Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: It’s Time To Play The Game…

Upcoming Games (All Times MST)

Friday, October 11, 6:05 p.m. @ Colorado Eagles

Saturday, October 12, 6:05 p.m. @ Colorado Eagles

Saturday, October 19, 7:00 p.m. vs. Texas Stars

2024-25 Begins:

The Roadrunners kick off their ninth season in a two-game slate versus the Colorado Eagles, AHL Affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. Nearly 170 days after the Roadrunners finished their 2023-24 season with a playoff berth and 43-23-4-2 record. Tucson capped off the preseason with a two-game sweep over the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday, October 4 and Saturday, October 5; outscoring the Vegas Golden Knights Affiliate 10-4 in those two matches. Out of the 26 skaters that suited up in a preseason game for Tucson, 18 of them had a point; including 2023 draft pick Noel Nordh who had two goals and two assists for four points in two preseason games played. Fifth year Roadrunners Forward Ryan McGregor also had a tremendous preseason weekend; notching three assists in two games.

The New Guys:

The Utah Hockey Club, NHL Affiliate to the Roadrunners, signed four new faces to two-way contracts including: Andrew Agozzino, Egor Sokolov, Kevin Connauton and Jaxon Stauber. After dealing damage to the Pacific Division over the years, Agozzino signed a two-year contract after leading San Diego in scoring with 26 goals and 38 assists for 64 points in 72 games last season; which also ranked seventh in the AHL. Agozzino enters his 13th season in the AHL; having played in 736 total games with 245 goals and 335 assists for 580 points. Sokolov signed a one-year two-way contract after being acquired from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Jan Jenik. Sokolov is the AHL Affiliate Belleville Senators all-time leading scorer in four seasons with 76 goals and 104 assists for 180 points in 240 games: including 19 goals or better in three-straight seasons. Kevin Connauton signed a two-year two-way contract after skating for the Ontario Reign last year. Connauton brings 745 total games in professional hockey: with 360 coming in the NHL and 385 in the AHL. Connauton played two games for the Roadrunners in 2016-17 as a conditioning stint; where he notched one goal and two assists for three points. The most aggressive signing of the bunch came with the one-year two-way contract of goaltender Jaxon Stauber. Entering his third season in pro hockey, Stauber has played in 48 games with a 26-14-3-2 record; with 18 of those wins coming last season as part of an 18-8-3-2 record. Stauber also ended 2023-24 with a 2.85 goals against average and .902 save percentage.

The Familiar Faces:

From the 2023-2024 roster, the Roadrunners were able to retain 12 players to return including: Curtis Douglas, Travis Barron, Cameron Hebig, Matthew Villalta, Milos Kelemen, Ryan McGregor, Hunter Drew, Dylan Wells, Ben McCartney, Austin Poganski, Patrik Koch and Will Gavin. Out of those players, six of them were inked to two-way contracts and the other six were signed to AHL deals. One of those two-ways, goaltender Matthew Villalta, who led the AHL in minutes (3048), wins (31) and saves (1328) in 2023-24 and looks to build off of one of the best seasons as a Roadrunners goalie in team history. Forward Cameron Hebig signed one of the six AHL contracts of returning players, who enters his fifth season with the Roadrunners and seventh season in the AHL overall. Hebig had his best season statistically last season as a Roadrunner; putting up 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points in 61 games played.

The Rooks:

The Roadrunners have six rookies who could make their AHL regular season debuts this week. Defenseman Maveric Lamoureaux, who stands at 6-7, 214 pounds, was drafted in the first round (29th overall) in the 2022 NHL draft. He combined for 83 points (19 goals, 64 assists) in 152 games in the QMJHL. Forward Miko Matikka is the next Finnish fanatic to play a rookie season for Tucson. He is coming off a championship victory in the NCAA with the University of Denver Pioneers; where the former 2022 third-round-pick finished second on the team with 20 goals that also ranked fourth amongst all NCAA freshman last season. Forward Julian Lutz, who played with current Roadrunner Maksymilian Szuber in Europe, is coming off a flaming hot season with the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL; where he stacked 24 goals and 44 assists for 68 points in just 50 games. Defenseman Artem Duda made his first ever appearance for the Roadrunners in the preseason, after being selected in the 2022 NHL draft in the second round (36th overall). The 20-year-old bounced around in Europe before playing his most recent season at Toronto Metropolitan University; where he had seven points (5 goals, 2 assists) in 12 games played. Forward Owen Allard was drafted in the most recent 2024 NHL entry level draft after playing three seasons in the OHL. In his juniors career, Allard played 135 games while combining 35 goals and 40 assists for 75 points. Forward Noel Nordh, who had the four points in two games over the preseason weekend in Henderson, was drafted in the 2023 NHL draft in the third round (72nd overall). He recently comes off a professional season in Sweden where he had 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists) in 50 games played.

Home Opener:

After their season opening two-game tilt versus the Eagles, the Roadrunners head back home to Tucson for the Home Opener on Saturday, October 19 where fans can enjoy a pregame tailgate and annual Red-Carpet introduction of the 2024-25 Roadrunners players and coaches. To buy your ticket for opening night CLICK HERE.

We Are 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 and Apple Podcast. This week, the new “Voice of the Roadrunners” Jonathon Schaffer and Co-Host Kim Cota-Robles were joined by Cameron Hebig as they talked about the preseason games in Henderson and look into the opening weekend in Colorado.