This is what Trevor Cheek has been waiting for.
His whole life, really, but especially over the last eight years.
The Tucson Roadrunners left-winger will take to the Gila River Arena ice with his teammates on Friday and Saturday for a two-game set with the Charlotte Checkers. The games were moved to Glendale because of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show.
For Tucson players with eyes drifting up to the big leagues, this is a welcome diversion; home ice, but not really. As Roadrunners defenseman Dakota Mermis puts it, a taste. The Arizona Coyotes’ home ice will provide the Roadrunners a taste of what life is like in the NHL.
“I think a lot of us get a little taste of it during preseason and training camp, maybe play some rookie games there,” Mermis said. “But it’s cool; you’re in an NHL arena, and that’s your goal when you start playing hockey. It’s a little taste of it.”
Cheek and Mermis would prefer a whole bite, but a taste will do. For Cheek, especially.
The 24-year-old Vancouver, Washington product played midget hockey in Scottsdale for the then-P.F. Chang’s Youth Hockey organization, now under the Junior Coyotes banner. He’d attend Coyotes games and dream about emerging from the locker room, stepping on the ice, scoring the winning goal.
He’s not going to let this chance go to waste.
“Any time you’re playing a game in the AHL, there are always eyes from above watching. But when you’re playing in someone’s own building, there are going to be even more,” Cheek said. “And as someone who played a few years in midget hockey in Arizona, this is pretty cool for me.”
And for the organization.
Both sides of the coin — the Coyotes front office and the Roadrunners’ — have maintained that the primary reason for bringing the Springfield Falcons out west to become the Tucson Roadrunners was synergy between the NHL and AHL clubs, an exchange of ideas, better flow between the two clubs.
There have been plenty of call-ups and send-downs throughout the year, but this two-game series will be the best chance for those up in Glendale to really know what they have, right here, right now.
“We’ve seen it a lot this year, guys getting called up for a few weeks or even Brendan Perlini, who has been up for most of the year now,” Cheek said. “Even a practice or a couple days. It gives you that leeway, and I think it’s great for the guys on the NHL contracts. You never know when you’re going to get that call.”
Of course, that looms in all of their minds. How could it not? You try being one step from the top of the ladder.
In Tucson, the ladder is a little wider, a little lower.
“I played in Springfield last year, and I think it’s been a completely different dynamic,” Mermis said.
“A lot of times you didn’t feel part of the organization so much. You’re so far away. Here, you see all the Coyotes staff, the player development coaches. That’s been really nice. And I’m sure they enjoy that as a staff,” he added. “They’ve done a really good job of that from the second we moved to town. They really made it a cohesive thing. You feel part of the Coyotes organization. You feel like you’re not so far off.”
