American Hockey League. Play-offs 2024. Calder Cup. Final. Best-of-seven series. The current score is 2-1. This is the fourth match of the main series this AHL season, and it's a battle that will surely crown the champion. The Coachella Valley Firebirds will host the Hershey Bears.
If you look at how the Coachella Valley Firebirds have been playing in the final, the question arises as to who was the favourite going into this Calder Cup run and who won the regular season. The Firebirds have played brilliantly in all three matches, though they were a bit unlucky in the second game, resulting in a 2-1 series scoreline instead of a potential 3-0 sweep. The third match of this series was exceptional for Coachella Valley. Now, the primary question is whether they can sustain their impressive performance and, most importantly, the results in this fourth final encounter.
The main question is how the Hershey Bears will perform because, in the three matches so far, they haven't looked like themselves. Following their nail-biter in the conference final, where they nearly blew a 3-0 lead, expectations have been mixed. This team seems physically weaker than it was just a couple of weeks ago. Hershey have been lacking in various aspects, losing battles and this significantly impacts the overall result. The Bears have been outplayed in all three matches so far but managed to win one, keeping their chances alive.
In the regular season, the Hershey Bears and the Coachella Valley Firebirds did not face each other. However, they clashed in last year's Calder Cup final, which saw Hershey come out on top in seven games. In this play-off series, game one went to Coachella Valley with a 4-3 win. Hershey responded by taking game two 5-2, but the Firebirds bounced back in game three with a 6-2 victory.
According to BetCity, the favourite for this game is the Coachella Valley Firebirds, with odds of 1.57 for their victory. Meanwhile, the odds for a Hershey Bears win stand at 2.40. Personally, I favour the Firebirds, as they currently seem the stronger side.
Comments0