Coachella Valley Firebirds captain Max McCormick has retired from professional hockey following a 12-year career.
McCormick, who missed most of the 2024-25 season and the entire 2025-26 campaign due to injury, played 540 games in the American Hockey League with the Firebirds, the Charlotte Checkers, the Chicago Wolves, the Colorado Eagles, the Belleville Senators and the Binghamton Senators. He totaled 159 goals and 178 assists for 337 points, and he played in the AHL All-Star Classic in 2023.
McCormick added 26 goals and 19 assists for 45 points in 53 Calder Cup Playoff games, captaining Coachella Valley to the Western Conference championship in each of the club’s first two seasons (2022-23 and 2023-24).
Signed as a free agent by the Seattle Kraken prior to their inaugural season in 2021-22, McCormick is the Firebirds franchise leader in goals (67) while ranking second in points (140) and third in games (158).
“The decision to retire from the game I have loved for as long as I can remember has not been easy, and as much as I wish I could play forever, it’s time to hang up the skates,” McCormick said. “Looking back on my career, I’m filled with nothing but gratitude and pride. Hockey has given me so many great memories, lifelong friendships, and opportunities I could have never imagined.”
McCormick was selected by the Ottawa Senators in the sixth round of the 2011 NHL Draft and played 94 games in the National Hockey League with Ottawa, Carolina and Seattle, tallying eight goals and five assists.
McCormick was named the Firebirds’ winner of the AHL’s IOA/American Specialty Man of the Year team award for his outstanding contributions to the local community and charitable organizations in 2025-26.
