Chick-fil-A eyes first Palm Springs location

Coachella Valley Firebirds claim Pacific Division title

2024-04-12 - Shad Powers Paul Albani-Burgio

It’s official and it’s emphatic. The Coachella Valley Firebirds are the Pacific Division champions after a 3-1 win over the Ontario Reign on Wednesday night at Acrisure Arena.

The win gives the Firebirds 97 points on the season. That puts them 14 points ahead of both Ontario and Tucson, who are tied for second place with just five games remaining in the season, which means the Firebirds can not be caught.

Certainly, the Firebirds have loftier goals, but grabbing a division title is meaningful for more than just the firstround playoff bye that comes with it. It’s something this year’s team can take pride in as it tries to separate itself from the inevitable comparisons to last year’s team.

Chick-fil-A has set its sights on opening its first ever location in Palm Springs, but the initial reaction of some residents to the news indicates the fried chicken sandwich chain’s potential arrival in the famously LGBTQfriendly city will come served with a big side of controversy.

Chick-fil-A Inc. is seeking to build a nearly 6,000-square-foot restaurant with three drive-thru lanes in The Springs, a shopping plaza at the northeast corner of Ramon Road and Gene Autry Trail, according to plans submitted to the city and signs the planning department placed in the area. The restaurant would go on a piece of land that now includes a T-Mobile store and would have indoor and outdoor dining areas with 84 seats and 24 seats, respectively.

City spokesperson Amy Blaisdell confirmed to The Desert Sun Wednesday that the project is currently “on hold” while Chick-fil-A finalizes lease terms with the shopping center. However, preliminary site plans submitted to the city show the Chick-fil-A replacing an existing structure on the south side of the shopping center, which is largely vacant except for the T-Mobile.

The new restaurant would require permits for zoning modifications that would need to be approved by the city’s planning commission as well as a review by the city’s architectural review commission. Blaisdell said no planning commission hearing has been scheduled as the project is on hold.

According to the company website, the first Chick-fil-A was opened by founder Truett S. Cathy in 1967 in Atlanta (although the company says its roots can be traced back to an earlier Atlanta restaurant opened by Cathy in 1946). Today the company boasts more than 3,000 locations and is known for its sandwiches, waffle fries and use of darkly comic billboards emblazoned with cow mascots that encourage those whizzing by to “eat mor chikin.”

While the chain was long known as a staple of the American south, it is

“This is something we didn’t accomplish last year and this team, a little bit, has been fighting to try to find its own way,” Firebirds coach Dan Bylsma said. “Not relying on last year’s playoff run and getting one game away and all of those things. It’s something we can hang our hat on. This team earned that and got that. Like (forward Devin Shore) said after the game. It’s an accomplishment we all wanted to get, but it’s just the start. We’re not done yet.”

While the other six Pacific Division teams that qualify for the playoffs will battle it out in a bestof-3 first round, the Firebirds will rest and await an opponent.

Fans may remember that the Firebirds did not win the division last year, finishing in second place behind Calgary. That meant they had to play a first-round best-of-3 series against Tucson in which they perilously faced an elimination game that would’ve ended their magical run abruptly. This year, the Firebirds won’t have to worry about a first-round slip-up.

Wednesday’s game was a physical one with a fight-filled first period, but the Firebirds offense exploded in the second period.

Max McCormick started the scoring with an easy power-play goal off of a perfect set-up by Devin Shore. The goal was McCormick’s 31st of the year, setting the new Firebirds single-season goal record. Kole Lind led the team last year with 30 goals.

Minutes later McCormick, Shore and Lind combined on a pretty 3on-1 fast break for another tap-in score to make it 2-0. Then, as the Firebirds continued to put the pressure on, John Hayden broke free and was hauled down from behind leading to a rare penalty shot. He cashed it in to make it 3-0 with a slow weaving move similar to the one that has worked so well for Logan Morrison several times this year. It was the first successful in-game penalty shot in Firebirds’ history.

Bylsma called it the best second period the team had all season.

“It was exactly how we want to play,” he said. “It was fast, quick-paced. I think we spent eight and a half minutes in the offensive zone that period which is a large number. Just felt like we were taking over the game with that second period and it was one of our best 20 minutes of the year.”

The first period featured some of the most sustained fighting we’ve seen in a game at Acrisure Arena, and the crowd of 8,908 loved it. The Firebirds’ Ian McKinnon and Ontario’s Jacob Doty engaged in one of those hockey fights that seemed like it was predetermined before the game. It was a long oneon-one brawl as they shirt-grabbed and threw punches without a ton of them landing. When both guys were sufficiently tired, the officials finally stopped it as their teammates and the crowd gave the combatants a nice ovation while they were escorted to the penalty box.

McKinnon’s teammates, to a man, lauded him for his effort. It’s the type of thing that galvanizes the team.

“Any time a guy drops the gloves there’s ultimate respect earned amongst your team because you’re putting your face, your body on the line for your teammates,” said Shore about McKinnon’s fisticuffs. “It brings the bench up. It brings the energy and that one went long, I got tired just watching it. But, he’s a great teammate and it brought the energy for us.”

This game had playoff intensity and it pitted two of the hottest teams in the AHL. The Firebirds entered having scored a point in 18 of 19 games. The Reign came in having won seven games in a row.

If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear now. These two teams don’t like each other. This is a bona fide rivalry now and it’s not just due to geographic closeness.

“In this league especially you play the teams in your division a lot and they haven’t had a ton of turnover in their roster and we haven’t had a ton either, so I think a rivalry has definitely built up over these two years,” Lind said. “This is a big win for us. We’re excited to clinch the division and it goes to show how good a team we’ve come to be throughout the year.”

Chris Driedger had another solid outing in net, earning the win while stopping 29 shots. It was his 24th win of the season and his eighth win in a row.

The final five games of the regular season still offer a few things to play for. The Firebirds have not officially sewn up the Western Conference title yet, but their magic number is four to officially best the Central Divisionleading Milwaukee Admirals. The Firebirds have 97 points with their 4414-5-4 record and are comfortably ahead of the Admirals who have 88 points with six games remaining.

Looking ahead to the postseason, the Firebirds’ first playoff opponent will be the worst remaining team after the first round of the playoffs, so it will be a team that finished between fourth- and seventh-place in the division. The first-round bye also means the Firebirds won’t play their first playoff game until around May 1, even though the season ends April 21.

The goals

Firebirds 1-0: Captain Max McCormick scores the game’s first goal on a power play early in the second period. It was a pretty set-up by Devin Shore for a tap-in goal. The Shore-to-McCormick connection is hot. They combined on both goals in a 2-1 win Saturday.

Firebirds 2-0: Oh baby! A perfect 3-on-1 fast break goal as McCormick feeds it to Shore, who touches it to Kole Lind, who touches it back to Shore, who tapped it in for a gorgeous goal.

Firebirds 3-0: A rare penalty shot was awarded to the Firebirds John Hayden who was hit from behind while on a breakaway. He took his time and scored to the delight of the crowd.

Firebirds 3-1: Ontario scored its first an only goal of the game midway through the third period when Tyler Madden zipped one past Driedger.