The Western Conference Finals kick off tonight in Loveland, as the Colorado Hawks host the Chicago Wolves in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series (9:05 ET, 
).
The Eagles are reaching the Calder Cup conference finals for the first time ever and the first time for a Colorado Avalanche affiliate since the Hershey Bears reached the Final Four in 2001. The Wolves are in the AHL Final Four for the first time since winning the Calder Cup for the third time in 2022.
Colorado won eight of its first 10 postseason games, knocking off San Diego, Henderson and Coachella Valley while outscoring opponents 33-14. Ivan Ivan (1-9-10) Eagles lead playoff scoring; Tristan Nelson (6-3-9), who won the Calder Cup last season with Abbotsford, scored a team-best six goals.
and Trent Miner (8-2, 1.26, .947) continued his stellar performance at Colorado State, allowing 13 goals on 247 shots. Miner already has three shutouts in the first game of the playoffs.
Chicago advanced to the conference finals by knocking off the Central Division champion from Grand Rapids in four games. Felix Unger Sorum (3-5-8) enters tonight’s game with a five-game winning streak and a Ryan Suzuki (4-4-8) and Bradley Nadeau (1-7-8) The Wolves lead the playoffs in scoring.
Kayden Primo (6-3, 2.31, .924) helped Laval reach the conference finals last spring and has started all nine postseason games for the Wolves.
The two teams met four times during the regular season – all within a 10-day period in early February. Chicago won three of four games, two of which came on Unger Sorum’s overtime goals.
“He (Unger Sörum) is our most improved player, not only on the ice but off the ice as well,” Wolves head coach Spiros Anastas Telling Tom Ray about the Stormtracker Podcast earlier this week. “I’m so thankful for our strength and conditioning staff. It’s amazing what they’ve done with him… When he’s feeling his best, he’s a force to be reckoned with. It’s amazing that he’s only 20 years old and he still has a lot of room to grow in terms of muscle.”
