Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Welcoming The Wranglers

Upcoming Games (All times MST)

Friday, March 17: Calgary at Tucson, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, March 18: Calgary at Tucson, 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, March 21: Ontario at Tucson, 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 22: Ontario at Tucson, 6:30 p.m.

Who’s On The Schedule

The Tucson Roadrunners return home for a four-game home stand beginning on Friday, March 17, with the first of two games against the Calgary Wranglers, AHL affiliate of the Calgary Flames. The pair of matchups from Tucson represent Calgary’s first ever trip to the desert after the Roadrunners and Wranglers split a midweek series in Calgary at the Saddledome November 2 and 4. The second half of the home stand will take place Tuesday and Wednesday against the Ontario Reign, marking the final two games of the season between the Roadrunners and the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings. Tucson earned standings points in each of their previous home matchups against the Reign this season with back-to-back overtime contests December 9 and 10.

Downtown Tucson’s Destination This Weekend

The Roadrunners will kick off their four-game home stand on Friday by hosting Downtown Tucson’s only St. Patrick’s Day Party, with a Pregame Festival on the plaza outside of Tucson Arena featuring live music, as well as food and drink. Saturday, March 18 is a First Responder’s Day Doubleheader Presented by Fox Sports 1450 AM and iHeartMedia with support from the Arizona Daily Star. The Tucson Police and Fire Departments will square off in the Second Annual First Responder’s Game at 4:30 p.m. MST before the Roadrunners take the ice that evening at 7:00 p.m. MST. Saturday’s game will also be the fifth Roadrunners game this season to be televised live in Southern Arizona on The CW Tucson, with 92.9 The Bull’s Chris O’Gorman joining “Voice of the Roadrunners” Adrian Denny on the call. The midweek series against the Ontario Reign will have the final $2 Twos-Day and Kids Free Wednesday of the season to close out the home stand. For more information and to visit tickets, visit TucsonRoadrunners.com/Fun.

Back For More

The Roadrunners return to Tucson Arena with an eight-game unbeaten streak on their home ice, which is tied for the longest streak in team history. Tucson’s record of 7-1-2-0 in their last ten home games is the best mark in the AHL’s Western Conference while outscoring opponents 37 to 21 during that span. The Roadrunners are 4-2-2-0 over their last eight matchups overall, with six of the eight decided by one goal. In addition, Tucson has allowed two goals or less through regulation in seven of their last eight games and in each of their last five outings at home. They have also entered the third period tied with their opponent in each of the last four games and have kept the opposition scoreless in five of their last seven final frames.

Carcone Claims The Record

With a pair of assists on Friday against the Milwaukee Admirals, Roadrunners forward Mike Carcone has recorded the most points in a single-season in Tucson franchise history with 68 (26g 42a). The 26-year-old passed his Toronto Marlies teammate from 2018-2019 Chris Mueller, who tallied 67 points (19g 48a) in 68 games during Tucson’s inaugural 2016-2017 campaign. The 26-year-old is currently tied with Ontario Reign forward T.J. Tynan for the AHL league lead in scoring with seven fewer games played, and has amassed 134 points (65g 69a) in 134 games played with the Roadrunners since joining the organization for the 2020-2021 season.

Channeling Success On TV

Saturday’s series finale between the Roadrunners and the Calgary Wranglers will be Tucson’s fifth televised contest of the year, which will be broadcast live in Southern Arizona on The CW Tucson. The Roadrunners have a 2-0-2-0 record over their previous four televised games with wins in each of the last two. The Roadrunners last appeared on The CW Tucson on Saturday, February 18, when they overcame an early 1-0 deficit to earn a 3-2 win over the Henderson Silver Knights. That outing saw the Roadrunners score a goal in all three periods including a power-play goal from Ben McCartney, who also dropped the gloves for his third fight of the year. Tucson’s sixth and final TV game of the season will take place on Saturday, April 8 against the Texas Stars.

