Hockey Operations

What to know: Led Pittsburgh Penguins to 2009 Stanley Cup championship, taking over midseason when he was promoted from AHL Wilkes-Barre. Won NHL’s Jack Adams coach of the year award in 2011, first in Penguins franchise history, finishing with a 49-25-8 regular season record despite 350 man-games lost due to injury (including not having neither Sidney Crosby nor Evgeni Malkin for the last 35 games of the season). 

Fun facts: Played 429 NHL games as a forward for the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks over nine seasons. Logged time in the AHL, ECHL and IHL. Picked up “Disco Dan” as a nickname when playing for IHL Phoenix Roadrunners.

Campbell served as an assistant coach for Germany at the 2022 IIHF Men’s World Championship, becoming the first woman to join the coaching staff of a national team participating in the World Championship. This past season, Campbell joined the Tri-City Storm, USHL development program actively heading the Windy City Storm Girl’s Hockey program in Chicago while also serving as an assistant coach and skills coach for the Nurnberg Ice Tigers in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).
 
As a player, the Rocanville, Saskatchewan native represented Canada in two Under-18 World Junior Championships, serving as captain at the 2010 event, scoring the gold medal-winning goal, and earning tournament MVP. She also played five games for Canada at the 2015 IIHF Ice Hockey Women’s World Championship.
 
Campbell played three seasons (2014-15 – 2016-17) for the Calgary Inferno of the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL), winning the Clarkson Cup in 2016. Prior to playing professionally, Campbell skated four years (2010-11 – 2013-14) at Cornell University, serving as captain in her senior season.

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Bickel previously served as head coach and assistant manager for the Minnesota Magicians in the North American Hockey League. A native of Minnesota, Bickel also worked as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University of Minnesota from 2018-2020. As a player, Bickel was known throughout his career as a hard-nosed defenseman and winger. Bickel skated in 76 NHL games from 2011-2015 for the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild. He completed over 10 AHL seasons with several different teams scoring 12 goals, 42 assists, and racked up 919 penalty minutes in 310 games. wer…

Firebirds Affiliates

NHL: Seattle Kraken

The Coachella Valley team is affiliated with the NHL’s newest franchise, the Seattle Kraken, for the 2021-22 season. The affiliation is expected to last one season while construction is completed on an arena that will host the Kraken’s AHL expansion franchise in Palm Desert, California.

ECHL: Kansas City Mavericks

The Mavericks have entered into a new multi-year affiliation agreement with the NHL’s Seattle Kraken.  The Mavericks will serve as the ECHL affiliate for the Kraken and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, starting in the 2022-23 season.

About Us

The Coachella Valley Firebirds are the 32nd Franchise to enter the American Hockey League (AHL) with a goal of developing players and personnel for the National Hockey League (NHL).  The Firebirds strive to accomplish this by passionately building an organization from the ground up focusing on talent, entertainment,  service and community.

Acrisure Arena
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