Firebirds Fall, But Season Soars

There is no downgrading the Coachella Valley Firebirds season because they couldn’t win Wednesday night in Colorado. This is a season to remember and respect as Kraken fans consider the prospects who anchored yet another strong American Hockey League postseason. The AHL Colorado Eagles clinched the third-round series three games to one with a closely-contested 3-2 win to end the Firebirds’ year.

The 2025-26 Firebirds roster was the youngest by average age across the 32 AHL teams, including four rookie defensemen featuring 2022 fourth rounder Tyson Jugnauth making the AHL All-Rookie Team. Case in point: The Firebirds dressed 13 players under the age of 23 during the playoffs. Colorado, the NHL Avalanche affiliate based in Loveland outside Denver, has played just two.

The Firebirds, led by stellar head coach Derek Laxdal and his meticulous staff, posted a 41-25-6 regular season record in the rugged and deep Pacific Division. The young squad won two playoff series, one in which CVF knocked out Pacific Division regular season champ Ontario (CA) by winning two elimination games to close out the best-of-five series. In fact, the Firebirds won two straight elimination games in the opening round against veteran-laden division rival Bakersfield to win that best-of-three set.

The Firebirds similarly pushed Colorado, controlling Wednesday’s game early before a fluke Colorado goal deflected by a CVF stick put the home team on the board. Colorado knotted the game two minutes later on a power play goal, the Eagles’ first of the series after nine straight successful Coachella Valley penalty kills.

“It was a game we actually probably could have won,” said Laxdal, back in the southern California desert Thursday midday after the team flew back in the morning. “They got a really lucky bounce on their first goal. We're up 2-0, and we were kind of carrying the game. They got the power play goal and then they got one right after. From there, the game was a pretty even game. Our guys hung in there with a pretty good team.”

Firkus Opens Scoring, Nearly Ties It Late

Laxdal said “just a break or two” could have helped his squad win a fifth elimination game in five attempts. One of the just-missed breaks: winger Jagger Firkus’ shot from the high slot clanged off the crossbar with about five minutes left in the third period.

Kraken 2022 second rounder Firkus (No. 35 overall) scored the opening goal of Wednesday’s game, continuing a strong playoff performance and stellar second pro season. He notched four goals and five assists for nine points in 12 games, tied for third overall in the AHL for postseason scoring. Among those competitors was teammate and frequent linemate Nyman (3G, 6A), who was commended by Laxdal for playing with fire and high competitiveness that inspired teammates.

Firkus’ second regular season was a significant upgrade on an impressive rookie season in 2024-25 when he tallied 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points in 69 games. This season upped his totals to 21 goals and 35 assists for 56 points in 63 games. Kraken general manager Jason Botterill was publicly clear that Firkus would have been called up to play his first NHL games late season if the tough, skilled forward wasn’t recovering from injury before returning for the AHL playoffs.

“We saw good growth from Firkus,” said Laxdal. “He had a great season for us, in the top 20 scoring during the regular season. There was a stretch in January when he and Mo [center Logan Morrison] elevated to be among the top five in league scoring. Once you do that, in the second half you're going to gain more attention. Firkus and Mo saw the best defensemen down the stretch [of the regular season]. That’s another positive, learning how to play through tough matchups and facing the best defensive pairings in the playoffs ....  We're talking about defensemen that are 6-5, 230 pounds they're learning how to play against. I thought as the series went along against Colorado, Firkus really adjusted to it so well.”

Maintaining Momentum and Fueling the Kraken

All this CVF success came while withstanding the call-ups of cornerstone forwards Jacob Melanson (36 NHL games), Jani Nyman (28 games) and Oscar Fisker Molgaard (13 games, a dozen down the AHL regular season stretch run plus the Danish 2023 second rounder left for Team Denmark in February). All three youngsters (the oldest, Melanson, just turned 23) figure to be in the mix to make the Kraken  coming out of training camp next fall.

Fisker Molgaard led all AHL scorers in the first three rounds with seven goals and four assists for 11 points in a dozen games. Teammate J.R. Avon, an early season trade acquisition, matched the seven goals to co-lead the AHL in goals to date.

With Jugnauth being a rookie sensation and the success at both the AHL and NHL levels by an impressive group of forward prospects, 2022 second rounder and top-pair defenseman Ty Nelson could be overlooked. Not in the minds of Laxdal and Cory Murphy, Kraken director of player development.

Kudos for Defenseman Nelson

“Nelly had huge growth if you look at the minutes that he logged for us,  anywhere from 23 to 30 minutes a night,” said Laxdal about the 22-year-old D-man. “With our young D-corps, he's a second-year [AHL] guy and one of the elderly statesmen on the back end. Nelly took on a lot of heavy minutes, played the power play, played the penalty kill, handled top 5-on-5 matchup minutes. He played through some injuries and showed a lot of leadership and grit, and determination. It exemplifies who he is not only as a person but as a player too.”

“Nelly was adding to the offense all season,” said Murphy. “He improved on his breakouts [from the defensive zone] and worked hard at being better on extending his stick to break up plays. He comes every game with a high and consistent compete level."

Competing and Prospering in “Hardest” Division

Wednesday’s end came against a club that finished second in the Pacific and rode a five-minute, three-goal spurt mid-second period to overcome an early 2-0 Coachella Valley lead. It should be duly noted the AHL’s Pacific Division is 10 teams strong with eight teams playing at a .542 winning percentage or higher. Pacific teams must survive four rounds to compete in the Calder Cup Final compared to three rounds for the three other divisions.

“Our division is probably the hardest division in the American Hockey League,” said Laxdal. “To do what we did with the youngest team in the AHL, it just shows you how tight this group was. To get through Bakersfield, which had a heck of a team. Then Ontario, which had a heck of a team, then to push Colorado to Game 4, I can't say enough about the group.”