Hershey to play Coachella Valley for Calder Cup
The Hershey Bears will play the Coachella Valley Firebirds for the Calder Cup starting Thursday, June 8.
The Bears were waiting to learn who their opponent would be after clinching the Eastern Conference title on Saturday night. They found out Monday when Coachella Valley beat the Milwaukee Admirals 4-3 to take the Western Conference final in six games.
The Capitals’ top minor-league affiliate will play for the American Hockey League championship for a record 24th time. Hershey has won the Calder Cup 12 times – most recently in 2010 when eventual Washington stalwarts Karl Alzner, Jay Beagle, Braden Holtby and John Carlson were on the team.
The Bears will start on the road at Coachella Valley for the first two games before hosting Games 3 (June 13), 4 (June 15) and, if necessary, Game 5 (June 17). Coachella Valley would host a potential Game 6 on June 19 and Game 7 on June 21.
Hershey and Coachella Valley did not play in the regular season. The Firebirds finished with the AHL’s second-best regular season record (103 points). The Bears were fourth (97 points) overall. Each team entered the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in its conference.
Coachella Valley is the AHL affiliate of the Seattle Kraken and reached the championship round in its inaugural season.
Hershey won playoff series over Charlotte, Hartford and Rochester to advance to the Calder Cup Final.
