Firebirds head home for the summer

The day after arriving back in the valley from their trip to Hershey, the Firebirds walked back into Acrisure Arena to clean out their lockers. A few players trickled in and were kind enough to stop and address the media before they went off into a summer filled with uncertainty. The start of the 2024-2025 season will look much different on the ice for a team that had so much success in its first two years in the American Hockey League. Eleven unrestricted free agents will hit the market on July 1. It feels like a family not only inside the dressing room, but in the community as well. Connor Carrick, Chris Driedger, John Hayden, Cameron Hughes, Kole Lind, Max McCormick, Andrew Poturalski, Jimmy Schuldt, Devin Shore, Ales Stezka and Marian Studenic. Those are the names of the players that may not put on a Firebirds sweater ever again. And if that’s the case, they’ll be held in high regard in the Coachella Valley for years to come. I had the chance to ask the players one word to describe the team this season. Brothers, special and resilient were used just to name a few. While the team and the coaching staff on the bench will look different next season, and that’s the nature of the business, the core group grew the beautiful game of hockey and made fans for life. Their mark will be left on the Coachella Valley forever.