Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Horsing Around

Upcoming Games on Four-Game Homestand (All Times MST)

Tuesday, March 12, Tucson vs. Henderson, 6:30 p.m.  

Wednesday, March 13, Tucson vs. Henderson, 6:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 16, Tucson vs. Texas, 7:00 p.m.

Sunday, March 17, Tucson vs. Texas, 4:00 p.m.

Roadrunners Record Through 55 Games: 31-19-3-2 (67 points), third place in the Pacific Division, fourth place in the Western Conference.

Four-Game Home Stand:

The Roadrunners return home after their match in Coachella Valley Saturday for a four-game homestand versus the Henderson Silver Knights on Tuesday, March 12 and Wednesday, March 13 and following with a two-game series with the Texas Stars on Saturday, March 16 and Sunday, March 17. The Roadrunners are tied in the season series with Henderson at 3-3 but have snagged eight of 12 possible points versus the Vegas Golden Knights Affiliate having lost two of the three games past regulation. As for Texas, Tucson has not played the Stars since the beginning series of the season on October 13 and October 14 in Texas. The Roadrunners swept the series 2-0 in two one-goal games; marking what would be the Tucson way to win in intense one-goal games; which the team is 19-5-3-2 in this season. In addition, the Roadrunners are 7-2-1-0 versus Central Division opponents.

From Past To Present:

Through 55 games this season, the Roadrunners have seen contributing scoring from the depth of the team with seven different players with 10 goals or more. Josh Doan has led the way the entire season for the team and is currently at 22 goals, Milos Kelemen is second at 13, Aku Raty, Austin Poganski and Jan Jenik are tied at third with 12, John Leonard is fourth with 11 and Dylan Guenther who was called up to the Coyotes in January is fifth with 10. Other players including: Cameron Hebig (9), Victor Soderstrom (8) Nathan Smith (7) and Travis Barron (7) are all within three goals to cracking to double digit marks on the year. With that, many Tucson players are having improved seasons from last year. Milos Kelemen, who is in his second season, has 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points in 40 games played; that is already just seven points away from his career high (30) which he had last season in 59 games played. Also, he is just two goals away from exceeding his high from last year which was 14. Austin Poganski played 70 games for the Western Conference Champions Coachella Valley Firebirds last season; notching eight goals and 20 assists for 28 points. This year in Tucson, Poganski already has 12 goals and 12 assists for 24 points in 47 games played; including 12 total special teams points compared to his just one power-play point last season. Nathan Smith, also in his second season like Kelemen, is just four points away from exceeding his career high 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists); which he set in 64 games played last season. This season, he has scored 24 points (7 goals, 17 assists) in 44 games. Finally, forward Cameron Hebig already exceeded his season high in points from last year (19) in 24 less games played. With nine goals and 13 assists for 22 points in 44 games played this season, Hebig is five goals away from setting a career-high in goals, and eight points in total from exceeding his career high in points.

Division Comparisons:

As it has been all season, the Pacific Division is the fiercest in the entire league; with about a quarter left to go in the season, the division is the tightest it’s ever been. Coachella Valley is the most comfortable out of the 10-team division at 78 points in first place. However, second to seventh place are separated by just five standings points; the Colorado Eagles have second place at 69 points, the Roadrunners are third at 67 points, the Ontario Reign are fourth at 66 (they play the Calgary Wranglers on Monday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. MDT) and fifth place has a three-way tie between the Bakersfield Condors, Calgary Wranglers (they play the Ontario Reign on Monday, March 11 at 7:00 p.m. MDT) and Abbotsford Canucks when it comes to points with 64. Though the Pacific Division grants more playoff spots than the others, the division is much more competitive than it was last season. In 2022-23, the Roadrunners clinched a playoff spot with a 30-33-8-1 record (69 points. Fast forward to March of 2024, the seventh-place spot in the division has a winning record 29-21-4-2; which belongs to the Abbotsford Canucks in the standings. Overall, the Pacific Division record of teams in a playoff spot is 216-131-25-15 which is a .609 winning percentage. The Atlantic has the best winning percentage overall of their six teams though having the top team in the league Hershey helps that with their 42-11-0-4 record.

Other Divisions’ records of teams in the Calder Cup Playoff Picture:

Central (139-105-16-9) .563

North (146-98-24-12) .585

Atlantic (189-113-25-11) .612

We’ll Do It Live:

Tucson Roadrunners Happy Hour airs every Tuesday at 5 p.m. on FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app, with a podcast version also available after each episode on the iHeartRadio app. This week “Voice of the Roadrunners” Adrian Denny, with Kim Cota Robles and Brett Fera are joined by any given Roadrunner who walks into the building on gameday. In addition, the latest edition of the Tucson Roadrunners Insider Podcast dropped Saturday Night for an Overreaction Bus Stop Special after Tucson’s game in Coachella Valley where Johnny reveals a new segment once Adrian leaves for the bus.