1] CV Firebirds v CAL Wranglers [6] | L | 0-2 | |
| AHL | 03/27 01:00 | 1 | [1] CV Firebirds v CAL Wranglers [6] | W | 7-3 | |
| AHL | 03/24 01:00 | 1 |
[4] TEX Stars
v
CV Firebirds
[1] |
W | 2-4 | |
| AHL | 03/23 02:00 | 1 |
[1] CV Firebirds
v
BAK Condors
[7]
|
L | 3-4 |
Wikipedia - Coachella Valley Firebirds
The Coachella Valley Firebirds are a professional ice hockey team based in Southern California's Coachella Valley. They are members of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). The Firebirds began play in the 2022–23 AHL season. The team is an owned-and-operated affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Seattle Kraken. The team plays their home games at Acrisure Arena in the town of Thousand Palms, California.
History
Establishment
On December 4, 2018, the NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve Seattle's National Hockey League expansion team, the Seattle Kraken, to begin play in the 2021–22 season. The new ownership group then began making plans for acquiring a minor league affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL). By early 2019, they had narrowed it down to promoting the ECHL's Idaho Steelheads in Boise, Idaho, or a new expansion team in Palm Springs, California. On June 26, 2019, it was reported the Seattle ownership group had chosen Palm Springs as the site for Seattle's AHL affiliate. The expansion franchise was approved by the AHL board of governors on September 30, 2019, with plans to begin play in the 2021–22 season. Delays associated with the construction of an arena in the Palm Springs area caused the team's debut to be pushed back to the 2022–23 season. In the interim Seattle affiliated with the Charlotte Checkers for the 2021–22 season, sharing the team with the Florida Panthers.
On November 5, 2021, the new team revealed its name, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, as well as its logos and colors, at a ceremony held on the construction site of their new arena.
2022–2023: Inaugural season
On June 21, 2022, Dan Bylsma was named the inaugural head coach of the Firebirds', with their first free-agent's Samuel Bucek and Ian McKinnon being signed the next month on July 11, 2022. On the day of the Firebirds' first game, October 16, 2022, Max McCormick was announced as the team's captain with Andrew Poturalski and Gustav Olofsson being named alternate captains.
The Firebirds played their first game on October 16, a 6–5 win against the Calgary Wranglers, as well as winning the rematch the next day. During the first stretch of the season, the Firebirds would play their home games in the Seattle metropolitan area, playing four games against the Abbotsford Canucks and the Wranglers at the Kraken Community Iceplex and Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, as well as the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett. The Firebirds' first game at Acrisure Arena would take place on December 18, a 4–3 win against the Tucson Roadrunners. From December 22, 2022, to January 26, 2023, the Firebirds achieved a fourteen game points streak, the current franchise record. The Firebirds would finish the 2022–23 season with 103 points, good for second place of the Pacific Division, behind only the Wranglers, who captured the Macgregor Kilpatrick Trophy.
During the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs, the Firebirds would capture the Western Conference title, and advance to the Calder Cup final, where they would face off against the Hershey Bears. Goaltender Joey Daccord recorded back to back shutouts in the first two games of the series, but despite this, the Firebirds would fall short of the championship, losing in overtime of game seven.
2023–2024: Sophomore season
The Firebirds won their first Pacific Division title during the 2023–24 AHL Season, clinching the division and earning a bye in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs with a 3–1 win on April 10, 2024, over the Ontario Reign.