The Hershey Bears will open the 2024 Calder Cup Finals against the Coachella Valley Firebirds at Giant Center, Friday. Hershey is dealing with a slew of injuries and ailments to core players on their roster heading into a repeat matchup of last year’s championship series.
Among players missing out on Game 1 include defensemen Aaron Ness, Lucas Johansen, Vincent Iorio, and Jon McDonald. The Bears will get back top goal scorer Ethen Frank after he was forced out of Game 7 against the Cleveland Monsters in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Bears had just one day off between eliminating the Monsters and puck drop for the Cup Finals. Coachella Valley has been off since June 8. Here’s a line-by-line breakdown of what head coach Todd Nelson is going with to open the series.
First line
The Bears’ regular top trio is reunited after Ivan Miroshnichenko replaced Frank against the Monsters. Lapierre leads the team in overall scoring with 15 points and Frank leads in goals with 9.
Second line
Dubé gets promoted back into the top six after he scored a clutch goal in his return from some serious dental work on Wednesday night. This line has been together for the majority of the playoffs.
Third line
Roe scored the goal that sent the Bears to the Cup Finals. Miroshnichenko is tied with Roe for second on the team in playoff goals.
Fourth line
Hershey’s high-energy fourth line is reunited after Rybinski spent some time in the top six at the end of the Cleveland series. Rybinski has eight points (4g, 4a) in 13 playoff games.
First pairing
Häman Aktell has jumped up to the top pairing with McIlrath since Ness went down with an injury. Häman Aktell has dealt with his own injury issues this postseason, facing a game-time decision last week.
Second pairing
Priskie’s partner since Johansen went down has primarily been Massie. Priskie leads all AHL defensemen in playoff scoring with 12 points (2g, 10a) in 14 games.
Third pairing
Osipov makes his Hershey playoff debut in the Calder Cup Finals due to the injuries that have added up on the team’s backend. Day has five points (2g, 3a) in nine playoff games.
Goaltender
Hunter Shepard had a shaky Eastern Conference Finals but bounced back for a superb performance in Game 7 against Cleveland. The 28-year-old backstop is 10-4 this postseason with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage.
Coachella Valley Firebirds
Coachella Valley has been very healthy the entire postseason, seeing 17 of their skaters play in all 12 of their playoff games. Shane Wright, the lone man out, is returning from injury for Game 1.
Hershey and Coachella Valley will play each other in the Calder Cup Finals for the second straight year, joining three other pairs of teams in AHL history to achieve that feat. This year’s Hershey team is looking to become the 10th team in the history of the AHL to repeat as Calder Cup champions.
Coachella Valley is in just its second year of existence so a Calder Cup victory would be a franchise first. 11 of the Bears players from the 2023 championship team that beat the Firebirds remain on this year’s team.
