^ Posted by Patrick Williams
Palm Desert, California. … Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals, and the Hershey Bears trailed 2-0 at the end of the second period.
Coachella Valley Firebirds goalkeeper Joey Dacord He again looked like his usual brave self. Fans packing Acrisure Arena made it hard, if not impossible, to hear at times.
Then the goals came 3:17 apart from a pair of Washington Capitals first-round picks Conor McMichael And Hendrix Lapierre. The bears are back to life again.
Tied at 2-2, the two teams traded chance after chance during the third period and overtime. If fatigue became a factor, it certainly didn’t show up. Acrisure Arena at that point was a stand-up room only – literally. Andrew Poturalsky The Firebirds series almost ended with a Between the Legs move Hunter Shepard I managed to stop.
then Mike Vecion He hit a loose rebound, and it was over. The Bears had their 12th AHL Calder Cup title.
Despite being shut out in the first two games of the series, and despite only scoring five goals in four games on the road during the Finals, the Bears lifted the Calder Cup on center ice. Hershey has won four of its last five games, all by one goal and three of them in overtime.
Last night marked the fourth time in the postseason that the Bears won a late game, 2-0. They’ve done it once in every round, against Charlotte, Hartford, Rochester, and finally Coachella Valley.
Even veterans like the captain Dylan McElrath And Aaron Ness They struggled to put all of this into context as they stood on the ice with their families celebrating. McIlrath won the 2017 Calder Cup playing Grand Rapids Griffins as current Hershey coach Todd Nelson. For Nice, it will be the first time his name is mentioned in the Calder Cup.
“We knew we could,” McElrath said of the Bears’ seventh game comeback. “Obviously we haven’t shown a lot of it in this building yet. We’ve been doing it all year, coming from behind. Two goals mean nothing to us. I’m so proud of this collection.”
Ness said, “It was amazing. This group is amazing. I love these guys. We are connected now for life.”
Nelson has now won four Calder Cups, including one as an assistant coach and one as a player.
“They never get old,” Nelson said. “Your first person is always special because you’re not a champion yet. That feels really good. I’m so proud of my hockey team. These guys stuck together. We were a really close-knit group, so I’m just glad I’m able to share this moment with them.”
Firebirds head coach Dan Bielsma He witnessed the pinnacle of the hockey world.
Stanley Cup. Winter Olympics. IIHF Hockey World Championship.
But even Bylsma struggled to stay grounded after last night’s bruising Game 7 loss. One of the most memorable campaigns in AHL history ended just shy of the Calder Cup. It was a full season with two months to go to start the season, 48 regular season wins and 103 points, five Calder Cup hockey rounds that took two months and 26 games, and a market with no professional hockey history. In love with the game and their team.
As much joy can be found from the winning team, the other team’s pain and disappointment are always nagging in comparison. Seeing the bigger picture will have to wait.
“I said to the players after the game, nothing at this point in time that I’m going to say to them will mitigate the bitter disappointment of losing this game,” Bielsma said, composing his thoughts afterwards. “I am extremely proud of our group, the way they have competed all year, the way they have put themselves in a position to be in.”
Bielsma returns to one of hockey’s most famous quotes. Fred Shero He handed it to his players just before the Philadelphia Flyers won their first Stanley Cup in 1974.
The Firebirds will have to wait at least another year for another shot at the Calder Cup, but they have built a foundation for this team and this market.
“You win today, and you walk together forever,” said Bielsma. “We didn’t win today, but this team, this group of players, is a special group, and they will walk together forever.”
Patrick Williams has been in the American Hockey League for nearly two decades for outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, The Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, and SLAM! Sports, and she is currently the co-host of Hockey news on the “A” podcast. He was awarded the James H. Ellery Memorial Award from the AHL for his excellent coverage of the league in 2016.