Tucson Roadrunners Road Ahead: Back For The Rodeo

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Upcoming Games On Four-Game Homestand (All time MST)

Friday, February 16, Tucson vs. Ontario, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, February 17, Tucson vs. Ontario, 7:00 p.m.

Friday, February 23, Tucson vs. Bakersfield, 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, February 24, Tucson vs. Bakersfield, 7:00 p.m.

Roadrunners Current Record Through 45 games:

28-14-2-1 (59 points), second in the Pacific Division, third in the Western Conference.

Home For Some Fun:

The Roadrunners return to the TCC after being on the road for five-straight games with the All-Star break in the middle. That stretch of 20 days between home games is the team’s longest of the season. The Roadrunners will kick off Friday, February 16, with Rudy’s Texas B-B-Q packs, that include four tickets and a $25 Gift Card to Rudy’s HERE and $10 college night tickets for University of Arizona and Pima Community College students HERE. On Saturday, February 17, the team is giving away Roadrunners Kachina Youth Jerseys presented by DentalPros for Kids 12 and under when they enter the arena.

Bull Bucking Ontario Off The Ice:

The Roadrunners open a four-game homestand against the Ontario Reign; the last team Tucson faced at the TCC on January 26th and 27th before their recent road trip. That series alone saw 188 total penalty minutes (108-Tucson, 80-Ontario) and included: three fights, 11 10-minute misconducts and two game misconducts. Since early January, the Reign have dropped from third in the division to sixth place having gone 3-8-1-0 in their last 12 games; as they enter this weekend winless in their last five games.

Consistency Is The Key:

Throughout the season, the Pacific Division has seen teams move up and down the standings. Currently, the Coachella Valley Firebirds (60 points), Tucson Roadrunners (59 points) and the Colorado Eagles (53 points) are the top three teams in the division. However, in December when the Roadrunners began to up-kick their play, they were in fourth place in the division with Calgary, Ontario and Abbotsford in the top-three spots in the division. Since December 15 Calgary, Abbotsford and Ontario have combined for a record of 26-31-3-4. In the same span, Coachella Valley, Tucson and Colorado have combined for a 41-18-5-3 record, resulting in the complete shift in the Pacific Division. The Roadrunners, however, have remained close to or atop the Pacific Division since December because of their consistency. In the four 10-game segments in the first 40 games of the year, the Roadrunners have at least six wins in each of them. In addition, Tucson has lost back-to-back games in regulation just twice this season.

Roadrunner records in each 10-game segment this season:

Games 1-10: 6-4-0-0

Games 11-20: 6-2-1-1

Games 21-30: 7-3-0-0

Games 31-40: 6-4-0-0

Games 41-50 (Current): 3-1-1-0

Kinetic Kirkland:

Forward Justin Kirkland is coming off a three-point night against the Iowa Wild on Saturday, February 10, in which he had a goal and two assists. Kirkland has the highest point-per-game average on the current roster of .87/game with 20 points (3 goals, 17 assists) in 23 games played. Kirkland is also one of nine players who have had a three-point or better night this season and the only player to have recorded two games of at least points scored: November 4 against the Chicago Wolves (4 assists) and his most recent game against Iowa. In addition, Kirkland is first in assists and fifth in points on the current roster despite playing just 23 games. He’s missed 18 games this season due to an injury he suffered in November and his six callups to the Arizona Coyotes.

We’ll Do It 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. This week “Voice of the Roadrunners” Adrian Denny, with Kim Cota Robles Brett Fera are joined by Roadrunners Head Coach Steve Potvin. In addition, the latest edition of the Tucson Roadrunners Insider Podcast dropped Saturday night after Tucson’s series against the Iowa Wild as Adrian and Jonathon Schaffer recapped the entire Gem Show Trip and what’s to come against Ontario in the next series.