The Tucson Roadrunners embark on their annual long road trip, but this year it seems less perilous as it offers the team a chance to get closer.
With the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show taking over the Tucson Convention Center, the Roadrunners are going on their annual February trip. This season, the trip consists of five games, split up by the All-Star break.
“The good thing is we're going to be able to come back, and then there's the All-Star break in between. There's some time there that we can see our families and be in the environments that we're used to, but being on the road for us is good,” said Tucson head coach Steve Potvin. “This is where you build the relationships and the bonds and the guys spend all their time, they're together, and it's a business trip, right?
“You end up being engaged with the game, just a little bit tighter, a little bit closer and sometimes that can be a real strong benefit.”
The Roadrunners (19-15-8-0) start the gem show road trip with a single game at the Ontario Reign (28-14-1-1) on Wednesday. The Reign are in second place in the Pacific Division, while the Roadrunners are in seventh, so if the playoffs started today, they would meet in the first round.
Roadrunners center Andrew Agozzino takes charge of the puck during "Star Wars" Night on Jan. 31.
Tucson’s away record is 8-6-2-0 this season, but in the calendar year of 2026, the Roadrunners have won four of their five road games.
“It’s long, yeah, a lot of flights, a lot of hotels, but the bright side of it there's a lot of dinners as well, a lot of play cards, hang out with the guys,” said Tucson center Andrew Agozzino about the gem show road trip. “So we have to enjoy each other's company for a lot longer period of time than we do at home.”
This year’s gem show road trip is one of the shorter ones. Though they have 21 days between their last home game, on Jan. 31 against Colorado, and their next on Feb. 21 against Ontario, this year’s gem trip is five games, tied for the shortest in Roadrunner history.
Last year, 2023 and 2020, it was seven games; in 2022, 2019, 2018, and 2017, it was six; and in 2024, it was also five.
The Roadrunners went 3-3-0-1 during the trip last season, the third time they went .500 or better on their annual gem show absence. In 2024, they went 3-1-1-0, 1-6 in 2023, 2-4 in 2022, 2-4-0-1 in 2020, 2-3-0-1 in 2019, 4-2 in 2018 and 1-5 in 2017.
In 2021, there wasn’t a gem show, and the season started Feb. 7 due to COVID-19.
Potvin said they’re not really doing anything different this season.
“I think we try to do what we can to maximize our time being home, right?” Potvin said. “That’s where we want to be and of course, we have to practice on the road, it is what it is, we’re just trying to do what we can to manage our schedule where the guys can get the proper rest and be able to perform every night and to try to advance their careers, our team and get as many points as we can.”
This season, other than the trip to Canada, the gem show games are not that far away. The Roadrunners will head to Ontario and the Coachella Valley in Southern California. Some years, like in 2022, the Roadrunners went to Canada and on another longer trip, like Colorado, during the season.
Potvin said they expect to get healthier.
“I think we're starting to see you guys make improvements, I think some guys are going to target Wednesday and if not the next night,” Potvin said. “Overall, we’re tying to do what we can to just reside in the moment, the best things happen in the momen, and nothing really exists other than where we are right now, so we’ll see how all that plays out, but I’m proud of our guys and how hard they're working.”
Looking ahead
— After the solo game at Ontario, the Roadrunners go to Calgary for a two-game series on Friday and Saturday against the Wranglers. Then on Feb. 10 and 11, they have the All-Star Classic.
On Feb. 10 is the All-Star Skills Competition, where they compete in events like the fastest skater or hardest shot. Then, on Feb. 11, is the All-Star Challenge, where the four divisions will compete in a tournament.
The All-Star Classic will air on the NHL Network.
Then Tucson closes out the road trip with a two-game series at the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Feb. 13 and Feb. 15.
Slapshots
— Tucson’s last game was its 18th overtime of the season, tying a franchise record. They also have played in the most extra time games in the AHL as of Saturday night, holding a 9-0-8-0 record in the bonus action
Three of Tucson’s last four games were overtime, and since Dec. 5, they have played 12 OTs.
Tucson Roadrunners hit the ice in front of a crowd of 6,137, a season high for the team. The Roadrunners celebrated "Star Wars" Night on Saturday, Jan. 31.
Last year, the Roadrunners played in 10 overtimes, as well as the season before, 14 in 2022-23 and 12 in 2021-22. The other time Tucson had 18 overtime games was the inaugural season of 2016-17.
— On Thursday, Utah sent defenseman Dmitri Simashev back to Tucson. In his second stint in the NHL, he didn’t appear in a game, though he did make 24 appearances for the Mammoth before joining the Roadrunners in December.
Last month, Simashev was selected as Tucson’s All-Star. Last season, Josh Doan was selected as the Roadrunners’ All-Star, but was on the Utah Hockey Club at the time of the All-Star Classic, so he was replaced by Cameron Hebig.
The year before, Dylan Guenther was an All-Star for Tucson, but he was subsequently moved up to the Coyotes, so Doan replaced him.
— Attendance for Saturday’s "Star Wars" Night game was 6,137, a season high. The previous best was 5,610 on Dec. 27 against the Calgary Wranglers on Peanuts Night.
