CV Firebirds vs. Calgary Wranglers First-Round Playoff Preview

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AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds

CV Firebirds vs. Calgary Wranglers First-Round Playoff Preview

April 21, 2025 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Coachella Valley Firebirds News Release


Get ready to saddle-up - all over again.

For the third time in as many postseasons, the Firebirds and Calgary Wranglers duel in the Calder Cup Playoffs, with CV entering as the 4th-seed and Calgary holding the fifth spot in the Pacific Division. The opening round, best-of-three series gets underway on Tuesday, April 22, with all three games (if needed) to be held on the 'Birds' home ice of Acrisure Arena.

The (rapid-fire) first-round is scheduled as follows:

Tuesday April 22, Calgary at CV (7:00 p.m. Pacific)

Saturday, April 26, Calgary at CV (6:00 p.m. Pac)

Sunday, April 27 (*if necessary) Calgary at CV (5:00 p.m. Pac)

Should past prove prologue, Firebirds' faithful should be properly confident.

After felling the Wranglers in five games of the famed Division Finals in 2023, CV again ousted the northern neighbors in last season's Divisional Semifinal; having fallen in the opening game of said 2024 playoffs, the Firebirds flew back to win three straight en route to advancing to the third-round.

Such success against the Wranglers has been a consistent thread since the 'Birds' birth; across a trio of regular and post-seasons, CV owns a 22-11 all-time mark against the divisional rivals, including a 6-2 record this year.

Loose Lasso

From season's outset, the Wranglers appeared primed to capture their second Pac crown in three years, as evidenced by the squad's 14-5-1 mark in October-November.

The calendar since? Not as kind.

Since the onset of February, the Wranglers authored a mere 8-15-2-3 record to close out the season, including eight consecutive losses to get the Month of Love underway.

As for the month ensuing? Yeah, it wasn't much better, as the Wranglers won a mere two games in March (though one of which was a 3-1 home win over the Firebirds on 3/21).

Closing out the see-saw campaign, Calgary rediscovered some form of groove, winning five of its eight April games, including a 4-0 season-closing home victory over San Jose to clinch the fifth seed on the season's final day.

While part of Calgary's latter season struggles were due to allowing a heft of goals (239 all told, sixth most in the league), along with a porous Penalty Kill unit which charted 24th in the AHL (79.5%), the Wranglers' respectable April was due in some part to their net seeing more of 25-year-old AHL rookie Waltteri Ignatjew and less of Devin Cooley. Though Acrisure Arena welcomed Cooley as an All-Star back in February, the second half of the veteran goaltender's season was, well, morbid; in Cooley's last 23 appearances, he charted a mere four wins.

Inversely, Ignatjew - who appeared in 28 for the Wranglers this year, including the last four - earned victories in his last three starts, and may well prove the starter for Game 1 of the series.

All Together Now

The Firebirds' third season oft-proved a year of two strides forward and one skate back. It seemed, if even colloquially, that every time the team found a genuine groove under new frontman Derek Laxdal. .. there was an injury, or a call-up, or a trade or transaction or new face in the lineup.

With the Seattle Kraken having missed the postseason for the second-consecutive season, the Firebirds will undoubtedly enjoy the benefits of a roster in full. Back from Seattle are Jani Nyman, John Hayden and Cale Fleury; additionally, per the 'Birds' health issues this year, the team has enjoyed late-season returns of veteran blue liner Gustav Olofsson and goalie Ales Stezka. All told, a more cemented and mature lineup will take some stress off the 'Birds' cache of youngsters and provide some serious playoff pedigree.

Per the Stezka return, one may aptly wonder how time away from the crease will impact his postseason status. Between a brief stint with Seattle and the noted injury time, the Czech has appeared in just three games since February 16 (one with the Kraken and two with the Firebirds).

Moreover, a stellar campaign from 21-year-old All-Rookie-Team netminder Nikke Kokko would seem to have solidified his opportunity for the playoffs. Sporting 20 wins in concert with a 2.26 Goals Against and .913 Save Percentage, the young Finn charted in the AHL's top-15 goalies in all three key metrics, and, in short, was a stud all season long. And while some may take pause in having a rookie in net for the Calder Cup Playoffs, Kokko assuage may be found in his 2023-24 run with the Pelicans of SM-liiga, in which he led his squad to the finals of Finland's top pro league.

Analysis and Prediction

Those awaiting the Firebirds' best hockey of the season may well be tuning-in at the right time. A fully realized lineup of vets and budding talent has been teasing at proper mesh all year long and, under Laxdal's tested playoff watch, CV appears primed to peak at just the right time.

Across his quarter-century of coaching, Laxdal-led teams have reached their respective league finals on seven occasions, which speaks well to the leader's penchant for playoff details.

Such attention to particulars may also found across the 'Birds' bench, as the Stu Bickel led Penalty Kill unit concluded the season tied for 4th in the AHL (85.2%) and, all told, the Firebirds accrued the fewest penalty minutes in the entire league (742). Come the pressures of the second season, such factors, of course, prove paramount in both outlasting and frustrating opposition.

While Calgary does offer a cast of talented scorers in frontliner Rory Kerins (33 goals; 4th in the league), veteran winger Martin Frk (60 points; 13th in the league) and centermen Sam Morton (20 goals) and Clark Bishop (19 goals), the team's inconsistencies on the back-end present a host of playoff question marks.

Of home concern, while CV's own ice throughout should prove a traditional advantage, the fact that the Firebirds won just a lone game out of their eight Acrisure contests across March and April does provide some pause for the host's fanbase. And, yes, after earning 103 standing points in each of the past two regular seasons, the 'Birds' more modest 84-point tally this year points to tougher sledding for a third consecutive return to the Calder Cup Finals.

Desert nesting concerns/high expectations considered, the return of leading-goal-scorer Nyman looks to give the 'Birds both the five-on-five and Power Play punch the team needs, just as having Hayden back will undoubtedly provide the consistent, emotive and proven leadership the team has sought sans captain Max McCormick's lengthy absence from the lineup this year. A healthy does of forechecking from the Jacob Melanson/Mitchell Stephens/Nathan Villeneuve line will give Calgary fits and, for good measure, leading scorer Ben Meyers (51 points) has shown no slow across his exceptional season. CV's set of blueliners now enjoys its full cupboard with the returns of Olofsson and Fleury, and Ty Nelson's evolution across his debut AHL campaign has the 'Birds' backend appearing postseason ready.

Sure, anything can happen in a best-of-three, but this third version of the Firebirds looks primed for another playoff advance over Calgary. Prediction: Firebirds in three.

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