Patrick WilliamsTheAHL.com Features Writer
The Calder Cup playoffs can teach us some hard lessons. The Coachella Valley Firebirds need answers fast.
As the San Diego Gulls and Henderson Silver Knights learned in the first two rounds, figuring out the Colorado Eagles is going to take the most effort. But the Firebirds didn’t have much time left after falling 3-0 at home in Game 1 of their best-of-five Pacific Division finals series on Wednesday night. Game 2 is tonight at Acrisure Arena (10 p.m. ET, 
).
Offense hasn’t been something the Firebirds have had to worry about all season. They averaged 3.29 goals per game during the regular season, ranking 11th in the league, and scored 26 goals in their first eight playoff games. In 2025-26, 11 skaters reach double figures, led by Logan Morrison And his 29-goal season. rookie Tyson JagannathHis 45 points ranked first among AHL first-year blueliners, helping him enter the AHL All-Rookie Team. Oscar Fisk Molgaard (6-4-10), Jani Niemann (3-5-8) and Jagger Filkus (3-4-7) leads the series over Bakersfield and Ontario.
But in Game 1 on Wednesday, the Eagles held the host Firebirds to just 20 shots on goal. That’s not enough against a great goalie Trent Minerhis fourth shutout in seven playoff starts.
After tonight, we head to the Colorado Blue Arena for as many as three games. Yes, the Firebirds’ regular season road record is 22-12, 2-0, ranking third in the Western Conference. They won the decisive Game 5 on the road in the previous round, eliminating the Ontario Reign. But it’s an unenviable task to pull off three straight wins in Colorado’s chaotic, stifling environment — and if they lose Game 2, their fate will be unenviable.
So the Firebirds know exactly where they stand. They are led by a head coach Derek Laxdale Who can compete with the AHL’s best players is definitely in their ears. Larksdale won the Calder Cup with the Springfield Indians as a player, the Memorial Cup and ECHL championship as a coach, and led the Texas Stars to Game 7 in the classic 2018 Calder Cup Final.
Larksdale and his staff need to figure out how to deal with a mobile, offensive, well-structured Eagles team that can cover the entire 200 feet of ice and get the job done consistently. Their anticipation can frustrate opponents, and their blue line carries a lot of weight. It’s part of the necessary (albeit ruthless) development process to get deep into the Calder Cup playoffs.
“They played like an experienced team,” Laxdale said. “We’ve got to find a way to figure that out with our young team. That’s one of the experiences we talk about.”
Coachella Valley’s seven top regular-season scoring players are all 23 and younger. Their veteran core includes forwards John Hayden and defenders Gustav OlofssonHe reached the Finals twice with the Firebirds in 2023 and 2024.
“I think we were a little hesitant in the beginning,” Hayden said of Game 1. “We knew that wasn’t going to happen in this five-game series. I think we’ve been resilient all year long, so it’s actually something we’re really happy with.”
Tonight, they must learn the lessons that six months of the regular season and two tough playoff rounds have taught them.
“[We are a] “We’re a deep team with a work ethic. We should be working our way out,” Hayden said.
About two decades in the American Hockey League, TheAHL.com feature writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor to SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. In 2016, he received the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for outstanding coverage of the league.
