Roadrunners GM Doug Soetaert ‘can pick a gem from a field of rocks’

Doug Soetaert, the newly minted general manager of the Tucson Roadrunners, knows what it’s like to play a critical supporting role for a successful franchise.

Soetaert served as the backup goalie to a precocious rookie named Patrick Roy during the 1986 Stanley Cup playoffs. Roy started every game in the postseason for the Montreal Canadiens, leading them to an improbable championship.

Soetaert had his best statistical season that year before injuries struck and Roy essentially Wally Pipp-ed him. Soetaert accepted his fate. It’s what team guys do.

“I supported him 100 percent,” Soetaert said Wednesday during an introductory news conference at Tucson Convention Center. “We worked together during the course of the season. … Obviously it takes a lot of people to get to where you have to go.”

It isn’t that much different than what Soetaert is doing now. His job is to put together the best possible AHL team in Tucson, knowing full well that the Roadrunners’ role is to supply talent to their parent club, the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.

“That’s the sole purpose,” Soetaert said. “Competing hard and teaching these young players how to play and how to compete and get to the next level.

“We’re a Triple-A league. On any given night, a player can be called up. It’s a balance. We want to win down here, but we also want to develop hockey players.”

Soetaert has extensive experience on that front. He has been involved in three franchise startups in hockey’s minor leagues, serving in prominent executive roles with the Kansas City Blades, Everett Silvertips and Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights.

During his time with Everett in the Western Hockey League, Soetaert met Brian Sandy, an exec with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans. Sandy is now president of the Roadrunners.

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“He put together some pretty mean teams there,” Sandy said. “I kind of feel like we’re putting the band back together again.”

Sandy quickly recognized Soetaert’s eye for talent. The WHL is a junior league featuring players who are 15-20 years old.

“You’re scouting what in essence are kids,” Sandy said. “He can pick a gem from a field of rocks. He just has the vision.”

Soetaert models himself after former Canadiens general manager Serge Savard. Savard was a Hall of Fame defenseman for Montreal, played with Soetaert in Winnipeg and served as GM for two Cup-winning Canadiens teams.

“He traded for me,” Soetaert said, laughing. “I always respected the way he managed people, his outlook on the game. I’ve tried to take that approach, the professional approach, when dealing with players and agents and fans.”

Although he has been the Roadrunners’ GM for less than a month, Soetaert spent last season as a pro scout for the Coyotes. He has been involved in assembling the Roadrunners’ inaugural roster since NHL free agency began July 1. The Roadrunners will announce several free-agent additions soon, Soetaert said.

Slap shots

• Soetaert on the earmarks of a successful franchise: “I think it’s really important to be able to work as a group. There’s nobody that takes the success, and nobody takes the blame. Everybody’s in it together, and we all pull in the same direction.”
• Soetaert on moving to and working in Tucson: “The furnace is extremely high here right now. But it’s a good feeling when you walk in the building and see the work that’s going on.”
• Sandy said Roadrunners paraphernalia should be available online in the next few weeks. The organization is still putting the finishing touches on jersey designs, Sandy said.