Already used to long road trips due to the Gem Show, the Tucson Roadrunners embark on another long road swing this season, going from deep in the heart of Texas to California to Canada.
Tucson (16-11-1-0) opens the new year with a pair of games at the Texas Stars (17-11-1-0) on Friday and Saturday. This starts a season-high seven-game road trip for the Roadrunners.
“There’s a lot that that happens on the road,” said Tucson head coach Steve Potvin. “There’s a lot of bonding, you’re there for one particular reason and you have this singular focus and so these types of road trips we tend to enjoy, we fare well usually on them, so I think it’s gonna be good for us.”
The Tucson Roadrunners view their upcoming seven-game road trip not as a challenge, but as an opportunity to bond.
On this road trip, Tucson travels almost 6,000 miles.
It starts with the two-game set with the Dallas Stars’ affiliate, the Texas Stars, in Cedar Park, Texas, which is near Austin.
“I say we take it like a couple games at a time,” said Tucson defenseman Montana Onyebuchi, “make it like a miniseries, like we have been doing and I think if we win this series we’re somewhere closer to where we wanna be.”
Next, the Roadrunners come back to Tucson before going to California to play the Coachella Valley Firebirds for one game on Wednesday.
Then the Roadrunners go to play a two-game series at the San Diego Gulls Jan. 10 and 11 before playing two more at the first-place Calgary Wranglers Jan. 14 and 15.
Their next home game is Jan. 20, Martin Luther King Day, against the Henderson Silver Knights, marking 22 days between home games.
One difference from the annual Gem Show road trips is that during this stretch, they have the ability to return to Tucson for practice.
Center Cameron Hebig says the team gels well on the road, but appreciates the opportunity to return to Tucson to practice and regroup in between series.
During the Gem Show road trips, the Tucson Arena is not available, and they have to practice on the road or in the Phoenix area.
During this trip however, the activity in the arena is local hockey teams like UA men’s and women’s hockey.
“I think coming back home, sleeping in our own beds, we can regroup here, but I think we’re a good road team,” said center Cameron Hebig. “I think we gel well on the road together, so it’s no excuse for us and I think it’ll be nice to get on the road and hopefully get some wins.”
The Roadrunners are 10-5-1-0 at home and 6-6 on the road, 17th best in the 32-team league. But they have won four of their last six away from the friendly confines of the Tucson Arena.
In October, the Roadrunners had four at home and four on the road, in November they played six at the TCC and four away and in December they had six in the Old Pueblo and four on the road.
In January they have five home games and seven on the road, in February it’s four at the Tucson Arena and seven on the road, in March they have eight on the road and five at home and they close out the regular season with six at home and two as visitors in April.
Last season, Tucson went 3-1-1-0 on its Gem Show road trip, en route to finishing with a 21-12-2-1 road record, tied for fourth best in the league. However, in 2023, it went 1-6-0-0; in 2022 it was 2-4-0-0; in 2020 2-4-0-1; 2019 2-3-0-1; 2018 4-2-0-0; and 1-5-0-0 in 2017.
But this road trip is different.
“I think it’s nice to leave and then come back,” Potvin said. “It’s good opportunity to come home, you’re able to see your family at least that way you’re not … just pinned into a two-week span and away from your family and your environment, so it’ll be nice to come back and then head back out, you know, you kind of refuel, retool and get right back at it.”
After the road trip, Tucson will host a six-game homestand before the Gem Show trip.
On Mar. 16 the AHL suspended Roadrunners defenseman Montana Onyebuchi (79) three games for physical abuse of an official after their game against the San Jose Barracuda on Mar. 15.
