Firebirds Making the Point(s)

When the Coachella Valley Firebirds opened the state-of-the-art Acrisure Arena in mid-December 2022, they started the historic night at 31 standings points with a 14-5-3 record. In mid-December of this American Hockey League season, the Firebirds were just a couple of points behind that pace, but head coach Dan Bylsma said the team was feeling the weight of expectations.

After all, Coachella Valley fell one overtime goal short of winning the AHL’s Calder Cup in the inaugural season for the franchise, falling 3-2 at home to champion Hershey. And that 14-5-3 was effectively one long road trip with four designated “home” games in the Seattle area. This is a squad that believes and delivers.

“When we look back to the beginning of this season, it wasn't horrific,” said Bylsma, the 2009 Stanley Cup-winning coach in Pittsburgh who remains one of the most delightful and humble conversationalists in hockey. “We had a game this year around the same time frame [as the 2022 home opener]. If we had won the game, we would have been just two points behind the pace of last season.

“Early this season, we felt a little bit like we were having some struggles, not winning as many games as we felt like we'd won the previous year. But I think a lot of that was us looking back to the success we had last year, winning 48 games in the regular season and playing 26 playoff games, so close to winning the Calder Cup. Our team has been wanting to get back to that goodness, to get back to that team, get back to a Game 7, from the start of this season.”

Consider the goodness trending in the right direction. The Firebirds have earned standings points in 19 of their last 20 games to own a 35-13-8 before Friday’s road game in Ontario, CA, to face the Los Angeles Kings’ affiliate. CVF leads the Pacific Division by seven points, the Western Conference by three points and the team’s 78 points and .696 win percentage is second in the AHL. Only Hershey has more. Calder Cup rematch, anyone?

Bylsma, of course, has his squad focused on finishing out the 72-game schedule (16 games left) to position the Firebirds in the top position for a first-round bye and avoid playing the first extra series last year’s team had to handle. He’s equally intent on reminding this year’s team has an identity and chemistry all in its own winning way.

"The struggles and losses at the beginning of this season were a good slap in the face,” Bylsma said this week. “They were a good reminder to the group that winning just doesn't happen. You have to put in the work, develop your team, develop how you're gonna play, and develop as an individual all over again.

“We had to go through that toughness the new members of our team, not just the young guys, [Kraken prospects] Shane Wright, Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison, Jacob Malanson and Ville Ottavainen. We were finding out how we get to be a [ready for the postseason] team, and the young players were finding out how they're going to have success at this level in pro hockey.”

While the aforementioned AHL rookies’ success is impressive – more on that in a moment – there is no looking past the contributions of pros such as Kole Lind (eighth in the league with 12 goals and a whopping 40 assists for 52 points) and captain Max McCormick (top 15 AHL scorer and recently played in his 600^th pro game) among others. Cameron Hughes (17G, 28A) and Andrew Poturalski (12G, 32A) are top five scorers for Coachella Valley and top 20 in the league.

When those four standup pros and ideal role models for the prospects are mentioned to Bylsma, he is quick to add veteran John Hayden (249 NHL games played), Cale Fleury (Seattle carried him as a seventh defenseman most of last season), and the Kraken franchise’s first player signed to a pro contract, Luke Henman (4G, 6A in 34 games).

“Luke is in a different spot in his pro career and he is in a different role,” said Bylsma. “But the way he works and the way he does it right every day makes him a leader too. He's been doing a better job this year of bringing in the competitiveness, that is something for Shane Wright and the [young] guys to see and realize the team is better when everyone brings the competitiveness. We had to get back to that. It’s what made us a successful team last year.”

About those AHL rookies: Morrison is fifth on the team in scoring (14G, 28A for 38 points in 56 games) and Wright is next with 37 points (19G, 18A in 49 games). Wright, playing with confidence per Bylsma and regularly calling for pucks, is among league leaders in rookie goal scoring with a top-three amount of 19. Same for Ryan Winterton (19G, 12A in 51 games). Ottavainen leads all CVF defensemen with 29 points and 23 assists, the latter ranks him third highest among AHL rookie D-men. Bylsma said Melanson is “becoming a factor in every game he plays.”

“It's fun to watch to see what kinds of players they can be and the attributes they bring,” said Bylsma. “With both Logan Morrison and Ryan Winterton, you’re getting a gamer and competitor and a guy who just seems to have a knack for getting the job done and scoring big goals. To watch these guys now, it’s not a ton different than watching Tye Kartye [last season]. They have slowly earned the opportunities, slowly building and getting better. Now they’re getting a chance to show they’re pretty special players.”