Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Dropping The Puck For Real Now
Upcoming Games (All time MST)
Friday, October 13: Tucson at Texas, 5:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 14: Tucson at Texas, 5:00 p.m.
Season Opener Watch Party:
The Tucson Roadrunners open their season on the road against the Texas Stars at the H-E-B Center on Friday, October 13 at 5 p.m. The Roadrunners and Dave & Buster’s will host a free watch party for the season opener located at 1390 E. Tucson Marketplace. Dave & Buster’s invites all Roadrunner fans to cheer on the team at the free event.
Home Opener:
The Roadrunners’ home opener will commence on Saturday, October 21 at 7:00 p.m. against the defending Western Conference Champion Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Roadrunners were one win away from advancing to the next round of the Calder Cup Playoffs last season against the Seattle Kraken affiliate. Tickets on sale at TucsonRoadrunners.com/Fun.
Last Time In Texas On Opening Night:
The last Time the Roadrunners began the season in Texas was in 2019 where they won by a score of 2-0 on October 4, 2019. Former Coyotes netminder Antii Ranta, who is now with the Carolina Hurricanes, posted a 19 save shutout on a conditioning stint with the Roadrunners. Another former Roadrunner Brayden Burke, who led the team that season with goals (21) and points (52), scored the first goal of the game. Burke is now with the Lukko Rauma of the SM-Liiga after having stints with Ontario, Milwaukee and Manitoba in the AHL. The Roadrunners have won have their last five season openers going back 2018; outscoring their opponents by a 13-6 count and they’ll look to make it six in a row on Friday.
Carcone’s gone, who’s next?
Michael Carcone earned himself a two-year one-way contract with the Coyotes, meaning that the Roadrunners will be looking to fill a very large hole that the 2022-2023 AHL leading scorer left. The leading active scorer from last year back with the Roadrunners is Milos Kelemen. The Slovakia native had 14 goals, 16 assists for 30 points in 59 games played with Tucson and also played in 14 games with the Coyotes. Other potential Roadrunner top scorers could be Josh Doan, Dylan Guenther or John Leonard. Doan split time between Arizona State and the Roadrunners, compiling 38 (16 goals and 22 assists) points in 39 games with ASU and 6 points (3 goals and 3 assists) in 14 games with Tucson. 2021 9th overall pick Dylan Guenther made his NHL debut with the Coyotes last season and played 33 games, netting 15 points (six goals, nine assists). In his 190-game junior career in the WHL over 5 seasons, Guenther had 99 goals and 108 assists for 207 points. John Leonard is entering his fourth season in pro hockey where he has spent seasons with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda and Milwaukee Admirals. In 114 AHL games played, Leonard has 35 goals, 43 assists and 78 points as well as 16 points (5+11=16) in 64 NHL games between the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators.
Weekly Roster Moves:
Monday, October 9:
· Michael Kesselring, Victor Soderstrom, Vladislav Kolyachonok, and Zach Sanford were assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners.
· Ivan Prosvetov was claimed off waivers by the Colorado Avalanche.
Sunday, October 8:
· Maksymillian Szuber and Dylan Guenther were assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners.
· Zach Sanford and Ivan Prosvetov were placed on waivers with the purpose of being assigned to the Roadrunners.
El Lazo De Tucson Giveaway:
To cap off Hispanic Heritage month, the Tucson Roadrunners are raffling off a signed El Lazo De Tucson game jersey with all proceeds benefitting Sicomoro Community Services who was the team’s beneficiary at Fanfest. Tickets are still available for $5 at TucsonRoadrunners.com/HHM.
On The Air:
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 co-hosts Kim Cota Robles and Brett Fera, were joined by Roadrunners General Manager John Ferguson. In addition, a new episode of the Tucson Roadrunners Insider Podcast released on Monday, as Adrian Denny and Jonathon Schaffer recap the final week of preseason and preview the season opening games against the Texas Stars in Austin.
