American Hockey League

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer The Hershey Bears are flying home today with two chances to make it back-to-back championship seasons. A 3-2 win against the Coachella Valley Firebirds last night in Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals has given the Bears a 3-2 series lead with Game 6 ahead of them Monday night

PALM DESERT, Calif. (theahl.com) … Jimmy Huntington scored his second goal of the night with 3:15 left in regulation, sending Hershey to a 3-2 win over Coachella Valley and a 3-2 series lead in the 2024 Calder Cup Finals. The Bears are one win away from their second consecutive championship as they prepare to host

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Win or lose, tonight is the end of an era for Dan Bylsma. The new head coach of the Seattle Kraken will stand behind the home bench at Acrisure Arena for the final time tonight when his Coachella Valley Firebirds host Game 5 of the Calder Cup Finals (9 ET/6

The Minnesota Wild have acquired 2024 AHL All-Star forward Graeme Clarke from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for forward Adam Beckman. Clarke skated in 67 games with the AHL’s Utica Comets in 2023-24, tying a career high with 25 goals and adding 24 assists for 49 points. In February, Clarke participated in the 2024

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Going into Game 4 of the Calder Cup Finals last night, the Hershey Bears decided to look at their predicament in a different light. They were down two games to one in the best-of-seven series with the Coachella Valley Firebirds following a decisive 6-2 defeat in Game 3 on Tuesday. Trying

PALM DESERT, Calif. (theahl.com) … The line of Hendrix Lapierre, Ethen Frank and Joe Snively provided the Hershey Bears with all of the offense they would need to even the Calder Cup Finals with a 3-2 win in Game 4 at Acrisure Arena on Thursday night. With the best-of-seven series tied at two games apiece,

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer So much of Shane Wright’s work this season has centered around the less glamorous but absolutely vital parts of the game. For any young AHL forward, that might look something like defensive-zone work, tracking, angling, coverages and all of the other elements that go toward making a well-rounded National Hockey

The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Kirk MacDonald the new head coach of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. MacDonald, 40, joins the Penguins following two seasons as head coach at Dubuque in the United States Hockey League. Before that, he spent eight seasons with Reading of the ECHL in various roles including assistant

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer This was the Coachella Valley Firebirds putting on a show. Back on home ice for the first time since May 31, the Firebirds handed the visiting Hershey Bears a 6-2 loss in Game 3 of the Calder Cup Finals last night and took a two games to one lead in

PALM DESERT, Calif. (theahl.com) … Playing on home ice for the first time in 18 days, the Coachella Valley Firebirds took a 2-1 series lead in the 2024 Calder Cup Finals with a 6-2 victory over the Hershey Bears on Tuesday night. Game 4 will be played Thursday at Acrisure Arena (10 ET/7 PT, AHLTV,

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer A lot has happened since the Coachella Valley Firebirds last skated on Acrisure Arena ice. Eighteen days ago, on May 31, the Firebirds took a 2-0 series lead in the Western Conference Finals with a 3-1 win over Milwaukee. From there they flew to Wisconsin and took two of three

The San Jose Sharks have named Ryan Warsofsky as the team’s new head coach. Working in the Carolina Hurricanes organization, Warsofsky won two Calder Cup championships during his time in the American Hockey League, as an assistant coach with the Charlotte Checkers in 2019 and as head coach of the Chicago Wolves in 2022. Warsofsky

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Todd Nelson liked the result. The process? Well, that needs some work. At this time of the year results are what counts, but Nelson and his Hershey Bears players recognize that they must be much better – even after they defeated the visiting Coachella Valley Firebirds 5-2 in Game 2

HERSHEY, Pa. (theahl.com) … An opportunistic Hershey Bears club evened up the Calder Cup Finals with a 5-2 win over Coachella Valley at Giant Center on Sunday evening. The series shifts west with the Firebirds hosting the next three games, beginning Tuesday night. The Bears went more than 12 minutes without a shot on goal

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer How would the Hershey Bears navigate the emotional transition? After seven passionate, contentious games with the Cleveland Monsters in the Eastern Conference Finals, the defending Calder Cup champion Bears had less than 48 hours to shift their full focus to the Calder Cup Finals and their old foe, the Coachella

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer The finality of the moment hit Trent Vogelhuber hard last night. Having forced a Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, anything seemed possible for Vogelhuber’s Cleveland Monsters. Then, down a goal deep into the third period, James Malatesta got loose in the bottom right circle, spun and whipped a shot

Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer Some players are just built to play in June. “It’s a different game in the playoffs,” Coachella Valley Firebirds goaltender Chris Driedger said. “[Fewer] skilled tic-tac-toe plays and a little more bringing out the shovels and taking it to the net.” Firebirds forward John Hayden is one of those players,

HERSHEY, Pa. (theahl.com) … John Hayden and Ryan Winterton scored twice apiece as the Coachella Valley Firebirds opened the 2024 Calder Cup Finals with a 4-3 win over the Hershey Bears at Giant Center on Friday night. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is set for Sunday (5 ET, AHLTV, NHL Network). Hayden, who had