The Tucson Roadrunners’ home split with the Rockford IceHogs last weekend brought a long-standing local hockey connection back to the surface.
Tucson forward Trevor Cheek, now in his third season with the Roadrunners, and current IceHog Henrik Samuelsson are more than used to occupying the same ice — thought not always as opponents.
They’ve been teammates three times in recent memory, including in Tucson and as teenagers playing minor hockey in the Phoenix area.
The pair both occupied spots on the first Roadrunners roster in 2016-17; Samuelsson for 20 games before being dealt to the Bakersfield Condors, while Cheek saw action in 23 with the Roadrunners as he split time with Tucson and the ECHL’s Fort Wayne Komets.
It was in 2009-10, however, that the pair played together for the Arizona-based P.F. Chang’s U18 program. Based in Scottsdale and these days referred to as the Jr. Coyotes Elite, the organization competes at the U18 AAA Elite level — considered the top youth hockey offered in the United States.
Cheek’s 36 goals and 60 total points during that season set the tone, while Samuelsson contributed 12 goals and 23 assists. Cheek, who was born in Southern California but calls the Vancouver, Washington, area home, lived with billet families while playing youth hockey.
In between, the pair also played major junior hockey together, for the WHL’s Edmonton Oil Kings.
Cheek and Samuelsson aren’t the only two Arizona youth hockey standouts to wear a Roadrunner sweater. Last season, Scottsdale native and fellow P.F. Chang’s alum Zac Larraza played 11 games for Tucson.
Age is but a number …
Cheek has two goals in six games so far this season, putting him well ahead of the pace he set for himself in either of the last two campaigns, when he scored a combined four goals in 50 games for Tucson.
Cheek happens to be the oldest Roadrunner on the roaster, checking in at 25 years and 11 months. The six-year pro turns 26 at the end of December.
Despite Cheek and the likes of fellow third-year Roadrunners in forward Michael Bunting, defenseman Dakota Mermes and goaltender Adin Hill, Tucson still has one of the youngest lineups of any American Hockey League team.
Credit Alexander Kinkopf, the team’s manager of digital operations, for the math: not counting Laurent Dauphin — who would otherwise be with the NHL’s Coyotes but has been with Tucson for conditioning — the Roadrunners’ average age entering the season was 22.75. For comparison, last season, at 23.08, Tucson had the second-youngest opening night roster in the AHL.
Hot start, but to what end?
The Roadrunners opened their 2018-19 campaign as hot as almost any team in the American Hockey League, earning a point in five consecutive games before finally losing in regulation, 5-3, at home to the IceHogs on Saturday night.
But how unexpected has the Roadrunners’ 4-1-0-1 start been?
Tucson started last season with the same 4-1-0-1 mark, and the year before at 4-0-1-1. That means all three seasons have kicked off with an identical .750 winning percentage.
This season, the only two teams yet to lose in regularly or overtime at the time of Tucson’s blemish were the San Jose Barracuda and Springfield Thunderbirds — and San Jose ultimately lost on Sunday.
The hot start may not indicate how things will play out over a long season. The Roadrunners finished with the AHL Western Conference’s best record last season, but a year earlier, ended up with the third-worst record in the conference.
