Firebirds Open Camp With A Year of Experience Behind Them
Coachella Valley hit the ice at Acrisure Arena on Wednesday to start its fifth AHL season, with Derek Laxdal noting his roster is no longer the league's youngest.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds opened training camp Wednesday at Acrisure Arena, beginning their fifth season as a franchise after a stint in Seattle with their NHL parent club, the Kraken.
The headline from the first day came from head coach Derek Laxdal, who pointed out that the label his team carried into last season no longer applies.
"We talked about last year being the youngest team in the league. This year we're not. We're going to be a year older," Laxdal said.
He singled out Jagger Firkus and Ty Nelson, both entering their third professional seasons, as players who have kept developing.
"It just seems like yesterday they were first-year players," Laxdal said. "So it's exciting for the group and exciting for our fans with all these players coming back."
Forward Mitchell Stephens framed it the same way. "It's another year of guys getting older, guys figuring out their games a little bit more and, you know, the development of everyone, too," he said.
Nelson, for his part, is glad to be back in the desert. "We love the desert. Love playing in front of the fans here. It's awesome," he said. "We want to run it back to where we want to go even further this year."
Coachella Valley's first preseason test comes Sunday, when it hosts the Ontario Reign at Acrisure Arena at 5 p.m. The two clubs meet again less than a week later in the AHL regular season opener, Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. in the desert.
