Roadrunners will raise banner, then turn page at 2018-19 season opener

When it comes to minor league professional sports, the only constant is, well, constant change.

Coaches move on. Players are called up. And, with each new season, expectations often reset.

OK, so maybe not always that last part.

With a deep lineup of skaters and a formidable goaltending tandem back from the team’s breakout 2017-18 American Hockey League campaign, the Tucson Roadrunners drop the puck on their third season in the Old Pueblo on Saturday night. They’ll host the San Diego Gulls at 7:05.

The team will debut its third head coach in as many seasons and must replace a top scorer who is now in the NHL. Despite that, Tucson’s coaches and players don’t question whether they will meet — or perhaps even surpass — the 40-win, 90-point season from a year ago that saw them finish atop the AHL’s Pacific Division.

“Last year, they had an unbelievable season with the group they had here, and we’re going to build on that momentum and build from those experiences,” said Jay Varady, Tucson’s first-year coach who spent last season atop the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs. “We’ll still come to the rink every day with a plan on how to win.”

The Roadrunners will unveil a regular-season Western Conference Champions banner just after 7 p.m. Saturday, following a fan-friendly season kickoff that includes players, a red-carpet arrival, music, food and more.

Five minutes later, Varady’s charges will officially put last year in the rear-view mirror.

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In most respects, that’s already happened.

Varady replaces Mike Van Ryn, who’s now an assistant coach with the NHL’s Blues. Tucson is without 2017-18 leading scorer Dylan Strome, who solidified at least an early-season spot with the NHL’s Coyotes, the Roadrunners’ parent club.

But the 2018-19 Roadrunners still return a number of players who have been with the franchise for its entire Southern Arizona existence, including blueliner Dakota Mermis and leading offensive returner Michael Bunting (22 goals, 20 assists). Third-year Roadrunner Adin Hill and second-year pro Hunter Miska — both primary goaltenders from a year ago — are back, too.

“We have a great group of guys in the room. Everyone loves each other,” noted Hill, who finished with a 2.28 goals-against-average, .914 save percentage and five shutouts in 36 appearances in the net last year. “The guys who have been here the longest, Mermis and Bunting, they have big roles on this team. We’re going to be looking to them for leadership.”

Offensive-minded defensemen Kyle Capobianco and Trevor Murphy, both of whom had brief stints with the NHL’s Coyotes last year, return as well.

Forward Lane Pederson, with a dozen goals and 14 assists himself a year ago, said he’s ready to “get back to business and get a game under our belt.” His teammates feel the same way, he said.

“We have new faces in here, a new voice preaching the system, but not much has changed in regard to how we plan to play,” Pederson said. “But every professional’s goal is to leave yesterday in the past and do what you can today to get better and improve.”

After Saturday’s opener, the Roadrunners will face the Gulls in San Diego. Last season, Tucson won 8 of 12 against San Diego, including three straight to close out the regular season.