Patrick Williams, TheAHL.com Features Writer
Maybe this year is different.
Regular-season success has become a standard for the Colorado Eagles, who have not missed the Calder Cup Playoffs since joining the AHL for the 2018-19 season. Once they have gotten there, however, the postseason has brought considerable frustration.
Last year they were eliminated in a 5-0 loss on home ice in a winner-take-all game against Abbotsford. Two years ago, they had three home games against the Canucks in the first round but lost the series on an overtime goal in Game 3. Three years ago, another winner-take-all game, another 5-0 pounding – this time at Coachella Valley.
It always seems to be an unfavorable matchup or a hot opponent that has derailed Colorado. In 2022, they were shut out three times in a four-game series by Stockton’s Dustin Wolf. Meanwhile, a Colorado Avalanche affiliate hasn’t reached an AHL conference final since Hershey’s back-to-back trips in 2000 and 2001.
Rosters change, of course, but these Eagles have enough group memory from past frustrations. T.J. Tynan, Jack Ahcan, Wyatt Aamodt, Tye Felhaber, Jacob MacDonald and captain Jayson Megna headline a lengthy list of players who have come up short in Colorado’s postseasons past. This time around, they have won seven of their first nine playoff games, closing out series over San Diego (6-1) and Henderson (6-2) with emphatic victories. Trent Miner has already registered four shutouts, showing a minuscule 1.18 goals-against average.
The pieces are in place for this run to go a lot longer. The next step is finishing off Coachella Valley in the Pacific Division finals; the Eagles have a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series heading into tonight’s Game 4 at Blue Arena.
With the parent Avalanche already through to the NHL’s final four, Eagles head coach Mark Letestu continues to take personnel hits. Ahcan was in the lineup for the last two games of the Avs’ series win over Minnesota. Rookie defenseman Alex Gagne has been back and forth between Loveland and Denver this week; on Sunday, he practiced with the Avalanche in the morning and played for the Eagles at night.
Add the fact that Megna has been sidelined due to an injury sustained at the end of the last round, and Letestu has counted on his club’s depth to get them this far. They got University of Michigan captain T.J. Hughes late in the regular season, and the rookie forward has scored three goals in the playoffs. Second-year pro Gavin Brindley played 56 games in the NHL but has brought additional offense to the Eagles since rejoining the team. Daniil Gushchin, a three-time 20-goal scorer in San Jose, has stepped into the lineup when called upon.
Someone else who was not there for those past disappointments is Letestu, who came to the Eagles last July after his predecessor Aaron Schneekloth was hired as an assistant with the Seattle Kraken. But Letestu does bring ample experience, both as a player and behind the bench. His 13 pro seasons included 567 NHL games, as well as a trip to the Calder Cup Finals with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2008. As an assistant coach in Cleveland, he reached overtime of Game 7 in the conference finals in 2024.
And he came to Colorado fully aware of what this group had been through before. For one, he worked to shape this team for the Calder Cup Playoffs rather than gaudy regular-season numbers. It’s the approach that Todd Nelson utilized with considerable success in Grand Rapids and Hershey: build a playoff-style team rather than just trying to pile up regular-season wins through sheer talent. And it paid off, as the Eagles finished seventh in the AHL in goals-against per game (2.75) and eighth in shots per game (26.8) on their way to a 41-20-6-5 finish.
“What got wins in October,” Letestu said earlier this season, “don’t get you wins in February, don’t get you wins in June.”
And he sensed that the sting from those past spring setbacks still stuck with his players. Six months of regular-season success can feel rather hollow if a team falls far short of winning the Calder Cup. The history is there, but so is a chance to put it behind them this year.
“There’s certainly expectations, especially with some of the post-season shortcomings of late,” Letestu said. “I have a lot of guys very focused on winning and figuring what happened in the last few years.”
On the American Hockey League beat for two decades, TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams also currently covers the league for NHL.com and FloSports and is a regular contributor on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio. He was the recipient of the AHL’s James H. Ellery Memorial Award for his outstanding coverage of the league in 2016.
