WHO: Ontario Reign vs. Coachella Valley Firebirds (Series Tied 0-0)
WHAT: 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs – Pacific Division Semifinals, Game 1
WHEN: Wednesday, April 29 @ 7:00 Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Arena – Ontario, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: FloHockey – AUDIO: Reign Radio – TWITTER: @ReignInsider & @OntarioReign
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Reign begin the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs tonight, kicking off a best-of-five series with the Coachella Valley Firebirds with Game 1 of the Pacific Division Semifinals at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR ONTARIO: The Reign earned a first round bye in the Calder Cup Playoffs as they captured the Pacific Division regular season posting 99 points with an overall record of 47-20-3-2. Ontario’s 47 wins, 26 home victories, 99 points, and 11 game point streak from Feb.18-Mar.18 were all franchise records. From start to finish the Reign were one of the most consistent teams in the AHL with their longest losing streak of the season being three games while their longest win streak was seven games. In fact, Ontario had five-win streaks of four or more games while losing back-to-back games just five times all year. The club finished the season winning six of their last seven games while recording a point in 19 of their last 23 games from Feb.18-Mar.18 posting a 16-4-2-1 record.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR COACHELLA VALLEY: The Firebirds defeated the Bakersfield Condors two games to one in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. After losing 6-1 in Bakersfield last Thursday, Coachella Valley collected a 5-2 win on Saturday and a 6-2 victory Sunday to advance past the first round in three of their first four seasons. The Firebirds finished fourth in the regular season in the Pacific Division with 88 points posting a 41-25-6-0 record. They lost four of their final six games to end the season going 2-3-1 after winning 12 of 15 games from Feb.28-Apr.4.
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES: Ontario posted a 5-1-2 record vs. Coachella Valley during the regular season including a 2-1-1 mark at Toyota Arena. Four of the eight contests went to overtime with each team winning twice in the extra frame. The Reign outscored the Firebirds 26-19 in the series while going 5-for-24 on the power-play and 17-for-18 on the penalty kill. Cole Guttman paced the way offensively in the series with 10 points (5G, 5A) including a four-point game highlighted by his first pro hat-trick in a 7-0 win on Apr.1 while Glenn Gawdin chipped in with six points (3G, 3A) including the overtime winner on Apr. 11 helping Ontario capture their second ever regular season division title, their first since 2015-16.
PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE: 13 skaters on the Reign roster have competed in the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs. Captain Joe Hicketts leads the way with 41 postseason games across six playoff appearance as he helped the Grand Rapids Griffins capture the 2017 Calder Cup. Glenn Gawdin has recorded seven points (3G, 4A) in 12 career playoff contests as he helped the Stockton Heat reach the Western Conference Finals in 2022. Nikita Alexandrov has tallied 10 points (2G, 8A) in 23 postseason games and was a member of the Springfield Thunderbirds in 2022 who fell in the Calder Cup Finals to the Chicago Wolves. Jared Wright was loaned to the Reign on Monday from the LA Kings after appearing in all four Stanley Cup Playoff games with LA. In between the crease Pheonix Copley has 19 games of playoff experience while Erik Portillo has eight. For the Firebirds, John Hayden was a member of both Coachella teams that went to the 2023 and 2024 Calder Cup Final against Hershey as he has 22 career playoff points (15G, 7A) in 50 games while GutsavOlofsson, Jacob Melanson, and Logan Morrison appeared in the 2024 playoffs.
OFFENSE VS. DEFENSE: Ontario finished ninth in the league in goals for averaging 3.29 per game scoring 237 while Coachella Valley was 11th at 3.26 scoring 235. Martin Chromiak led the way with 28 goals while he finished tied for the team lead in points with Nikita Alexandrov at 56. The Reign had three skaters tally 20 or more goals, 11 with double digits, and eight skaters with 30 or more points. Logan Morrison led the Firebirds with 29 goals and 61 points while Coachella Valley also had three skaters record 20 or more goals, 12 with double digits, and nine skaters with 30 or more points. The Reign ranked 31st in the AHL averaging just 26.03 shots per contest but averaged 32.57 over their last seven games hitting 30 or more in six games. Coachella Valley was ninth averaging 29.58 shots for but 30th in shots against at 30.89 while Ontario ranked fourth at 26.03.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Ontario finished the regular season ranking inside the top 10 in the power-play at penalty kill. On the man advantage they sat eighth scoring 53 power-play scores for a 21.2% rate. They were 31-9-1 when scoring a power-play goal including 18-2-1 on home ice. They ended the season scoring in six of their last seven games, 7-for-27, and in nine of their last 11, 11-for-39. The Reign had the best road penalty kill in the league at 86.7% while ranking fifth overall at 84.2%. Coachella Valley was just 26th on the man advantage at 15.7% and 21st on the penalty kill at 80.4%.
BETWEEN TWO PIPES: For Ontario, Pheonix Copley appeared in 33 games posting a record of 21-11-1 with a 2.59 goals against average and .901 save percentage. He won his final five games making 122 saves on 127 shots and went 10-1-1 in his last 12 with a 1.99 GAA and .918 SV%. Erik Portillo collected a 18-7-3 mark in 30 games with a 2.45 GAA and .907 SV% as he missed 17 straight games with an injury from Nov.12-Jan.4. He was 15-2-0 from Oct.26-Mar.8 then went 2-4-1-1 in his last eight games. Hampton Slukynsky stopped 42 of 44 shots in his first two professional games.
For Coachella Valley, Nikke Kokko started all three games in round one including a 31 save performance in the series clinching victory. During the regular season Kokko held a 19-10-2 mark in 35 games with a 3.13 GAA and .901 SV% while making his NHL debut late in the season with the Seattle Kraken appearing in three games. Victor Östman went 17-15-3 in 36 appearances with a 2.81 GAA and .906 SV%.
