Coachella Valley Firebirds

Growing up in Southern California, the sports most kids played were baseball, football, basketball, golf, volleyball, or soccer. Having professional sports franchises in baseball, football, and basketball drove the interest to play these sports. Hockey was not an option. Sure, there was the Los Angeles Kings, but they were a novelty act for north-east transplants. Hockey was a sport played by kids in the north or north east where winter brings snow. For me, snow was something you can see up on the mountains and visit it for a day if you like. All this change in August 1988, when Wayne Gretzky was trading to the Los Angeles Kings. It was also the year cable television was made available in my neighborhood. Once a novelty act, the Kings became a hot ticket, and in 1993 the Kings made it to the Stanley Cup finals. They lost to the Montreal Canadiens, which is the last time a team from Canada won the Stanley Cup. Almost 3 decades since the trade, Southern California now has 2 NHL teams, 3 AHL teams, several ice rinks setup by the Kings and Anaheim Ducks, and now there is high school hockey.

Over those 3 decades, new franchises and some franchise relocations have brought hockey out west. The new Seattle Kraken played their first season in 2021. The new franchise needed a minor league team for player development. They chose to put their AHL team in Coachella Valley. Putting a hockey team in the desert surrounded by golf courses might have appeared as an odd choice, but Coachella Valley is an ideal location for all the snow birds that come to visit. The Coachella Valley Firebirds have been a hit as they have reached the AHL Calder Cup finals in their first two seasons of existence. In 2023, I started covering the Firebirds’ home games for Genius Sports. Starting the 2024-2025 season, I will post home game reports and some stats.

For more information on the Firebirds, please visit the website: https://cvfirebirds.com/

For more information on the AHL, please visit the website: https://theahl.com/