Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Happy Midweek Hockey

Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Happy Midweek Hockey

Upcoming Games (all times MST)

Tuesday, Dec. 20: Tucson at Coachella Valley, 8 p.m

Thursday, Dec. 22: San Diego at Tucson, 6:30 p.m

Friday, Dec. 23: San Diego at Tucson, 7 p.m

Who’s on the schedule

The 12-9-4-0 Roadrunners wrapped up their quick three-game road trip Tuesday night with the second of two games against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Tucson looks to finish the road trip with a 2-1 record after the Firebirds won the first-ever contest at Acrisure Arena on Sunday, Dec. 18 by a score of 4-3. The Tuesday broadcast begins with the Roadrunners Happy Hour from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM, followed by the Roadrunners Warm-Up at 7:45 PM. After Tuesday’s game at Coachella Valley, the Roadrunners return home for a pair of games against the San Diego Gulls before Christmas on Thursday. , December 22nd and Friday December 23rd. Tucson opened its current road stint by defeating the Gulls by a score of 9-4 at Pechanga Arena, with the Roadrunners setting and matching several team records in the process.

Returning home for the holidays

The roadrunners vs. their I-8 Border rivals at the Tucson Arena kick off on Thirsty Thursday, featuring $3 draft beers with the Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl and Rudys Texas BB-Qs Family Packs that include four tickets, four hats and a gift card to Rudys Texas BBQ . The series ends the following night with Tucsons first Festivus Friday event inspired by the classic Seinfeld episode, The Strike. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit TucsonRoadrunners.com/Fun.

A week to break records

Tucson rewrote the team record books last week, setting and hitting numerous marks against the Coachella Valley Firebirds and San Diego Gulls. Their first franchise record was set in a 7-2 win on Tuesday, December 13 against Coachella Valley, as Tucson scored five goals on the man advantage. The previous record of four power play goals had only been accomplished once, on November 18, 2016 against the Manitoba Moose. The rest of the Roadrunners’ offense from the record-setting first inning of their 9-4 win over the San Diego Gulls on Saturday, December 17th. With less than four minutes to play in the opening set, Laurent Dauphin and Mike Carcone tied the game. the fastest two goals in franchise history, ten seconds apart for a 2-0 lead. The Roadrunners scored a total of six goals in the first 20 minutes against San Diego, setting a new team scoring record for the season. Tucson lit the lamp three more times in the third period to match the game’s goal tally originally set for a 9-2 win over the Gulls on May 1, 2021.

Carcone crushes the competition

Roadrunners forward Mike Carcone enters the week leading the American Hockey League with a total of 36 points (13g 23a) in 24 games. Carcone took the lead for the first time with a four-point performance (2g 2a) on Saturday, December 17th against the San Diego Gulls, his second four-point game of the week. The 26-year-old recorded his fourth AHL hat trick earlier this week on Tuesday, December 13th against Coachella Valley and had an assist on his first four-point night of the week. Carcone has played in 24 games this season, five points shy of the career-high 41 he set last year with 24 goals and 17 assists in 48 games for Tucson.

A unique week for Jenik

Forward Jan Jenik returned to the Roadrunners lineup in a big way on Sunday night after suiting up for the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes the night before. The 22-year-old scored a pair of goals for Tucson as they took on the Firebirds in Coachella Valley. Sunday was Jeniks’ first multi-goal performance since March 30, 2022, which he accomplished at the NHL level with two goals against the San Jose Sharks. Jenik was the second Roadrunner to receive a call-up to the Coyotes this season, after Laurent Dauphin took the ice for Arizona on Nov. 13 against the New York Rangers.

Dauphin reaches double digits

Roadrunners forward Laurent Dauphin scored in the final seven seconds of Sunday’s middle period against Coachella Valley to become the fourth Tucson skater with 10 goals of the season. Dauphin joined Mike Carcone (13), JS Dean (10) and Adam Cracknell (10) in scoring in double figures, while his 22 total points (10g 12a) are third-most on the team. The 27-year-old has reached ten goals for the fourth time in the last five years and is on pace to set the AHL career record for goals in a season (17 in 2016-17).

Defense does everything

The Roadrunners’ defense has contributed to the Tucsons’ scoring lately. Alternate captain Cam Dineen has had back-to-back multi-point outings for the Roadrunners with a goal and three assists in the first two nights of their current road trip. The 24-year-old is currently eighth in the American Hockey League in defenseman points with 19 (2g 17a) in 21 games. Dineen was one of three blue-liners to record an assist Sunday against Coachella Valley, along with Vlad Kolyachonok and Ronald Knot. Kolyachtsonok has recorded a point in four of his last six attempts, while Knot has a point in three of his last four. Knot also set a franchise record for the Roadrunners on Saturday with a plus-5 in a 9-4 win over San Diego. Five of the six defensemen in the Tucsons’ lineup Sunday in Coachella Valley had NHL experience with the Arizona Coyotes, while the 28-year-old Knot has played professionally overseas and represented the Czech Republic in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Did you know?

After Sunday’s game with the Coachella Valley Firebirds at the new Acrisure Arena, the Roadrunners have already visited four arenas this season for the first time in team history. It started with a 2-1 win over the Silver Knights at The Dollar Loan Center in Henderson on opening night, followed by a 5-1 win over the Barracuda at Tech CU Arena in San Jose later that month. The Tucsons’ next stop after San Jose was the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, where they beat the Wranglers 3-1. Through 25 games this season, the Roadrunners have visited more new buildings (four) than arenas they had already played in (two: San Diego and Ontario).

In the air

The Tucson Roadrunners Happy Hour airs every Tuesday at 5pm on FOX Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app, with a podcast version also available after each episode on the iHeartRadio app. This week, hosts Adrian Denny, Brett Fera and Kim Cota-Robles have a special pregame edition from 5:00-6:00 p.m., before Jimmy Peebles returns to the Roadrunners Warm-Up at 7:45 p.m. before the Roadrunners take on the Firebirds. at 8 p.m. Additionally, a new episode of the Tucson Roadrunners Insider Podcast was released Sunday night after the Roadrunners’ series opener with the Firebirds. Voice of the Roadrunners Adrian Denny and TucsonRoadrunners.com’s Jimmy Peebles hit the road over the weekend and took a look around the AHL’s Pacific Division. The podcast can be found on the iHeartRadio app.

(Photo credits: Kate Dibildox / Chris Hook / San Diego Gulls / Coachella Valley Firebirds)