The Tucson Roadrunners will return to their home ice this week, and they couldn’t be more excited.
The team has spent most of the past few weeks on the road.
The Roadrunners opened their second season in Tucson on Oct. 7, a game they lost to the San Diego Gulls. The team then relocated to Glendale due to lack of ice space in Tucson. From there, they traveled to Bakersfield, California, where they beat the Condors on Oct. 14.
Tucson spent last weekend in Chicago, where it faced the Wolves — the Vegas Golden Knight’s American Hockey League affiliates — on back-to-back days, earning a split. From there, the Roadunners (2-1-1-0) traveled to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they will take on the Griffins on Wednesday night.
The Roadrunners’ whirlwind trip will end Thursday, when the club returns home for Friday night’s game against the Iowa Wild. Tucson’s second home game in three weeks will be significant in more ways than one: “Craig Cunningham Night” will allow fans and the club to honor its onetime captain. Cunningham collapsed on the ice 11 months ago, ending his playing career. He’s now a scout for the NHL’s Coyotes.
Cunningham isn’t the first Roadrunner to make the move to the NHL.
The Coyotes have already brought up Adin Hill, one of the Roadrunners’ two regular goaltenders, and could summon more talent if their early season struggles continue. Arizona is off to a 0-8-1 start after Tuesday night’s loss, and has tallied just one point in the NHL standings.
Hill, a 21-year-old Calgary native, has started two games for the Coyotes, both losses to Dallas.
“You always dream of playing in the NHL as a kid so it was kind of a surreal feeling,” Hill told Craig Morgan of ArizonaSports.com. “I feel like I can definitely play at this level. My goal was just to be here as fast as I could. I didn’t really put a timeframe on it. I just work as hard as I can and try and get better. Every minute I get, I’ll be happy with. It’s the NHL.”
Hill’s quick promotion means that Hunter Miska should see plenty of action guarding the net for the Roadrunners.
The 22-year-old Minnesotan made his debut start Saturday, saving 26 shots in the Roadrunners’ victory. He shares time at goalie with Marek Langhamer.
Etem finds a home
Roadrunners forward Emerson Etem comes from a family of athletes, but most of them found their success on a different form of water.
Etem’s mom, Patricia Spratlen, rowed for the U.S. National team at the 1984 Summer Olympics. His older brother Martin is also a professional rower, and his sister, Elise, was a nationally ranked swimmer at Cal.
Growing up in Long Beach, California, Etem gravitated more toward roller hockey. He eventually moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he began playing ice hockey competitively.
Etem was selected 29th overall in the 2010 NHL Draft by the Anaheim Ducks, whom he has played with in multiple stints.
Etem started last season with the Ducks, then was sent down to the San Diego Gulls, and immediately suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Now Etem is looking to climb back to the NHL within the Coyotes organization.
“You can never stop growing your game and developing, and this is a good chance for me to get my confidence back,” he said. “Hopefully sooner rather than later I get a call (from the Coyotes), but for now I’m working on game and making sure I take my game to the next level.”
Slap shots
- The Roadrunners have received production from all over. Eleven different players have scored a goal so far, with wing Nick Merkley leading the team with four total points.
- TSN’s documentary “All Heart,” chronicling Cunningham’s return from cardiac arrest, will debut Wednesday evening. The piece, filmed in Tucson in March and April, will document Cunningham’s recovery. TSN analyst Ray Ferraro hosts the documentary, which can be watched online at TSN.ca.
