Tucson Roadrunners

Tucson Roadrunners
2018–19 AHL season
City Tucson, Arizona
League American Hockey League (AHL)
Conference Western
Division Pacific
Founded 1994
Home arena Tucson Convention Center
Colors Brick red, desert sand, copper, black, white
                        
General manager Steve Sullivan
Head coach Jay Varady
Media Arizona Daily Star, KTZR, Fox Sports Arizona
Affiliates Arizona Coyotes (NHL)
Norfolk Admirals (ECHL)
Franchise history
1994–2016 Springfield Falcons
2016–present Tucson Roadrunners
Championships
Division Championships 1 (2017–18)

The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) which began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona, and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, the team plays its home games at the Tucson Convention Center.

History

On April 19, 2016, the Arizona Coyotes announced that they had reached an agreement to purchase their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, and would relocate the team to Tucson for the 2016–17 season.[1][2] Said purchase and relocation was contingent on three approvals; the first from Rio Nuevo (Tucson's downtown revitalization authority) to invest $3.2 million in arena upgrades to bring the Convention Center to professional-quality standards was approved on April 26,[3] the second from the AHL Board of Governors to conditionally approve the purchase and relocation by the Coyotes was approved on May 10,[4] and the third from the Tucson City Council for a 10-year lease with the Convention Center was approved on May 17.[5][6]

A name-the-team contest was held between May 17 until May 31.[7] The hockey club's new name and logo were revealed on June 18 during the Tucson Convention Center's open house event.[8] The chosen name, Roadrunners, pays homage to the Phoenix Roadrunners, a team name that was used for various Phoenix professional hockey teams from 1967 to 2009, and creates a play on words with its parent club the Coyotes (a reference to the classic cartoon duo of Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner). Its logo, as well, is a close match for the traditional logo used for Phoenix Roadrunners' teams of the past.

On June 21, 2016, Mark Lamb was hired as the team's first head coach after holding the same position with the Western Hockey League's Swift Current Broncos since 2009. Mark Hardy was hired as an assistant coach.[9] The team named its first president Brian Sandy, along with three other key staff members, on July 18.[10] On July 20, the Roadrunners announced their first general manager, Doug Soetaert, promoted from his former position as a scout for the Coyotes.[11]

After one season, Lamb was released and replaced by Mike Van Ryn, the player development coach with the Coyotes. Under Van Ryn, the Roadrunners finished in first place in the Pacific Division but were eliminated by the Texas Stars in the division finals of the 2018 Calder Cup playoffs. Van Ryn then left to pursue other coaching opportunities and was hired by the St. Louis Blues.[12] The Coyotes then hired Jay Varady as head coach of the Roadrunners for the 2018–19 season after a successful season as coach of the Kingston Frontenacs.[13]

Season-by-season results

Players

Roster

Updated October 20, 2018.[14]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
27 Canada Michael Bunting LW L 23 2016 Scarborough, Ontario Coyotes
41 Canada Brayden Burke LW L 21 2018 Edmonton, Alberta Coyotes
23 Canada Kyle Capobianco D L 21 2017 Mississauga, Ontario Coyotes
39 United States Trevor Cheek LW L 25 2016 Vancouver, Washington Roadrunners
15 Canada Laurent Dauphin C L 23 2018 Repentigny, Quebec Coyotes
4 United States Cam Dineen D L 20 2018 Toms River, New Jersey Coyotes
7 Sweden Kevin Ekman-Larsson D L 23 2017 Karlskrona, Sweden Roadrunners
24 United States Hudson Fasching RW R 23 2018 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Coyotes
8 United States Conor Garland RW R 22 2016 Scituate, Massachusetts Coyotes
21 Canada Matteo Gennaro C L 21 2018 St. Albert, Alberta Roadrunners
3 United States Jordan Gross D R 23 2018 Maple Grove, Minnesota Coyotes
28 Canada Adam Helewka LW L 23 2018 Burnaby, British Columbia Coyotes
33 Canada Adin Hill G L 22 2016 Comox, British Columbia Coyotes
6 United States Kelly Klima RW R 21 2018 Tampa, Florida Roadrunners
34 United States Kevin Klima LW L 21 2018 Tampa, Florida Roadrunners
81 Sweden Jens Looke RW R 21 2017 Gävle, Sweden Coyotes
37 Canada Dysin Mayo D R 22 2016 Victoria, British Columbia Coyotes
38 Canada Nick Merkley RW R 21 2017 Calgary, Alberta Coyotes
43 United States Dakota Mermis (A) D L 24 2016 Alton, Illinois Coyotes
35 United States Hunter Miska G L 23 2017 Stacy, Minnesota Coyotes
16 Canada Trevor Murphy D L 23 2018 Windsor, Ontario Coyotes
18 Canada Lane Pederson C R 21 2017 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Coyotes
5 United States Robbie Russo D R 25 2018 Westmont, Illinois Coyotes
17 Canada Tyler Steenbergen C L 20 2018 Sylvan Lake, Alberta Coyotes
29 Sweden David Ullstrom C L 29 2018 Jonkoping, Sweden Coyotes

Retired numbers

14 – Craig Cunningham

References

  1. ↑ "Coyotes Sign Agreement to Purchase Springfield Falcons AHL Franchise". Arizona Coyotes. April 19, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ Chimelis, Ron (April 19, 2016). "Springfield Falcons to be sold, AHL team expected to leave Western Massachusetts". MassLive.com. The Republican. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ Pallack, Becky (April 26, 2016). "Rio Nuevo will spend $3.2M to get arena ready for pro hockey". tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ "BOG conditionally approves Coyotes' purchase". TheAHL.com. American Hockey League. May 10, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  5. ↑ Pallack, Becky (May 17, 2016). "City Council approves deal with Coyotes for AHL hockey in Tucson". AZCentral.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ McLellan, Sarah (May 17, 2016). "Tucson City Council approves lease agreement for Arizona Coyotes' AHL team". AZCentral. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Our AHL team is Coming to Tucson: Name the Team". Arizona Coyotes. May 17, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Coyotes to Unveil New Name & Logo for AHL Affiliate in Tucson at Open House Event at TCC on June 18". Arizona Coyotes. June 1, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Coyotes Hire Lamb as Head Coach of Tucson Roadrunners". coyotes.nhl.com. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  10. ↑ "Tucson Roadrunners hire new president, three others". tucson.com. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  11. ↑ "Tucson Roadrunners Name Doug Soetaert as General Manager". OurSports Central. July 20, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Roadrunners Announce Van Ryn to Leave Team to Pursue NHL Coaching Opportunity". OurSportsCentral.com. May 30, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Coyotes Name Varady Head Coach of Tucson Roadrunners". Arizona Coyotes. July 2, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Tucson Roadrunners Roster". The AHL. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
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