Life in the Fast Lane

After the Ducks defeated the Edmonton Oilers in the first round for their first series victory since 2017, their playoff run came to an end at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights. The Anaheim organization had celebrated the postseason appearance by turning Play Coffee in Orange into the Ducks Playoff House. I appreciated that the shop had a custom Ebbets Field Flannels baseball jersey on display.

The coffee shop is located inside a historic former bank building which made the experience even cooler. Fans could purchase team gear, pose with backgrounds of their favorite players, and order a tasty beverage.

Dori bought me a “Defend the Pond” shirt referencing the Honda Center’s former arena name. I gravitated toward the display of star rookie Beckett Sennecke.

While I later realized that the Playoff House was featured on social media, Dori and I visited because we just happened to be driving by. The cardamom latte was worth the visit on its own.

We also stopped into the Hilbert Museum a couple of blocks away which was showing “Harbors and Horizons: Maritime Prints by Phil Dike.” Born in 1906, Dike worked on a number of animated Disney films but was a great painter in his own right. A fine example of his work is “Boats in the Harbor (Balboa Byzantine Style).”

I got a taste of hockey postseason action as at a Coachella Valley Firebirds game on May 15. After taking care of Bakersfield in the first round, the Firebirds won a tense series against the Ontario Reign by winning a 3-2 double overtime contest in the decisive Game 5. That set up a Sunday matchup with the Colorado Eagles, who took Game 1 by a score of 3-0. I attended Game 2, the final contest played in California before the teams squared off in Loveland, Colorado.

After the Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007, former General Manager Brian Burke told season ticket holders that the American Hockey League would soon be expanding to the West Coast. That meant that the Ducks would no longer need to call up players from a minor league affiliate in Portland, Maine. Today, there are five AHL teams in California alone, including the Firebirds who play at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert.

The parking lot was crowded when I arrived, but I still found a space facing Varner Road. After finding my seat near center ice in Section 106, I marveled at what $18 buys you in the minor leagues for a Friday night playoff showdown. Buzzbox canned cocktails appears to be one of the team’s big sponsors.

With Firebirds mascot Fuego perched overhead, the first period ended with no score. Eagles goalie Trent Miner had shut out the Firebirds in Game 1 and Colorado’s defensive structure looked sound. However, Coachella Valley netminder Nikke Kokko made 13 saves to keep things even.

The referees called five penalties in the second period, including a questionable minor for roughing against Coachella Valley’s Lukas Dragicevic. No matter, as the game remained deadlocked after two.

Coachella Valley broke the game open with two goals in the first three minutes of the third period. J.R. Avon scored from the slot and snagged his sixth goal of the postseason to make it 1-0. Eduard Šalé then got free on breakaway and roofed a backhand past Miner. Still, the game didn’t feel over until a 2-on-1 rush resulted in a dish from Jani Nyman to Avon for a tap-in making it 3-0. By the time Oscar Fisker Mølgaard hit the empty net for a 4-0 final, the result was a foregone conclusion.

The score doesn’t tell the full story, as this game was characterized by tight checking and physical play. The Eagles outshot the home team 32-20 in Game 1 and 33-25 in Game 2. However, Kokko showed why he received a brief call-up to the Seattle Kraken in April, earned his first NHL win over the Calgary Flames in the process. This ended up being the high point of the series for the home team, as Eagles forward Ivan Ivan piled up four assists and Colorado went on to win the series. The Firebirds have been very successful since they launched in 2022, but fans in the desert know just how close they have come to winning a title in that span. That fan support resulted in the Los Angeles Lakers organization moving its minor league affiliate to Acrisure beginning next season.

For those in town for a hockey game or music festival, I recommend a trip to the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum in Palm Springs. After an immersive 15-minute film which tells tribal stories, visitors are treated to an overview of the Cahuilla way of life. This includes crafts, recreations of landscapes, oral histories, and political events that shaped the present-day realities of the indigenous population. I enjoyed the many examples of Cahuilla basketweaving.

In an area known for tourism and gambling, the museum provides much-needed perspective on the area’s past. For instance, I learned the shameful fact that Native people were not granted citizenship in America until 1924. Today, the Agua Caliente Band has gained some say over its future and operates three local casinos. None of that erases the way in which outsiders encroached on tribal territory as demonstrated in an exhibit titled “Section 14: The Untold Story.”

In closing, I want to pay my respects to former Yankees play-by-play announcer John Sterling, who passed away on May 4. It’s no understatement that Sterling’s radio voice shaped the development of my fandom. Those who derided him for openly rooting for the Yankees missed a lot of nuances. His home run calls such as “Bern, baby, Bern!” for Bernie Williams or “The Melkman delivers” in honor of Melky Cabrera got a lot of press. On the other hand, fans like me who listened every day remember his references to baseball history, New York area landmarks, and even Vaudeville. When my brother and I attended Bernie’s number retirement ceremony, Sterling was there to introduce him. The ability to present individual plays through the lens of a full season perspective was one of Sterling’s strengths. I would often listen to the postgame show to relive some of my favorite game moments. Since his passing, it has been enlightening to hear stories from people who knew him such as Joel Sherman. Thanks for the memories, John.