With nods to the past and an eye on the future, the Cleveland Monsters are rolling out a new look as they prepare for their 17th season in the AHL.

Joel Bouchard is well aware of who he is replacing as head coach of the Syracuse Crunch. But the chance to head up the Tampa Bay Lightning’s top development team is one he’s looking forward to.

The 2022-23 Hershey Bears gathered for one last time at Giant Center on Saturday. And after winning the Calder Cup on the road, they were ready to celebrate with their fans.

So many of hockey’s cliches surround the game’s highs and lows. But cliches can also contain truth, and Hershey Bears forward Mike Vecchione is one such example.

Despite having been shut out in the first two games of the series, and despite scoring just five goals in four games on the road during the Finals, the Hershey Bears lifted the Calder Cup at center ice last night.

Only one team will lift the Calder Cup tonight. But both the Coachella Valley Firebirds and Hershey Bears will take away memories and relationships made from an eight-month journey that will culminate with Game 7 of the Calder Cup Finals.

The Firebirds needed a lot more following three consecutive losses in Hershey last week. They got it, and now they will play one last game for the Calder Cup.

The Coachella Valley has long been an escape for celebrities attracted to its natural beauty, warm-weather climate and year-round recreation. Now the area’s first high-level professional sports team has its own celebrity: Hockey Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr.

How the Firebirds and Bears got to a 2-2 series may not have been expected. But both head coaches knew they were in for a long battle from the start.

As the Calder Cup Finals shifted east earlier this week, something for the Hershey Bears had to change — and quickly — if this was going to be a series at all.