Calder Cup Series Begins Friday: What's At Stake, What's In Store

PALM DESERT, CA — The Coachella Valley Firebirds will begin their Calder Cup Finals rematch against the Hershey Bears Friday in Hershey, Pennsylvania, at Giant Center, where they lost all three games in last year's finals.

The series matches the teams with the American Hockey League's best regular-season records.

The 2024 Calder Cup Schedule:

The series is a best-of-seven battle that will shift from the East Coast to the West Coast, with a return East, if needed. It plays out this way:

Game 1 will be played Friday at Giant Center in Pennsylvania.

Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be played Sunday, also at Giant Center.

Game 3, on Tuesday, will shift the series back to Acrisure Arena.

Game 4 on Thursday will also be played at Acrisure Arena.

If necessary, Game 5 is on June 22, at Acrisure Arena.

Game 6, also if necessary, would be played at Giant Center on June 24, while Game 7, if necessary, would be played at Giant Center on June 26.

Friday's 4 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time game will be televised by Fox11.

What's At Stake In This Historic Matchup:

The Firebirds wrapped up the Western Conference Finals with a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Admirals Saturday, winning the series, four games to one, to become the fourth team in AHL history to reach the Calder Cup Finals in each of its first two seasons.

The Firebirds scored a league-high 252 goals, while the Hershey Bears allowed the fewest, 151. The Firebirds allowed 182 goals, the second-fewest. The Bears' 229 goals were 11th in the 32-team league.

The teams did not meet during the regular season under the AHL's schedule format, emphasizing divisional play.

This is the fourth time the same two teams have played in the Calder Cup Finals in back-to-back years, and the first since the Springfield Indians and Rochester Americans squared off both in 1990 and 1991. Springfield won the championship in both years.

The Firebirds are 10-2 in the playoffs. They lost their opener May 3, 4-1, to the Calgary Wranglers, then won their next nine—defeating Calgary three games to one in the best-of-five Pacific Division Semifinals, sweeping the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings AHL affiliate in the best-of-five Pacific Division Finals, and winning the first three games against Milwaukee before a Game 4 loss.

This will be the fourth time that Firebirds coach Dan Bylsma and Hershey coach Todd Nelson have met in the Calder Cup Finals.

They met as players in the 1994 finals between the Moncton Hawks and Portland Pirates, as assistant coaches in the 2008 finals between the Chicago Wolves and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and last year. Nelson has won each time.

Following the conclusion of the Calder Cup Finals, Bylsma will become the coach of the Firebirds' NHL parent team, the Seattle Kraken.

Go Firebirds!