Tucson scoring threat Aku Räty and Roadrunners face his brother, Aatu, in Abbotsford for pair

Tucson Roadrunners right winger Aku Räty gets another chance to face off against a familiar face this week after a red hot December.

The Roadrunners (20-10-1-1) and their Finnish forward close out their five-game road trip with a two-game series at the Abbotsford Canucks (18-10-2-1). Räty’s brother is one of the Canucks’ top prospects.

“It’s gonna be fun. I just called a couple of days ago to my brother,” Aku Räty said. “My mother is still there, so I can’t wait to see them — and they obviously have a good team, too.”

Aku Räty’s brother, Aatu Räty, is third in scoring among active Canucks with 22 points. He had an assist in Abbotsford’s 6-2 win in Tucson on Dec. 16, a game Aku Räty missed.

However, Tucson won the first of the series 5-0 with Aku Räty scoring the first goal and his parents coming to the game.

“I got food poisoning that second game so I couldn’t play,” Aku Räty said, “but yeah, (facing my brother) was fun.”

Tucson head coach Steve Potvin wondered at how two brothers can both make it to the pros, considering how tough the path can be.

“It’s remarkable. You can see that he’s well raised,” Potvin said. “He’s got a brother that does the same and his dad is a former coach so when they’re sitting around the dinner table you know they’re talking about all the right things; and so when you’re talking about all the right things it pays off.”

Aku Räty had 13 points last month, a Tucson team high, as the Roadrunners finished the month with a 9-2-0-0, tying the club’s best-ever December mark set in 2019-20.

“Oh I think Aku had a great month of December and it’s just trailed into January,” Potvin said. “This is a tough month and to see a young guy just go through it the way he has it’s been really, really great.”

The Arizona Coyotes picked Aku Räty in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL draft.

Aku, 22, is 16 months older than his brother, who the New York Islanders picked in the second round in 2021. But Aatu played a year up so he could play with is brother as they grew up.

The Rätys played together at Karpat in the SM-liiga in Finland for a couple seasons. Then, Aatu Räty came over to the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders and the NHL’s New York Islanders starting in 2021-22. Aku Räty came to North America this season.

So the little brother, who has played 15 games in the NHL ended up in the position to give advice to the older sibling. The Islanders traded the center to the Canucks last year.

“He helped me just like to give a heads up to what’s coming and what you should do and give some little tips, but nothing huge,” Aku Räty said. “I asked other guys like how’s the life here and the hockey, so I had a pretty good understanding.”

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The brothers like to play against each other in hockey, soccer and tennis.

The Roadrunners’ Räty played for Karpat for three seasons and then went to Ilves Tampere, also in the SM-liiga. After recording seven points in 32 games in 2019-20 and seven again in 36 games in 2020-21, Aku took the leap in 2021-22, finishing with 22 points in 56 games. Then last year he had 42 in 53 appearances.

“I think my career, the last few years has been going up, like all the time, getting better, getting more comfortable,” Aku Räty said. “Obviously I didn’t play a ton of minutes my first couple years as a pro but I got my chance and switched teams, which was a good move for me. I (got) to play power play, play with good players and then I had a chance to sign with the ‘Yotes and it’s been a pretty good start, so I’m really happy.”

This year in Tucson he has 19 points in 25 games. Among current Roadrunners he is second in scoring and goals and third in assists.

Tucson goalie Matthew Villalta said it’s a pleasure to play with him.

“He’s doing great,” Villalta said. “(He) shows up everyday, great energy, always had a smile on his face, just shows up and he does his work and handles his business and he’s just looking to get 1% better every single day and has a great outlook, great mindset and it’s nice to see him getting some point production going now as he feels more comfortable here.”

Slap shots

On Saturday the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks claimed forward Zach Sanford off waivers from the Coyotes. Sanford was selected before the season started as one of Tucson’s alternate captains, playing in 16 games and tallying four points for the Roadrunners before he was called up to the Coyotes where he played 11 games. The only way for the Coyotes to return him to Tucson was for the veteran to clear waivers, giving Chicago the chance to pick him up.

The Abbotsford Canucks, whose inaugural season was 2021-22, snagged their first win in Tucson in the second game of their December series. The Roadrunners are 0-4-0-0 all-time in Abbotsford.

The Canucks are in fifth place but are only three points behind second place Tucson, which has 42.