The Coachella Valley Firebirds hockey team's inaugural season was marked by outstanding achievement and the sting of defeat after losing Game 7 of the Calder Cup championship against the Hershey Bears.
The outcome was determined in sudden-death overtime, which ended 3-2 in favor of the Bears after a close match that kept fans fixated on the action, according to KESQ.
For Firebirds Head Coach Dan Bylsma, it will be hard to shake this loss, but the quality of the players softens the blow.
"Speaking from experience, this loss in Game 7 will not leave me for a long time. But the work, the commitment, the sacrifice, the effort to compete that this group of guys, this team, has put in throughout the whole year will also stick with me for a long time," he said in a Desert Sun article.
This fight for the Calder Cup made American Hockey League (AHL) history as the first Game 7 of the finals to continue into sudden-death overtime, KESQ reported. The Hershey Bears got their win on a goal by forward Mike Vecchione. Bears goalie Hunter Shepard won the title of Finals MVP with 45 saves against the Firebirds, according to KESQ.
The Firebirds started strong, taking a 2-0 lead when Max McCormick scored within the first 30 seconds of the second period, adding to Ryker Evans' goal in the first period. However, the Bears tied the score near the end of the second period, the article said. The Bears also kept Firebirds' goalie Joey Daccord busy in the third period, when he had 26 saves to keep his team in action, KESQ said.
In their 48-17-7 regular season, the Firebirds won 13 walk-off games, KESQ reported.