The Coachella Valley Firebirds will begin their fourth AHL hockey season on Oct. 10 with a home game at Acrisure Arena against the San Diego Gulls.
The full 72-game 2025-26 schedule has been released, and head coach Derek Laxdal and the Firebirds eye a fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs, after advancing to the Pacific Division semifinals last season.
Here are five interesting things about Thursday’s schedule release:
The most interesting part about the schedule release for the Firebirds was not the who but the when. In a change from previous years, the Firebirds will start their midweek home games — Monday through Thursday games — at 6:30 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. The different start time is meant to allow fans to get home earlier on “school nights.”
Friday night games will still be at 7 p.m., Saturday night games will be at their traditional 6 p.m. and Sunday games will vary between 3 and 5 p.m.
In their three-year history, the Firebirds have only played 14 of the 32 teams in the American Hockey League: The nine other Pacific Division teams; Iowa, Texas and Chicago in the regular season; and Milwaukee and Hershey in the postseason.
They will stay stuck at 14, at least as far as the regular season goes, as their entire schedule consists of the nine Pacific Division teams and four games against the Central Division’s Texas Stars.
It would’ve been fun if their traditional Central Division opponent would’ve been one they hadn’t played yet like the Manitoba Moose, the Grand Rapids Griffins or the Rockford IceHogs.
While last year’s schedule seemed to have some lopsided stretches where the Firebirds would have very few home games for long stretches of time followed by stretches with multiple home games — most notably, a March slate that featured just three home games (all of which they lost) — this year’s schedule is more balanced.
The longest road trip the Firebirds have is four games and the longest homestand they have is five games.
Their toughest stretch is in February, when they play seven of the first nine games on the road. Their most attractive stretch is a five-game home cluster from Jan. 18 to Jan. 30.
The Firebirds will host the San Diego Gulls on Oct. 10 at Acrisure Arena. As is becoming more common, fans may see a familiar face in that game as the Gulls signed Firebirds free agent Nikolas Brouillard last week.
The Firebirds are only 1-2 in home openers, having lost to Bakersfield by a goal in each of the last two seasons in those games. Memorably, the Firebirds won their home opener in the 2022-23 season, which was also the first game ever at Acrisure Arena.
It might be good to get off to a hot start at home, after a year in which the Firebirds struggled early on at the Bird Barn, going only 17-13-2-4 at Acrisure Arena. They actually performed better on the road with 20 wins.
For those who like trivial details, Oct. 10 will be the earliest the Firebirds have ever started a season, after starting on Oct. 11 last year, Oct. 13 the year before and Oct. 16 for their first-ever game in 2022.
While the team’s promotional nights will be announced at a later date, here are some key home dates on the schedule.
Nov. 16: The Firebirds have their first home clash with the reigning Calder Cup champions, the Abbottsford Canucks. The Canucks eliminated the Firebirds in the second playoff round last year.
Dec. 31: Celebrate New Year’s Eve with the Firebirds as they host Bakersfield in a game that starts at 5 p.m., which should give revelers plenty of time to toast a Firebirds victory at their New Year’s Eve party later in the night.
Jan. 23: In a scheduling quirk, Firebirds fans have to wait until late January to see arch-rivals the Ontario Reign at Acrisure Arena. The Reign will also visit the desert March 13, April 1 and April 11.
April 19: The regular-season finale, against the Calder Cup champs Abbotsford, is a Sunday afternoon home game as the Acrisure faithful can send their Firebirds off into the playoffs on a high note.
OCTOBER GAMES
NOVEMBER GAMES
DECEMBER GAMES
JANUARY GAMES
FEBRUARY GAMES
Feb. 1: at Ontario, 3 p.m.
Feb. 4: at San Jose, 7 p.m.
Feb. 6: at Henderson, 7 p.m
Feb. 7: at Henderson, 6 p.m.
Feb. 13: vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.
Feb. 15: vs. Tucson, 3 p.m.
Feb. 18: at Bakersfield, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 20: at Colorado, 6 p.m.
Feb. 21: at Colorado, 6 p.m.
Feb. 26: vs. Henderson, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 28: vs. Bakersfield, 6 p.m.
MARCH GAMES
APRIL GAMES
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