Tucson Roadrunners

Tucson Roadrunners
2017–18 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 Mike Van Ryn
Media Arizona Daily Star, KTZR, Fox Sports Arizona
Affiliates Arizona Coyotes (NHL)
Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL)
Franchise history
1994–2016 Springfield Falcons
2016–present Tucson Roadrunners

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]

Season-by-season results

Players

Roster

Updated July 5, 2017.[12]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
27 Canada Bunting, MichaelMichael Bunting LW L 21 2016 Scarborough, Ontario Coyotes
32 Canada Capobianco, KyleKyle Capobianco D L 20 2017 Mississauga, Ontario Coyotes
29 Canada Cooper, MarkMark Cooper RW R 25 2016 Toronto, Ontario Roadrunners
— Sweden Ekman-Larsson, KevinKevin Ekman-Larsson D L 22 2017 Karlskrona, Sweden Roadrunners
45 United States Fejes, HunterHunter Fejes LW L 23 2016 Anchorage, Alaska Roadrunners
36 United States Fischer, ChristianChristian Fischer RW R 20 2016 Chicago, Illinois Coyotes
22 United States Garland, ConorConor Garland RW R 21 2016 Scituate, Massachusetts Coyotes
10 Canada Gaudet, TylerTyler Gaudet C L 24 2016 Hamilton, Ontario Coyotes
33 Canada Hill, AdinAdin Hill G L 21 2016 Calgary, Alberta Coyotes
30 Czech Republic Langhamer, MarekMarek Langhamer G L 23 2016 Moravska Trebova, Czech Republic Coyotes
— United States Larraza, ZacZac Larraza LW L 24 2017 Scottsdale, Arizona Roadrunners
34 Canada Lotz, AustinAustin Lotz G L 22 2016 St. Adolphe, Manitoba Roadrunners
20 United States MacInnis, RyanRyan MacInnis C L 21 2016 St. Louis, Missouri Coyotes
37 Canada Mayo, DysinDysin Mayo D R 20 2016 Victoria, British Columbia Coyotes
43 United States Mermis, DakotaDakota Mermis D L 23 2016 Alton, Illinois Coyotes
44 Canada Selleck, EricEric Selleck (A) LW L 29 2016 Spencerville, Ontario Roadrunners
8 United States Smereck, JalenJalen Smereck D L 20 2017 Detroit, Michigan Coyotes
3 Canada Wood, KyleKyle Wood D R 21 2016 Waterloo, Ontario Coyotes
7 Canada Young, MichaelMichael Young D L 28 2016 Calgary, Alberta Roadrunners

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. ↑ "Tucson Roadrunners Roster". The AHL. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
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