Having clinched home ice in the first round of the upcoming AHL Calder Cup playoffs with three games to spare, Tucson Roadrunners head coach Steve Potvin has what he called a “good problem.”
Do the Roadrunners (41-23-3-2) rest vets like defenseman Steven Kampfer and oft-used goalie Matthew Villalta? Do they give reserves and players from the ECHL the experience of more late-season game action?
Do they push for the best seed and to keep up their momentum, considering the Roadrunners have won four in a row and five of their last six?
“I think it’s been our message all year long: of course, we want the results, but in order to have the results you have to put the work in,” Potvin said. “We want to grow, so this is gonna be our first time that we’re going through this type of challenge — this type of test — and so we plan on growing through it and understanding the ins and outs of the position we’re in.”
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Wednesday night, the Roadrunners play at the Coachella Valley Firebirds (45-14-6-4), who have already clinched American Hockey League’s Pacific Division title and the first-round bye that comes with it; over the weekend, Tucson plays two to close out the regular season at home against the already eliminated San Jose Barracuda.
Potvin said he believes in everybody in his lineup and the young players the Roadrunners have; he also said Tucson can’t let up.
“We’ve got home ice now for the playoffs, but what’s next?” Potvin said. “You always have to search for what’s next.
“We can and we want to finish as high as we can.”
Recently, Tucson brought right-wing Micah Miller, defenseman Lleyton Moore, right-wing Reece Vitelli and goalie Anson Thornton back up to Tucson from their respective ECHL loans. The Roadrunners also signed forward Sam Lipkin after his college season ended.
On Monday, the Coyotes sent forward Jan Jenik back to Tucson — the first in what’s expected to be a handful of players coming back south from Tempe once the Arizona Coyotes’ NHL season ends on Wednesday.
“I don’t know what the time table is but I would assume that they would be coming down at some point before the weekend,” Potvin said.
Right wings Josh Doan and Dylan Guenther and defenseman Michael Kesselring are also eligible to return for the playoffs.
Coachella Valley’s NHL affiliate, the Seattle Kraken sent forwards Logan Morrison, Ryan Winterton, and Shane Wright, the fourth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, down to Coachella Valley for another postseason run.
The Firebirds, who finished as the Calder Cup runners up last season, have already also clinched the regular season Western Conference title. Tucson is third in the conference and tied for second in the division but owns the first and second tiebreakers over every Pacific team (save for Coachella).
The Roadrunners are tied with the Ontario Reign in the race for second place; Ontario also has three games left.
Tucson is one win and three points away from setting new single-season team records in both categories. Both were set in 2017-18 on a 68-game schedule; Tucson plays 72 games this year.
Back in black
On Saturday the Roadrunners held their last game-worn jersey auction of the season — but they’re not ready to hand over their sweaters just yet.
The auction raised over $25,000 for Roadrunners Give Back. Villalta, who leads the AHL in goaltending wins with 30, had the most expensive jersey. It went for $2,350.
“The fans are always here supporting us all year and it’s just always good to give back to them,” said Tucson forward Ben McCartney, who scored the game-winning goal earlier in the night.
Usually, the Roadrunners give the auction winners the jerseys right after the game, but this time, the team plans to wear the same black Kachina jerseys for home playoff games; they’ll get them the auction winners after the season.
Last year, the Roadrunners wore their one-season-only white Kachina jerseys in the playoffs.
Return to Coachella
For the second straight season the Roadrunners are hitting Coachella in late April, but not for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and not for a playoff series (not yet at least).
The festival is April 12-14 and April 19-21. Last year Tucson faced Coachella Valley in the teams’ three-game first-round playoff series as the famous music festival was going on up the road.
This year, Tucson headed to the Palm Desert, California, region on Tuesday afternoon, with plans to head back to Tucson after the game.
Hebig’s big week
Tucson center Cameron Hebig won the Roadrunners’ Man of the Year award last Thursday; on Friday, he had a point on all four of the Roadrunners’ goals — scoring one and adding three assists.
Hebig won the league-wide First Star of the Night award on Friday for his efforts after the career-high four-point night.
The Man of the Year award is for his contributions to the local Tucson community. The AHL will announce a league-wide winner in May.
Wednesday watch party
The Roadrunners will host a watch party for Wednesday’s game and it will also be a tour stop for their “WhiteOut Tour.”
The party is at Cold Beers & Cheeseburgers at 7315 North Oracle Road and will start at 7 p.m.
Statement game?
With a 3-3-0-1 record against Coachella Valley, the Roadrunners have a chance to finish the regular season with a winning record against their new rival.
Last year, Tucson went 2-5-1-0 against CV and 1-2 against the Firebirds in the playoffs.