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Firebirds forward Ryan Winterton, at right, competes against Joe Snively of the Hershey Bears in the 2024 Calder Cup Finals. | Photo courtesy of the Coachella Valley Firebirds/X
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The Hershey Bears won a second consecutive Calder Cup on Monday with a 5-4 overtime victory in Game 6 over the Coachella Valley Firebirds, who also made it to the finals last year in the team’s inaugural season.
The Firebirds forced overtime with a late goal by Cale Fleury, but a goal by the Bears’ Matt Strome 1:06 into overtime clinched the Calder Cup for Hershey.
Other goal scorers were Firebirds Ryan Winterton, who scored twice, and Marian Studenic, who tied the game at 2 early in the second period.
The Bears got a hat trick from Pierrick Dubé, and Hendrix Lapierre scored for Hershey late in the first period.
Firebirds goaltender Chris Driedger stopped 17 of 22 shots, and Bears goalie Hunter Shepard saved 17 of 21.
The Firebirds are the Seattle Kraken’s American Hockey League affiliate, and Hershey is the Washington Capitals’ AHL affiliate.
“I think this group and this team, the way we played all year and battled all year and come together, deserved to win a championship and when you come up short like we did, it’s just, I can’t say it any other way, it’s just painful,” Firebirds coach Dan Bylsma said after the game. “I think we stepped into tonight’s game knowing that it’s never going to be the same again. And that goes for some of the players, and that goes for me and that’s maybe why it hurts so much that we didn’t capitalize on the opportunity.”
Next season Bylsma will be the head coach of the Kraken.
