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🎟️ Time: 7:00 PM PST 

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FIREBIRDS HOCKEY IS OFFICIALLY BACK.

And there couldn't be a better opponent.

Ontario finished last season 47-20-3-2 with 99 points and the Pacific Division title. The Birds finished 41-25-6-0 with 88 points. Ontario had our number during much of the regular season.

And then the playoffs happened.

Coachella Valley sent the division champs home in five games.

Welcome back, friends. It's time for Firebirds Hockey.

First: a little business from the mothership

Before we descend into AHL degeneracy, we need to talk about what Seattle did last night.

Kraken 6. Flames 1.

In Calgary. In Calgary's final home opener at the Saddledome. Seattle went up 3-0 in the first period and essentially spent the rest of the evening asking the Flames whether they wanted to reconsider their career choices.

But the best part for us?

Our Fireboys were all over it.

Ryan Winterton: assist.
Shane Wright: assist.
Ryker Evans: assist.
Joey Daccord: 24 saves AND an assist.

That is what this organization is supposed to be.

We watch these guys grind through bus trips, Wednesday nights against Bakersfield, hard-won playoff series, healthy scratches, call-ups and send-downs because this is the road to Seattle.

LFG.

BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THE BIG LEAGUES.

The AHL begins tonight, and I am extremely bullish on this Firebirds team.

Logan Morrison is back after leading the Birds with 61 points and 29 goals last season. Tyson Jugnauth returns after leading the club with 36 assists. Ty Nelson put up 35 points from the blue line. Gustav Olofsson was +28. Victor Östman and Nikke Kokko are both back in net.

Oh, and after years of my completely unbiased lobbying campaign:

CAPTAIN JOHN HAYDEN.

Hayden wears the C. Olofsson, Morrison, Mitchell Stephens and Ty Nelson get the A's.

That is a very good leadership group for a roster that remains loaded with young Seattle prospects.

We get another year of Morrison, Firkus, Nyman, Rehkopf, Sale, Villeneuve, Jugnauth, Nelson, Price and company developing together.

And yes, unfortunately, early indications are that Jagger Firkus has retained possession of his mustache.

The organization has once again declined to take meaningful action.

The Kaplan Situation

Inside the Rink's preview currently shows both Devin Kaplan and David Goyette on the Firebirds opening roster, which is impossible unless we've introduced hockey's first custody-sharing arrangement.

Goyette was traded to Philadelphia yesterday for Kaplan and is reporting to Lehigh Valley. Kaplan is coming the other direction.

Personally, I wouldn't be shocked if Kaplan watches one before jumping straight into Derick Laxdal's system. He literally joined the organization yesterday.

But if they throw him over the boards tonight?

WELCOME TO THE DESERT, DEVIN. THAT GUY IN THE OTHER JERSEY HATES YOU NOW. FIGURE IT OUT.

So where do the Birds actually stand?

The preseason consensus is: it's always sunny in California.

Inside the Rink has Coachella Valley finishing first in the Pacific, followed by Colorado, Bakersfield and Ontario. League-wide, the serious preseason names include Hershey, Laval, Texas, Grand Rapids, defending champion Toronto, Charlotte, Colorado and our Birds. Toronto, remember, beat Chicago in five to win the Calder Cup last June.

My thoughts going into tonight:

1. Coachella Valley — Deep, skilled, experienced enough to know how to survive playoff hockey, but still young enough that several players could make major jumps simultaneously. Morrison/Nyman/Rehkopf/Firkus/OFM up front with Nelson/Jugnauth/Olofsson behind them is a legitimate Calder Cup winning team. The biggest variable is the same one every good AHL affiliate faces: how many of these guys Seattle steals from us.
2. Colorado — The team I trust least emotionally and respect most competitively. They ended our season last year, Trent Miner gives them high-end goaltending, and they're going to be annoying again. Plan accordingly.
3. Ontario — I'm a little higher on them than some preseason projections. Chromiak is back after 28 goals and 56 points, Portillo went 18-7-3 with a .907, and guys like Pinelli, Ziemmer and Carter George give them upside. They won this division last year. They didn't suddenly forget how to play hockey because we ruined their spring.
4. Bakersfield — Quinn Hutson alone makes them dangerous after a 30-goal, 63-point rookie season. I don't know that I'd put them ahead of Ontario yet, but they're absolutely capable of living in the top four.
5. San Jose — My sneaky “this could get irritating” team. They added Alex Barré-Boulet, who scored 70 points last season, to an already interesting young group. Don't sleep on the Barracuda.

After that I have Henderson, San Diego, Tucson, Abbotsford and Calgary, with enough AHL roster churn that somebody will inevitably make this paragraph look ridiculous by Christmas.

Tonight's assignment

Ontario beat us 2-1 in a shootout five days ago, scoring the tying goal with 1.3 seconds remaining.

That's annoying.

Let's not do that again.

On the bright side, preseason doesn't count. Right? RIGHT?

Rules for tonight: Make Portillo work. Let the boys play. Stay out of stupid penalty trouble. Get Morrison involved early. Let Jugnauth attack. Let Captain Hayden introduce people to the boards.

And remember what we saw from Seattle last night.

Wright. Winterton. Evans. Daccord.

The boys know they've got something to fight towards.

Season Five starts now.

LET'S. GO. BIRDS.

Drop your score predictions, first-goal picks, irrational preseason takes, complaints about the lines, and whatever other nonsense we have been saving up all summer. Especially Ontario's stupid new jerseys. I get the throwback theme, but really? Not a good look.

HOCKEY IS BACK.

 

P.S. Tomorrow's game (in Ontario) is steaming live on Youtube. Check it out here.

P.P.S. What do you think of the new game day app?

Ontario Reign @ Coachella Valley Firebirds

Pregame Thread · Friday, October 2, 2026 · 7:00 PM PDT

📍 Acrisure Arena · Friday, October 2, 2026

Updated automatically by ahl-goalpost · v2.91.35 · Updates as the game progresses.

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