Tucson Roadrunners enlist Taylor Swift, teddy bears to get back into win column

To try and get back in the win column, the Tucson Roadrunners will enlist the help of Taylor Swift and teddy bears.

After dropping a pair of games to the first place Calgary Wranglers, the Roadrunners return home to host Swiftie Night Friday and the Teddy Bear Toss Saturday. It’s Tucson’s second Swiftie Night but teddy bear tosses are a popular hockey tradition.

“It’s always a ride to play on busy nights and play in front of the Tucson faithful, obviously they’ve shown their support over the last year and a half year since I’ve been here and it’s felt good to come into rinks and know that they support you,” said Tucson forward Josh Doan, “and even when it’s not full, you can still hear the faithful who come every night, so it’s a fun place to play and when we when we pack the barn, it’s a little bit more fun, you get a little bit more energy out of the group and it tends to be a better game.”

The Roadrunners (10-10) host the Henderson Silver Knights (6-16) for the series. The Silver Knights are the affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights.

In the annual Teddy Bear Toss fans are encouraged to bring stuffed animals to throw onto the ice after Tucson’s first goal. The stuffed toys will be donated to Aviva Children’s Services.

Also on Friday Night the Roadrunners will have a food drive. Fans who bring in a non-perishable or canned food item will receive a voucher one of next week’s games against San Diego.

“Our guys love playing in front of our fans, especially when they get loud and when there’s these nice type of events,” said Tucson head coach Steve Potvin. “It’s always so impactful.”

Last year for Swiftie Night the attendance was 4,677. The crowd for the Teddy Bear Toss game last season was 5,047.

The attendance for their playoff games at home last year was 4,823 and 5,178.

Potvin said the players love the thrill of scoring the goal that prompts the rain of teddy bears.

In 2022, left wing Travis Barron, who is nicknamed Bear, scored the teddy bear toss goal.

“It’s cool,” Barron said. “It’s just one of those goals that’s fun to score.”

Connauton call up

On Wednesday, the Utah Hockey Club recalled defenseman Kevin Connauton, the fifth Roadrunner to get the call up.

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Connauton, an alternate captain for Tucson, is the fourth Roadrunner defenseman to get called up to the NHL this season after Makysmilian Szuber, Maveric Lamoureux and Patrik Koch

The 34-year old has played 360 NHL games for the Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Philadelphia Flyers. He played for the Coyotes from 2015-16 to 2018-19 and two games for the Roadrunners in 2016 on a conditioning stint.

Utah HC alums shine

Doan and forward Kailer Yamamoto came to Tucson from Utah Hockey Club in late October and have been making their case to go back up.

Yamamoto notched an eight-game point streak that ended with the second game at Calgary. It was Tucson’s longest point streak and the fourth-longest in the AHL this year.

“Obviously he’s an exceptional player, so it’s one of those things where you’re pretty lucky to expect things like that to happen from a guy on your team and he’s one of those guys that you can and he’s a pleasure to play with and a guy that you’re always cheering for,” Doan said, “because he’s so good in the room and so good with everybody and someone I’ve gotten to know over the last couple months and get along with, he’s one of those guys that doesn’t surprise me ever because of how good he is and it’s just a pleasure to watch every night.”

Meanwhile Doan, after going scoreless for six games, has 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists) in the last seven games. On the road trip to San Diego and Calgary, Doan had a goal and 3 assists, including his fourth multiple-point game of the season.

Doan had 9 points in his first 11 NHL games last year with the Coyotes.

“I thought Josh’s game is improving steadily,” Potvin said. “He was in a really good position up there, he really influenced the team, he helped them win, he had some success at the end of last season and it looks like he he’s ready to take the next step and play in the NHL full time.

“It’s not easy for him to come down, I think he’s been handling it really well and the speed of his game looks like it’s improving,” he added. “A lot of times when you see the speed improved, the mind is clear and he’s set himself in a good position to take off here.”

Homecoming games

The trip to Calgary, Alberta, was a chance to see family for many of the Canadian Roadrunners.

Center Cameron Hebig had 20 friends or family in the stands on Friday and 18 on Saturday. Defenseman Lleyton Moore had 12 on Friday, nine on Saturday.

Though Doan is from Scottsdale and went to ASU, his father Shane is from Halkirk, Alberta, and played his whole career for the original Winnipeg Jets/Coyotes organization.

“I’m one of the guys that has quite a bit of family up there, so it’s always nice to go to Canada and see them and I know we got good amount of western Canadian boys on our team,” Doan said. “So it’s one of those trips where you get to go up there, you see family, you feel like you’re going back home for a bit and that’s always nice for the Canadian guys just to feel like they’re back in their home country and it’s a fun trip because it’s a little farther and you get a little bit more time with the guys, so overall those are usually pretty fun trips.”