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Series preview: 2025-26 Wranglers make their home debut against the Firebirds
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Photo credit: Kate Dibildox/Tucson Roadrunners
Paige Siewert
Oct 24, 2025, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 24, 2025, 21:11 EDT
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The Calgary Wranglers and Coachella Valley Firebirds have not seen each other since the Firebirds knocked the Wranglers out of playoff contention in their best of three series back in April. They meet for the first time this season for Calgary’s home opener with an equal record in their first four games of 1-2-1-0. We’ll see if they’re as evenly matched on the ice as what the early numbers say.

Last game’s lines

Calgary 
Dryden Hunt (Inactive) – Rory Kerins – Matvei Gridin 
William Stromgren – Sam Morton – Martin Frk 
Carter King – Clark Bishop – Andrew Basha
Alex Gallant – David Silye – Aydar Suniev
Nick Cicek – Hunter Brzustewicz
Yan Kuznetsov – Jeremie Poirier
Turner Ottenbreit – Artem Grushnikov 
Owen Say
Ivan Prosvetov (Backup)
Coachella Valley
Jakov Novak – Oscar Fisker Molgaard – Jagger Firkus
Carson Rehkopf – Mitchell Stephens – Ian McKinnon
David Goyette – Logan Morrison – Jacob Melanson
J.R. Avon – Andrei Loshko
Gustav Olofsson – Ville Ottavainen
Caden Price – Lukas Dragicevic
Tyson Jugnath – Kaden Hammell
Charlie Wright
Nikke Kokko 
Victor Ostman 

Leaders

Calgary 
Dryden Hunt – 4GP, 2G, 4A (Inactive on call-up)
Rory Kerins – 4GP, 2G, 3A
Hunter Brzustewicz – 4GP, 1G, 3A
Coachella Valley
Logan Morrison – 4GP, 2G, 2A
Jagger Firkus – 4GP, 1G, 2A
Jacob Melanson – 4GP, 1G, 2A

Notes and expectations

The Wranglers came back home for a week of practice after their first win in Tucson. Things started to come together better in that game and it was a great one for them to build off of for their home opener. The only change they’ll be seeing for this series is the absence of Dryden Hunt. Hunt was called up to the Flames on Thursday to see if the production he’s injected into the Wranglers also applies with the big club.
With Hunt up and Matvei Gridin down, it’s possible William Stromgren gets that promotion up to the top line along Rory Kerins and Gridin. Stromgren has looked good to start the season and was on the top line with Hunt and Kerins for the two games before Gridin was sent down to the AHL. With one less forward around, eyes are on guys like Lucas Ciona, Parker Bell, Andrew Basha, and David Silye to solidify a spot in both games this weekend as they’ve been rotating in and out the last two series. 
In terms of Gridin, the reviews are raving. He scored his first AHL goal just 37 seconds into his first Wranglers game and already has three points in the two games he’s played so far. His second goal was Calgary’s first marker in their game against the Roadrunners they would eventually win in overtime. Gridin has been scoring and scoring early at this level and has needed no transition since his first few games in the NHL. 
Wranglers fans will finally get a look at their 2025-26 squad with this series starting on Friday at 7:00 p.m. MT and will wrap up on Saturday night after their 6:00 p.m. MT game. Both are going to want to climb up to their usual spots in the top half of the Pacific Division standings, so this series might help one or both of these teams in that category.
You can catch these games in person and stream them via FloHockey (both games). Multiple FlamesNation contributors will have updates on X (formerly Twitter).

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