Kudos To Kesselring And Kampfer

Defensemen Michael Kesselring (1g 1a) and Steven Kampfer (1a) each notched their first points as Roadrunners over the weekend series against the Milwaukee Admirals. Kesselring factored into each of Tucson’s first two goals in Friday’s 3-2 win, scoring his 14th goal of the season to even the score at 1-1- before assisting on the go-ahead tally by his defensive partner Vlad Kolyachonok in the second. The 23-year-old acquired by the Arizona Coyotes on March 2 was also one of three players to drop the gloves for Tucson in the series finale on Saturday along with forwards Mike Carcone and Boko Imama. Meanwhile, Steven Kampfer made his debut on the Roadrunners blue line on Friday after being acquired by Arizona from the Detroit Red Wings the day before, bringing with him 231 games of NHL experience since being drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the fourth round (#93 overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. Kampfer recorded his 19th assist of the season in the second period on Saturday after the 34-year-old had totaled 22 points (4g 18a) in 44 appearances with the AHL Central Division’s Grand Rapids Griffins before joining the Roadrunners.

Did You Know?

Two of Tucson’s three goals in Saturday’s middle period from Milwaukee were scored by forward Colin Theisen just 2:14 apart for the 25-year-old’s first professional multi-goal game. Theisen enters the week with three goals, a fight and a plus-three over his last three appearances. The product of Arizona State University made his American Hockey League debut with Tucson nearly one year ago on March 23, 2022, and recorded a multiple-point performance in his second AHL outing two days later. Theisen has notched 12 points (7g 5a) across 30 total appearances between the Roadrunners and the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators in his first full professional campaign.

Roadrunners Roster Moves

Tuesday, March 7: Forward Boko Imama was recalled by the Arizona Coyotes from the Tucson Roadrunners for his first NHL call-up of the 2022-2023 season.

Wednesday, March 8: The Coyotes assigned Boko Imama to the Roadrunners after Imama made his season debut for Arizona in their 6-2 win over St. Louis on Tuesday.

Thursday, March 9: Defenseman Steven Kampfer was acquired by the Arizona Coyotes from the Detroit Red Wings and assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners.

Thursday, March 9: Goaltender Ivan Prosvetov was recalled by the Arizona Coyotes from Tucson.

Thursday, March 9: Forward J.S. Dea was assigned to Tucson from the Arizona Coyotes.

Friday, March 10: Goaltender David Tendeck was recalled by Arizona from the ECHL’s Atlanta Gladiators and assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners.

Sunday, March 12: Defenseman Noah Laaouan was assigned to the Atlanta Gladiators from the Tucson Roadrunners.

Monday, March 13: Forwards Milos Kelemen and Boko Imama were assigned to the Tucson Roadrunners after being recalled and playing for the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday, March 12.

I-10 Update

The Arizona Coyotes have earned standings points in five-straight games with help from several former Tucson Roadrunners. Their four-game home stand at Mullett Arena was capped off on Thursday with a 4-1 win over the Nashville Predators, as goaltender Ivan Prosvetov earned his first career NHL victory with 39 saves. Prosvetov took a shutout into the final two minutes of regulation and was named the First Star of the Game for his performance. Former Roadrunners standout forward Matias Maccelli has recorded five points (1g 4a) in his last five outings and leads all National Hockey League rookies in assists with 30. In addition, forward Barrett Hayton posted the first four-point performance of his career on Sunday with two goals and two assists in a 5-4 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild. Forwards Boko Imama and Milos Kelemen made it up to Mullett Arena on Sunday to take the ice with the Coyotes after appearing with the Roadrunners in Milwaukee Friday and Saturday. The outing was Kelemen’s third career NHL outing since making his National Hockey League debut in January, while Imama suited up for Arizona for the second time in less than a week after making his season debut on March 7 against the St. Louis Blues.

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, co-hosts Adrian Denny, Brett Fera and Kim Cota-Robles will be live from Main Event with Chuck Ryan from the Tucson Fire Department and Chief Chad Kasmar from the Tucson Police Department. In addition, a new episode of the Tucson Roadrunners Insider Podcast released on Sunday, as “Voice of the Roadrunners” Adrian Denny and TucsonRoadrunners.com’s Jimmy Peebles discussed the weekend series in Milwaukee and played interviews from forward Colin Theisen and defenseman Steven Kampfer. The podcast can be found on the iHeartRadio App or at TucsonRoadrunners.com/Podcast.