The Coachella Valley Firebirds are a professional ice hockey team based in Southern California's Coachella Valley. They are members of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference of the American Hockey League (AHL). The Firebirds began play in the 2022–23 AHL season. The team is an owned-and-operated affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Seattle Kraken. The team plays their home games at Acrisure Arena in the town of Thousand Palms, California. As of the end of their inaugural 2022–23 season, the Firebirds have won 48 regular season games, one playoff appearance, and one conference championship.
The Firebirds' inaugural season was very successful. They placed second in their division, as well as second in the league, behind only the Calgary Wranglers with 103 points. During that season's Calder Cup playoffs, the Firebirds reached the Finals, before losing in overtime of game seven to the Hershey Bears.[1] They pulled a similar feat in their second season, reaching the Finals before losing to the Bears again, this time in overtime of game six.
| Explanation | ||
| Calder Cup champions | ||
| Conference champions | ||
| Division champions | ||
| Led league in points |
| Term or abbreviation | Definition | |
|---|---|---|
| Finish | Final position in division or league standings | |
| GP | Number of games played | |
| W | Number of wins | |
| L | Number of losses | |
| OT | Number of losses in overtime | |
| S/O | Number of losses in a shootout | |
| Pts | Number of points | |
| GF | Goals for (goals scored by the Firebirds) | |
| GA | Goals against (goals scored by the Firebirds' opponents) | |
| — | Does not apply |
| AHL season | Firebirds season | Conference | Division | scope=colgroup colspan="9" | Regular season | scope=colgroup colspan="4" | Postseason | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | GP | W | L | OT | S/O | Pts | GF | GA | GP | W | L | Result | |||||
| scope=row | 2022–23 | 2022–23 | Western | Pacific | 2nd | 72 | 48 | 17 | 5 | 2 | 103 | 257 | 194 | 26 | 15 | 11 | Won first round to Tucson Roadrunners, 2–1 Won division semifinals to Colorado Eagles, 3–2 Won division finals to Calgary Wranglers, 3–2 Won conference finals to Milwaukee Admirals, 4–2 Lost Calder Cup finals to Hershey Bears, 3–4 |
| scope=row | 2023–24 | 2023–24 | Western | Pacific | 2nd | 72 | 46 | 15 | 6 | 5 | 103 | 252 | 182 | 18 | 12 | 6 | Won division semifinals to Calgary Wranglers, 3–1 Won division finals to Ontario Reign, 3–0 Won conference finals to Milwaukee Admirals, 4–1 Lost Calder Cup finals to Hershey Bears, 2–4 |
| Totals | 144 | 92 | 32 | 11 | 7 | 206 | 509 | 376 | 44 | 27 | 17 | 2 playoff appearances | |||||