When Tucson Roadrunners forward Michael Bunting was announced Thursday as a late edition to the Pacific Division roster for this week’s American Hockey League All-Star Classic, his immediate reaction was a stroll down memory lane.
“I never thought I’d see that city again,” Bunting said of Springfield, Mass., host for the 2019 event. “Since we play (out West), we never cross paths unless we both make the finals. … I’m excited to see the old town and where my pro career started.”
Bunting’s pro career began when the Springfield Falcons were the AHL affiliate of the National Hockey League’s Arizona Coyotes. The Falcons played out of the MassMutual Center – the building where this week’s All-Star festivities will take place.
Bunting, defenseman Dakota Mermis and forward Laurent Dauphin all spent at least a full-season each in Springfield before the club moved to Southern Arizona and rebranded itself as the Roadrunners, while defenseman Dysin Mayo and goaltender Adin Hill had a few games with the Falcons in 2015-16.
“Me and (Mermis) were laughing about it,” Bunting said. “He said, ‘Would you have thought three years ago you’d be back here in an All-Star game?’ No way.”
Bunting said it doesn’t surprise him that Springfield went basically no time without a team following the Falcons’ departure. The former Portland Pirates moved to Springfield that same offseason and became the Thunderbirds. So the community of about 155,000 residents located 90 miles west of Boston never actually went without an AHL team occupying the MassMutual Center.
“They love their team so I can’t see an AHL team not ever being there. It’s a good town,” Bunting said, adding that he might try to hit up one of his favorite restaurants from years back. “They had a good Italian place downtown, I forget the name of it, but that was usually my pregame meal. A good rosé sauce with some chicken – that was my go-to.”
Also representing the Roadrunners is defenseman Kyle Capobianco, an AHL All-Star in back-to-back seasons. In Sunday night’s skills competition, Capobianco was to participate in the Puck Control Relay with Bunting in the Rapid Fire shooting contest. Both were also slated for the “pass and score” event and the Breakaway Relay.
NHL Network will televise Monday’s All-Star Challenge, a multi-team mini-tournament pitting AHL divisions against each other, beginning at 5 p.m. Tucson time.
Where Roadrunners rank
Heading into what turned into a two-game sweep at the hands of the Bakersfield Condors this past weekend, the Roadrunners were second in the Pacific Division standings and third overall among the AHL’s 31 teams in win percentage. The losses pushed Tucson off that pace slightly. Here’s where the Roadrunners rank in a number of categories as they hit this week’s All-Star break:
- Tucson’s .625 win percentage is fifth overall, and second in the Pacific Division, trailing league-leader San Jose.
- The Roadrunners 3.35 goals per game is 11th overall. Yet, Adam Helewka’s team-high 12 are tied for 69th individually. Helewka’s dozen ties Tucson with San Antonio and Rockford for the lowest output among a team leader league-wide.
- The power play unit is one of the league’s least effective at 15.3 percent (28th overall).
- Defensively, Tucson is in the middle of pack, allowing 3.05 goals per game (15th overall), while at 81.4 percent on the penalty kill (13th overall).
- Despite playing the third-fewest games to date, Tucson’s 22 regulation and overtime wins is tied for fifth league-wide.
Hill climbing
Since his return to Tucson earlier this month, Adin Hill has kept plenty busy in goal for the Roadrunners, making an appearance in five straight contests, including four starts over that span.
On its surface, that kind of consistent usage is hardly remarkable for a goaltender that shined for a bit in the NHL already this season. It just hasn’t been the norm for the Roadrunners over the past two seasons.
Since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, whenever Hill and fellow netminder Hunter Miska have been on the Roadrunners’ roster and healthy at the same time, it’s been rare to see one of the two starting three or more consecutive regular season games. While Hill did it back in March as the 2018 Calder Cup playoffs approached, and then was the go-to goaltender starting all nine of Tucson’s postseason games, it’s been remarked often enough that Tucson has carried “co-No.1” goaltenders for the better part of two seasons.
Whether Hill’s streak of starts — so far it’s included a 39-save shutout Wednesday of the Texas Stars followed by losses Friday and Saturday to the Bakersfield Condors — continues will obviously be clear when the Roadrunners welcome the Colorado Eagles to Tucson Arena on Friday and Saturday for a pair of 7:05 p.m. faceoffs.
