Wranglers have playoff score to settle with Firebirds

The Calgary Wranglers haven't forgotten.

Avenging last year's playoff elimination at the hands of the Coachella Valley Firebirds isn't something that's been a prime motivator in their season or anything like that. There have been more pressing priorities.

But as they prepared for the start of their second round AHL playoff series against the Firebirds this week, last year's loss was definitely a topic of conversation.

How could it not be?

“Of course, it's something we have in our minds from last year,” said Wranglers forward Adam Klapka. “We didn't focus on it, but we tried to prepare.”

For those who don't remember, the Wranglers entered their series with the Firebirds in 2023 as the top team in the AHL regular season, but the Firebirds weren't far behind and they'd gotten a few reinforcements back from the NHL'S Seattle Kraken.

The two teams fought through an absolute grind of a five-game series, with the Firebirds eventually prevailing by the thinnest of margins. Two of their wins came in overtime, including a thrilling 6-5 victory in the series-clinching Game 5.

The Firebirds would go on to lose a nailbaiter in the Calder Cup final, so there's no shame in losing to a team like that.

But it still stung.

And getting the chance to reverse the decision this year when the series kicks off on Friday at the Saddledome? Who wouldn't want that?

“They're a good team,” said Wranglers forward Jakob Pelletier. “They're the ones who kicked us out of the playoffs last year, so for us, it's a new year, but you still have that in mind.”

Getting past the Firebirds is no easy task, though.

If they were good last year, you could probably describe them as being great in 2023-24.

They finished the regular season with the second most points in the AHL. They scored more goals (252) than any other team, and were second behind only the Hershey Bears in goals allowed.

They're a juggernaut, plain and simple, and they won six of the eight head-to-head games the two teams played this season.

But maybe that's just a little misleading.

Few people expected the Wranglers to beat the Tucson Roadrunners in the first round, but they wound up dispatching them in two games — AHL first-round playoff series are best-of-threes.

When the Calgary Flames finished their regular season, the Wranglers got an injection of talent. Matthew Coronato returned from an extended stint with the Flames and proved earlier in the season that he's a real threat at the AHL level. Ilya Solovyov and Adam Klapka returned from short stints, too.

And maybe most importantly, the Wranglers got Dustin Wolf back.

The star goaltender absolutely stood on his head against the Roadrunners and could be a real X-factor against the Firebirds.

The Wranglers are a different team than they were for much of the regular season and while there's a healthy respect for the Firebirds, there's a belief that they can pull off the upset, too.

“It's hard to say we're underdogs because we really didn't have this team together all season,” Klapka said. “In the AHL, I wouldn't say somebody is the underdog, but it obviously gives us confidence for the next round that we swept Tucson 2-0, really happy we did it the quick way like how we could and now we just get ready for the next round.”