In Calder Cup Final Game 7, Firebirds Fall To Hershey 3-2 In OT Thriller
When the sting finally fades from a heart-rendering Game 7 overtime loss in the Calder Cup Finals, what will remain for the Coachella Valley Firebirds is an overwhelming sense of accomplishment.
First - and briefly - the gory details of a 3-2 loss to the Hersey Bears at Acrisure Arena, the third OT win in the Finals for Hershey, and the only game in the entire series to be won by the visiting team.
Hershey rallied from a 2-0 deficit, then won the franchise's AHL-record 12th championship on a greasy goal by Mike Vecchione at 16:19 of overtime.
In the short-term, the Firebirds will have several "what-ifs" to ponder:
- What if they'd found a way to score even one goal over the game's last 55 minutes and 55 seconds, including an OT power play?
- What if they could have won just one of the three overtime games?
- What if Carson Twarynski had scored on his shorthanded breakaway in the 2nd period, with the Firebirds already leading 2-0?
When the hurt subsides, the players, management and fans of the Seattle Kraken AHL farm club can take justifiable pride in the foundation they built.
Did we mention this was the first season in their existence?
In the playoffs, the Firebirds went 5-1 in elimination games.
Max McCormick (leaping) gives the Coachella Valley Firebirds a 2-0 lead over the Hershey Bears in Game 7 of the AHL Calder Cup Finals.Before Wednesday night, they'd won seven consecutive home playoff games.
Coachella Valley played 98 games, including an AHL-record 26 in the postseason. They played five playoff rounds!
The outdoor temperature in Palm Desert, CA Wednesday neared 100 degrees, and still wasn't as hot as the scene inside Acrisure Arena for Game 7 of the AHL Calder Cup Finals.Despite not playing a home game until their arena was completed in mid-December, the Firebirds fashioned a 48-17-7 regular season record.
Fans in Palm Springs, CA and vicinity took to the team like an oasis in the, well, desert. Average attendance topped 7,400 in the regular season, and several playoff games were sellouts.
Firebirds goalie Joey Daccord played 1,647 minutes - and that's just in this year's playoffs!Perhaps most important to Kraken GM Ron Francis, the postseason gauntlet provided invaluable experience for players who may eventually call Seattle home.
Joey Daccord, still wearing his Kraken mask, compiled an impressive 2.22 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in the AHL playoffs. Might that have earned him the right to compete at training camp for a backup role with the big club?
AHL rookie of the year Tye Kartye, a winger who already made an impressive cameo during Seattle's own playoff run, gained immeasurable seasoning. So did 2022 1st round draft pick (center) Shane Wright, 2021 2nd round pick (defenseman) Ryker Evans, and winger Kole Lind, who led all playoff scorers with 31 points.
One More Thing
The tension of a Calder Cup Final Game 7 overtime even got the better of the official AHL website. For a while, it listed the 2-2 game as "postponed."
Guys, we'd like to end this season before the next one starts.