Get to know Firebirds' second-round playoff foe

Shad Powers, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·4 min read

Whew! An early four-goal outburst in Sunday's winner-take-all game against Tucson allowed the Firebirds and their fans to exhale, knowing that this amazing inaugural season wouldn't end abruptly.

It's on to the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. The Firebirds start a best-of-five series against the Colorado Eagles on Wednesday in Loveland, Colorado.

Here is everything you need to know about the matchup:

The schedule

  • Game 1: Wed., Apr. 26 - Coachella Valley at Colorado, 6:05 p.m.

  • Game 2: Thu., Apr. 27 - Coachella Valley at Colorado, 6:05 p.m.

  • Game 3: Sun., Apr. 30 - Colorado at Coachella Valley, 3 p.m.

  • Game 4: Wed., May 3 - Colorado at Coachella Valley, 7 p.m.

  • Game 5: Fri., May 5 - Colorado at Coachella Valley, 7 p.m.

Why are the Firebirds starting on the road? It's a fair question to ask because we are trained as sports fans to know that the better-seeded team in a playoff series starts with a home game. The Firebirds, the No. 2 seed, instead will be on the road for the first two games against the No. 3-seeded Eagles. In the AHL, one of the goals is to reduce travel when possible, so instead of having two games at Acrisure Arena, then two in Colorado, then a potential fifth game back at Acrisure Arena, they've come up with this 2-on-the-road-3-at-home scenario. Naturally, the better-seeded team would take the three home games, but it is a daunting notion to start out with two on the road.

Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Shane Wright (51) smiles while being announced as one of the players of the game after their win against the Tucson Roadrunners in the first round of Calder Cup playoffs at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., on Sunday, April 23, 2023.
Coachella Valley Firebirds forward Shane Wright (51) smiles while being announced as one of the players of the game after their win against the Tucson Roadrunners in the first round of Calder Cup playoffs at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., on Sunday, April 23, 2023.

Season series

The two teams only played four times during the regular season and three of those games went to overtime, so this is about as evenly matched as possible. At Acrisure Arena, the Firebirds won one game in regulation and one game in overtime. At Colorado, the Eagles won both games in overtime.

  • Nov. 18: Colorado 2, Firebirds 1 (OT)

  • Nov. 19: Colorado 3, Firebirds 2 (OT)

  • Jan. 4: Firebirds, 4, Colorado 2

  • April 1: Firebirds 3, Colorado 2 (OT)

Know the foe

Colorado, an affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, ended the year with 90 points and a 40-22-7-3 record, finishing third in the Pacific Division. The Eagles also finished third in the division last year, but made it to the third round of the playoffs, winning their first two series. This year, they swept past the Ontario Reign in the first round with a 3-2 win and a 6-4 win.

Including the two playoff games, the Eagles are coming in hot, winners of six games in a row.

The Eagles are not a high-scoring team. In fact, their 210 goals during the regular season were the second-fewest among the 23 teams that made the Calder Cup playoffs. The Firebirds, by comparison, scored 257 goals. Their leading scorer is left winger Charles Hudon who leads the team in goals (29) and points (54). Goalkeeper Justus Annunen, who played in three of the four games against the Firebirds, yields around 2.55 goals per game, slightly more than top Firebirds goal Joey Daccord (2.38).

Coachella Valley forward Tye Kartye (12) takes a shot as Colorado forward Ben Meyers (59) and goaltender Justus Annunen (60) defend during overtime at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., Saturday, April 1, 2023.
Coachella Valley forward Tye Kartye (12) takes a shot as Colorado forward Ben Meyers (59) and goaltender Justus Annunen (60) defend during overtime at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, Calif., Saturday, April 1, 2023.

AHL and NHL mirror image

Coincidentally, the two NHL teams who are affiliates of these two AHL teams are also playing each other now in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As of Monday, the Colorado Avalanche hold a 2-1 series lead over the Seattle Kraken. Game 4 of that series is Monday night in Seattle, and Game 5 is Wednesday night in Colorado.

So that means on Wednesday, both the Firebirds and Kraken will simultaneously be playing the Eagles and Avalanche in a playoff game about 45 miles away from each other in Colorado. Weird.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division

The other Pacific Division matchup pits the top-seeded Calgary Wranglers against the fourth-seeded Abbotsford Canucks. That series also begins on Wednesday. Unlike the Firebirds-Eagles series, in this case, the better-seeded Calgary Wranglers will play the first two games at home and then go on the road for three at Abbotsford.

The winner of this series will play the winner of the Firebirds-Eagles series in the third round of the Calder Cup Playoffs.

Watch party

The Coachella Valley Firebirds will host free viewing parties for Round 2 of the Calder Cup Playoffs at the Spotlight Showroom at Spotlight 29 Casino on Wednesday and Thursday. Fans are invited to come together to cheer on the home team as the Firebirds take on the Colorado Eagles for Game 1 on Wednesday and Game 2 on Thursday. Doors open both days at 4:30 p.m. The puck drops for both games at 6:05 p.m.

Firebirds tickets

Tickets for the first home playoff game of the second round, which will be Sunday, are on sale now, starting at $19.

Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Have questions about the Firebirds or the AHL playoffs? Shoot him a message at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: AHL playoffs: Breaking down Coachella Valley vs. Colorado matchup