Bears Rise from the Depths, Ready for Round 2 vs. Firebirds
Has everyone’s nerves settled yet? Thanks to Garrett Roe’s sixth goal of the playoffs, the Bears dispatched the Monsters in a winner-take-all grand style. The locals have no time to reflect on the past series as they return to the ice Friday night against the Coachella Valley Firebirds in a rematch of the 2023 Calder Cup Final.
“This series (against Cleveland) took about five years off my life,” said head coach Todd Nelson. “(Cleveland) never quit. We were up 3-0 in the series, and all of a sudden we’re fighting for our life in Game 7. They deserve a lot of respect throughout the league for sure…Our team broke a lot of records this season, and we didn’t want to be a part of a stat that we’re up 3-0 in the series and lose four in a row.”
Now, we turn the page to the final test– where the Chocolate and White will go toe-to-toe against the Western Conference Champions. Reaching the AHL’s pinnacle to lift the league’s most coveted chalice is difficult to do once. The Bears are looking to do it twice in a row, and 13th overall, against the AHL’s newest franchise.
While Coachella Valley earned home ice advantage last year, it’s now Hershey’s turn to have the faithful behind them to create a hostile environment. With this being coach Dan Bylsma’s last hoorah before he takes over in Seattle, the Bears would like to give him a send off only Chocolatetown would enjoy.
Here’s how the teams stack up against each other:
Regular season
- Goals per game: Hershey – 3.18, Coachella Valley – 3.50
- Goals against per game: Hershey – 2.09, Coachella Valley – 2.53
- Penalty minutes: Hershey – 719, Coachella Valley – 794
- Power play %: Hershey – 20.1, Coachella Valley – 18.4
- Penalty kill %: Hershey – 87.7, Coachella Valley – 83.4
Playoffs - Goals per game: Hershey – 3.42, Coachella Valley – 3.58
- Goals against per game: Hershey – 2.28, Coachella Valley – 2.58
- Penalty minutes: Hershey – 168, Coachella Valley – 159
- Power play %: Hershey – 23.7, Coachella Valley – 20.5
- Penalty kill %: Hershey – 81.4, Coachella Valley – 78.3
- Here’s who led the way offensively for both teams:
Regular season - Goals: Hershey – Ethen Frank (29), Coachella Valley – Max McCormick (32)
- Assists: Hershey – Joe Snively (45), Coachella Valley – Kole Lind (48)
- Points: Hershey – Snively (59), Coachella Valley – Lind (65)
- Power play goals: Hershey – Frank (13), Coachella Valley – Andrew Poturalski (9)
- Shorthanded goals: Hershey – Bogdan Trineyev (3), Coachella Valley – Ryan Winterton/John Hayden (3)
- Shots: Hershey – Pierrick Dube (177), Coachella Valley – Connor Carrick (203)
Playoffs - Goals: Hershey – Frank (9), Coachella Valley – Hayden (7)
- Assists: Hershey – Hendrix Lapierre (11), Coachella Valley – Cameron Hughes (9)
- Points: Hershey – Lapierre (15), Coachella Valley – Devin Shore (11)
- Power play goals: Hershey – Frank (4), Coachella Valley – Hayden/Shore (2)
- Shorthanded goals: Hershey – Jimmy Huntington (1), Coachella Valley – Hayden/Marian Studenic (1)
- Shots: Hershey – Ivan Miroshnichenko (39), Coachella Valley – Lind (32)
It’s no secret: most of Coachella Valley’s best players this playoff season are ones that the Bears are familiar with from last season. The biggest difference will be solving goaltender Chris Driedger this time around as netminder Joey Daccord graduated to the NHL ranks. Driedger, standing at 6’4” tall, is four inches taller than Cleveland goaltender Jet Greaves. One of the main keys for bigger goaltenders will be to get Driedger to move his feet and make life uncomfortable in between the pipes through screens and second-chance opportunities.
The Chocolate and White are dealing with quite the injury bug. Frank and blueliner Aaron Ness, both considered day-to-day by Nelson, did not suit up for Game 7. Defenseman Vincent Iorio suffered an injury and did not finish the game. Coach Nelson said Wednesday that Iorio was being evaluated.
*** Injury Update This Morning ***
It appears Coachella Valley will get a boost to their forward ranks. Per Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey, Seattle Kraken’s top prospect – Shane Wright – is on track to suit up for game one. He missed some time due to an injury he suffered in the Pacific Division Finals versus the Ontario Reign. Wright has been limited to six games this postseason, notching two goals and three assists.
The Bears will resume their quest to repeat the roar when the puck drops at 7 p.m. on Friday at Giant Center.
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