Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
The Calder Cup Playoffs have a way of delivering tough lessons. And the Coachella Valley Firebirds need answers fast.
Just like the San Diego Gulls and Henderson Silver Knights learned in the first two rounds, finding out the Colorado Eagles will take a lot of effort. But the Firebirds don’t have much time after losing 3-0 at home in Game 1 of the Pacific Division final series on Wednesday night. Game 2 tonight at Acrisure Arena (10 ET, 
).
Offense wasn’t something the Firebirds had to worry about all season. Their 3.29 goals per game ranked 11th in the league during the regular season, and they have scored 26 goals in their first eight playoff contests. Eleven bowlers reached double figures in 2025-26, led by Logan Morrison and his 29-goal campaign. Rookie Tyson JugnauthThe 45 points ranked first among first-year AHL players, helping him earn a spot on the AHL All-Rookie team. Oscar Fisker Mølgaard (6-4-10), Jani Nyman (3-5-8) and Jagger Firkus (3-4-7) led the way in a series win over Bakersfield and Ontario.
But then came Game 1 on Wednesday, and the Eagles crushed the home Firebirds by holding only 20 goals. That’s not enough compared to a great goalkeeper Trent Minerwho earned his fourth shutout in the first seven games.
After tonight, it’s off to Colorado for up to three games at the Blue Arena. Yes, the Firebirds’ 22-12-2-0 season road record is third best in the Western Conference. They won a decisive Game 5 en route to eliminating the Ontario Reign in the final round. But winning three in a row in the chaotic, hot climates of Colorado — their fate if they lose Game 2 — would be an insurmountable task.
So the Firebirds know exactly where they stand. They are led by the head coach Derek Laxdal who can’t keep up with the AHL’s best and who’s in their ear. Laxdal, who won the Calder Cup as a player with the Springfield Indians, won the Memorial Cup and ECHL championship as a coach, and took the Texas Stars to Game 7 of the 2018 Calder Cup Finals.
It’s up to Laxdal and his staff to figure out how to solve a mobile, aggressive, well-organized Eagles team that covers every 200 yards of ice and does so consistently. Their foreskin can overwhelm opponents, and their blue line has a lot of heft to it. It’s part of the necessary, if unforgiving, process of development that comes with going deep into the Calder Cup Playoffs.
“They play like a veteran team,” said Laxdal. “We have to find a way to deal with this with our young team. This is one of those incidents that we talked about.”
The Coachella Valley’s top seven players in the regular season are all 23 and under. Their old core is moving forward John Hayden and the protector Gustav Olofssonboth finalists with the Firebirds in 2023 and 2024.
“I think we were just trying to get started,” Hayden said of Game 1, “and we know in this five-game series that’s not going to happen. I think we’ve been solid all year, so this is something we’re very comfortable with.”
Tonight, they must lay down the lessons that six months of regular season play and two grueling rounds of playoffs have provided.
“[We are a] a deep team with a great work ethic,” Hayden said. “We have to be tough.”
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.
