The American Hockey League released the Coachella Valley Firebirds schedule for the 2026-27 season which will be the team’s fifth year in franchise history.
The schedule is similar to the first four years in that there will be 72 games with 36 at home and almost all of the games will be played against the other nine Pacific Division teams. The season starts a week earlier than usual on Oct. 2 and ends on April 10. Click here to view the full schedule on the team website.
One notable update is that the start time for midweek home games has moved back to 7 p.m. Last year, games played Monday through Thursday started at 6:30 p.m. That will not be the case this year, as all home games with the exception of Saturdays and Sundays will start at 7 p.m.
Here are three quick takeaways from the first look at the Firebirds’ slate as they look to make the Calder Cup playoffs for the fifth straight time, followed by the full schedule.
No new opponents
The Firebirds will only venture outside the Pacific Division to play one team and that is a familiar foe in the Dallas Stars. There are 32 teams in the AHL and the Firebirds have only ever played 14 of them. That number will not grow in the regular season. That’s a bummer and I think a missed opportunity for the league.
I understand travel budgets are tight, but what about an East vs. West two-year series, where the Firebirds host, let’s say the Charlotte Checkers this year and then next year the Firebirds play in Charlotte? The Firebirds will have been in the AHL for five years and still never played half of the other AHL teams.
New AHL team: Speaking of teams the Firebird won’t play. There is a new AHL team this year as the Hamilton Hammers join the AHL and replace the Bridgeport Islanders who are no more. The Hammers from Hamilton Ontario will be the Islanders affiliate but will play in the North Division whereas Bridgeport played in the Atlantic.
Some schedule oddities
An early Reign: The Firebirds will get an early look at their rivals from the I-10 corridor, as three of the season’s first three games will be against the Ontario Reign. The opposite happened last year when they didn’t see Ontario at all until Jan. 3.
A road-heavy finish: If the Firebirds are jockeying for the Pacific Division title or playoff positioning, the schedule-makers didn’t do them a lot of down-the-stretch favors. The Firebirds finish with four straight road games and seven of the last 10 are on the road.
Birds, Eagles flock together: In sort of an anomaly, the Firebirds play the Colorado Eagles, six times in eight games including four times in a row in February. Of the 11 games they play in the month, more than half are against Colorado.
Days of the week affected by Coachella Valley Lakers?
The 36 home games will break down like this: 11 Fridays, nine Wednesdays, seven Sundays, six Saturdays, two Thursdays and one Tuesday.
I was interested to see if there would be much of a change with Acrisure Arena also being the home of the Coachella Valley Lakers G League basketball team this year with a season simultaneous to the Firebirds. G League games are often on Saturdays, it seems, so that may reflect in almost twice as many Friday games as Saturdays. But the truth this feels very similar to every other Firebirds schedule.
Coachella Firebirds 2026-27 schedule
OCTOBER GAMES
- Oct. 2: vs. Ontario, 7 p.m.
- Oct 3: at Ontario, 6 p.m.
- Oct. 9: vs. San Diego, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 11: vs. Ontario, 3 p.m.
- Oct. 14: at Henderson, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 17: at Abbotsford, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 18: at Abbotsford, 4 p.m.
- Oct. 21: at San Diego, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 23: vs. San Jose, 7 pm.
- Oct. 28: vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.
- Oct. 30: vs. Henderson, 7 p.m.
NOVEMBER GAMES
- Nov. 4: vs. Colorado, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 6: at Tucson, 6 p.m.
- Nov. 7: at Tucson, 6 p.m.
- Nov. 12: vs. San Jose, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 15: vs. Abbotsford, 3 p.m.
- Nov. 17: at Calgary, 5 p.m.
- Nov. 18: at Calgary, 5 p.m.
- Nov. 21: at Ontario, 6 p.m.
- Nov. 22: at Bakersfield, 5:10 p.m.
- Nov. 25: at San Jose, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 27: vs. Bakersfield, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 28: vs. Henderson, 6 p.m.
DECEMBER GAMES
- Dec. 2: vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.
- Dec. 4: vs. Calgary, 7 p.m.
- Dec. 6: vs. Bakersfield, 5 p.m.
- Dec. 8. vs. Calgary, 7 p.m.
- Dec. 12: at Calgary, 4 p.m.
- Dec. 13: at Calgary, 1 p.m.
- Dec. 16: vs. San Jose, 7 p.m.
- Dec. 19: at San Diego, 6 p.m.
- Dec. 20: vs. San Diego, 5 p.m.
- Dec. 27: vs. Ontario, 3 p.m.
- Dec. 31: vs. San Diego, 5 p.m.
JANUARY GAMES
- Jan. 3: at Ontario, 3 p.m.
- Jan. 8: vs. Henderson, 7 p.m.
- Jan. 9: vs. Henderson, 6 p.m.
- Jan. 13: vs. Calgary, 7 p.m.
- Jan. 16: at San Diego, 6 p.m.
- Jan. 17: vs. San Diego, 5 p.m.
- Jan. 20: at Ontario, 7 p.m.
- Jan. 22: at Bakersfield 7 p.m.
- Jan. 23: vs. Bakersfield, 6 p.m
- Jan. 29: at Texas, 5 p.m.
- Jan. 30: at Texas, 5 p.m.
FEBRUARY GAMES
- Feb. 3: vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 5: at Colorado, 6 p.m.
- Feb. 6: at Colorado, 5 p.m.
- Feb. 12: vs. Calgary, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 16: at San Jose, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 19: vs. Colorado, 7 p.m.
- Feb. 20: vs. Colorado, 6 p.m.
- Feb. 23: at Colorado, 6 p.m.
- Feb. 24: at Colorado, 6 p.m.
- Feb. 27: vs. Bakersfield, 6 p.m.
- Feb. 28: at Bakersfield, 5 p.m.
MARCH GAMES
- March 3: vs. San Jose, 7 p.m.
- March 5: at Henderson, 7 p.m.
- March 6: at Henderson, 6 p.m.
- March 12: vs. Texas, 7 p.m.
- March 14: vs. Colorado, 3 p.m.
- March 17: vs. Texas, 7 p.m.
- March 20: at Bakersfield, 7 p.m.
- March 21: at San Jose, 5 p.m.
- March 24: at Henderson, 7 p.m.
- March 26: vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.
- March 31: vs. Tucson, 7 p.m.
APRIL GAMES
- April 3: vs. Ontario, 6 p.m.
- April 4: at San Diego, 5 p.m.
- April 7: at San Jose, 7 p.m.
- April 9: at Tucson, 7 p.m.
- April 10: at Tucson, 7 p.m
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Coachella Valley Firebirds 2026-27 schedule released
