Coachella Valley Firebirds set to open fifth season tonight

PALM DESERT, Calif. (KESQ) - The Coachella Valley Firebirds are scheduled to open their fifth American Hockey League season tonight at Acrisure Arena against the Ontario Reign in a matchup of teams quite familiar with each other.   

The Firebirds were 3-3-2-0 against the Reign, the Kings' AHL affiliate, in the 2025-26 regular season, then ended Ontario's season with a two-game sweep of their best-of-three Pacific Division semifinal series after the Reign won the regular-season division championship, finishing 11 points ahead of the fourth-place Firebirds.   

The Firebirds lost 2-1 to the Reign in a shootout in a preseason game Sunday at Acrisure Arena. The two teams will also meet Saturday in Ontario.   

The Firebirds lost to the Colorado Eagles, three games to one, in the best-of-five Pacific Division finals.  

Returning players from last season include center Logan Morrison, who led the team with 29 goals and 61 points in 68 games. Another returnee is Ian McKinnon, the AHL's penalty minutes leader last season with 245.   

Both goaltenders are returnees from last season. Victor Ostman was 17- 15-3 with a 2.81 goals against average. Nikke Kokko was 19-10-2 with a 3.13 goals against average.  

The newest Firebird is right wing Devin Kaplan, acquired by the Firebirds' NHL parent team, the Seattle Kraken, Thursday from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for center David Goyette.

Kaplan had five goals and eight assists in 49 games last season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers' AHL affiliate. He has one game NHL experience, going scoreless in Philadelphia's 5-4 loss at Buffalo on April 17, 2025.

Goyette had three goals and seven assists in 51 games with the Firebirds last season.

The Firebirds' 26-player opening night roster consists of 15 players from Canada, three each from Finland and the United States, two from Sweden, and one each from Belarus, the Czech Republic and Denmark.

We'll have the final score and highlights tonight at 10 and 11 p.m. on News Channel 3.