Although the Tucson Roadrunners are still a couple of upset wins away from hosting a playoff game for the first time since 2018, Roadrunners official say Tucson fans are showing their excitement about the prospect of postseason hockey coming back to the Old Pueblo through one act in particular: reserving tickets for possible playoff games at Tucson Arena later this month.
The Roadrunners, who close out their regular season Saturday at 7 p.m. against the San Jose Sharks at Tucson Arena, have been selling playoff passes since before they clinched a spot last week. They are available at TucsonRoadrunners.com/WhiteoutCentral.
βItβs been great,β Roadrunners president Bob Hoffman said about playoff ticket sales. βWe put them on sale about a week and a half ago β what we called our playoff pass.
βItβs very difficult to sell single games right now because we donβt know dates,β Hoffman added. βSo for people to say βyeah, Iβm gonna be there no matter what. No matter when you play, no matter who you play, Iβm in thereβ β thatβs been a really positive so far development.β
The first round of the American Hockey Leagueβs Calder Cup Playoffs will run April 18-23. Should Tucson advance out of the Pacific Divisionβs semifinal round β a best-of-three series that will be entirely on the road either at the Coachella Valley Firebirds or the Calgary Wranglers β they will host at least one game in the best-of-five second round.
βItβs step one,β Tucson head coach Steve Potvin said. βWe definitely made it our goal to make it to the playoffs and step two was to see how far we can go.
βWe definitely want to make a push here and do the best we can to take the next level in our game,β he added.
Itβs Tucsonβs second full-tilt appearance in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Aside from a one-off divisional playoff game during the COVID-altered 2021 season, the Roadrunners last competed in a multi-game series in 2018 after not only winning a Pacific Division title, but also finishing with the best record in the Western Conference that year. Tucson defeated the San Jose Barracuda that year in the first round, three games to one, before 4-1 to the Texas Stars the next round.
βItβs gonna be nice to be playing meaningful games,β current Tucson forward Nathan Smith said.
Hoffman said seeing new heroes emerge during a playoff tournament is part of what makes postseason hockey so special.
βIβm biased obviously, but I think this is the best sport on the planet and it takes it up an entire notch when itβs playoff hockey,β Hoffman said. βThereβs that series aspect β itβs not one and done. Itβs not a situation where you have a bad night. The cream of the crop certainly rises and I think youβre going to see some great excitement in the National Hockey League as well as in the American Hockey League.β
The Roadrunners will wear their white Kachina third jerseys for home playoff games, giving them one last spotlight before they go back to the black Kachina sweaters next season.
βCertainly we love the look of them, that white Kachina has been outstanding,β Hoffman said. βWe feel like itβs something that the guys can rally behind, it seems like theyβve got a fairly good record and really compete in those, the guys, when youβre the players, youβre the coaches, they love them. So I think itβs kinda listening to our audience, listening to the guys.β
Hoffman said making the playoffs helps out the franchise a lot besides just potentially more earning more in ticket and merchandise revenue.
The Roadrunners have already started selling season tickets for next season.
βI think one of the main things it does is it really rallies the sport fan and the hockey fan to think about the Roadrunners and hockey a little bit beyond what the regular season might limit it to,β Hoffman said. βSo it really is a vaulting point for the 2023-24 season as well. So I donβt think you can really understate the value for any organization making the postseason.β
It's been five years since Tucson Arena has hosted a playoff hockey game. The last time: Faces like former Tucson Roadrunners forward Conor Garland (8) (now of the NHL's Vancouver Canucks) and former Texas Stars goaltender Mike McKenna (29) (who retired from hockey in 2019 and is now an NHL television and radio analyst) dotted the rosters in a second round game on May 4 2018.
Slap shots
Saturday is Fan Appreciation Night and the Roadrunners are giving out posters with the playersβ photos on them. Also the first 100 fans in attendance can pick up a Roadrunners gift bag at radio station tents outside the arena.
The Arizona Coyotes (28-40-14) finished their 2022-23 campaign Thursday night with a 5-4 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The Coyotes finished the season with six 2022-23 Roadrunners on their roster: center Laurent Dauphin, right wing Jan Jenik, left wing Milos Kelemen, defensemen Michael Kesselring and Victor Soderstrom and goalie Ivan Prosvetov. With the Coyotes season finished, all except Dauphin were reassigned to Tucson Friday morning ahead of the final home series and playoffs.
Tucson Roadrunners forward Cam Hebig pokes the puck through with barely two minutes to play to tie the game with the Texas Stars at 4-4 on Saturday, April 8, 2023. Texas led 4-0 before Tucson came storming back. Video courtesy Tucson Roadrunners
