Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
Maybe this year is different.
Regular season success has become the norm for the Colorado Eagles, who have never missed the Calder Cup Playoffs since joining the AHL in the 2018-19 season. Once they got there, however, the postseason brought a lot of frustration.
Last year they lost 5-0 in a game Abbotsford won. Two years ago, they had three home games against the Canucks in the first round but lost the series on an overtime goal in Game 3. Three years ago, one game win, another 5-0 blowout – this time in the Coachella Valley.
It always seems like an unfavorable matchup or hot opponent that has upset Colorado. In 2022, they were shut out three times in a four-game series by Stockton Dustin Wolf. Meanwhile, the Colorado Avalanche affiliate has not reached the AHL conference finals since Hershey’s back-to-back trips in 2000 and 2001.
Rosters change, of course, but the Eagles have plenty of team memories from past frustrations. TJ Tynan, Jack Ahcan, Wyatt Aamodt, Tye Felhaber, Jacob MacDonald and the captain Jason Megna headlines a long list of players who came up short in past Colorado postseasons. This time, they won seven of the first nine playoff games, closing the series of San Diego (6-1) and Henderson (6-2) with strong victories. Trent Miner has already registered four shutouts, showing a minuscule 1.18 goals-against average.
The pieces are in place for this run to last a very long time. The next step is to eliminate Coachella Valley in the Pacific Division finals; The Eagles lead 2-1 in the best-of-five series heading into Game 4 tonight at Blue Arena.
With the parent Avalanche having advanced to four NHL Finals, Eagles head coach Mark Letestu continues to take staff hits. Ahcan was on the roster for the last two games of the Avs’ series win over Minnesota. Rookie defender Alex Gagne has been going back and forth between Loveland and Denver this week; On Sunday, he practiced with the Avalanche in the morning and played for the Eagles at night.
Add in the fact that Megna is out due to injury at the end of the previous round, and Letestu is relying on the depth of his squad to get them this far. They got the University of Michigan captain TJ Hughes late in the regular season, and a three-goal striker in the playoffs. Second year pro Gavin Brindley played 56 games in the NHL but has brought a different offense to the Eagles since joining the team. Daniel Gushchinwho scored three of San Jose’s 20 goals, entered the lineup when called up.
Another absentee from this past disappointment is Letestu, who joined the Eagles in July last year after his predecessor. Aaron Schneekloth was hired as an assistant by the Seattle Kraken. But Letestu comes with enough experience, both as a player and behind the bench. His 13 pro seasons included 567 NHL games, and a trip to the Calder Cup Finals with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2008. As an assistant coach in Cleveland, he reached Game 7 overtime in the conference finals in 2024.
And he came to Colorado knowing full well what this team had been through before. For one thing, he worked to shape this team into the Calder Cup Playoffs instead of regular season numbers. That is the way Todd Nelson it’s been used with great success in Grand Rapids and Hershey: build a playoff-style team rather than just trying to pile up regular-season wins with sheer talent. And it paid off, as the Eagles finished seventh in the AHL in goals-against per game (2.75) and eighth in shots per game (26.8) en route to a 41-20-6-5 finish.
“What was successful in October,” said Letestu at the beginning of this season, “don’t find it winning in February, don’t find it winning in June.”
And he felt that the bitterness of those struggles last spring still stuck with his players. Six months of regular season success can feel hollow if a team falls far short of winning the Calder Trophy. The history is there, but there is a chance to put it behind them this year.
“Of course there are expectations, especially with the late postseason deficit,” said Letestu. “I have a lot of guys who are very focused on winning and finding out what happened the last few years.”
In the American Hockey League for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams and currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for the league’s top scorer in 2016.
