The Tucson Roadrunners added defenseman Steven Kampfer to their roster last month to bolster their postseason chances.
Now he’s going to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years — the AHL playoffs, that is, and it’ll happen during the first multigame playoff series for the Roadrunners in five years.
“It’s been a long gap in the American Hockey League; I think the last time I played was, uh, um, when Houston still had a team,” Kampfer said.
Kampfer played in nine AHL playoff games in 2012 and 2013 for the Houston Aeros. The Aeros left Houston after the 2013 season, moving north and rebranding as the Iowa Wild. Kampfer was on the roster when the team moved, spending one season with the Wild in Des Moines.
The Tucson Roadrunners haven’t played in a multigame playoff series in five years. Steven Kampfer, acquired in early march by the Arizona Coyotes, who then assigned him to Tucson, hasn’t been to the AHL’s Calder Cup playoffs in a decade. Both will be there this week when Tucson opens its postseason on the road in a best-of-three set vs. Coachella Valley.
“It’s been a long time, but it’s exciting to get back. It’s exciting to be ready for it,” he said. “Playoffs is the best time of year. It’s what hockey players are looking forward to all season.”
Kampfer did play in two tournaments in Eurasia in recent years, including for Team USA as an alternate captain at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
This year’s Roadrunners roster is full of Olympians. Besides Kampfer, they include forward Nathan Smith (USA), defenseman Ronald Knot (Czech Republic), forward Milos Keleman (a bronze medal winner for Slovakia) and Tucson captain Adam Cracknell (Canada).
“It was awesome,” Kampfer said. “Anytime you get to represent your country, get to represent on the biggest stage in the world, is awesome. I mean obviously it’s unfortunate the NHL guys didn’t go, but it gives guys the opportunity to go and play, myself and Smitty and Knotter (were) there, so it was a great experience for all of us to go and play and experience it. ...
Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Steven Kampfer races up the right side to take the pass from Jan Jenik and bury the overtime game-winner in a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the San Diego Gulls on March 25, 2023. Tucson trailed 4-2 before rattling off three of the last four goals, including Kampfer's winner after regulation. Video courtesy Tucson Roadrunners
“It’s pressure-cooked moments. Everybody’s watching it, and everybody’s rooting for you. So it was something that you relish the moment because you want to be an impact player over there and you hope that it moves forward with playoffs down here.”
Tucson coach Steve Potvin said Kampfer has made a big impact in a short period of time in Tucson.
Going into the weekend, Kampfer had 29 points in 58 games in the AHL this season, including seven in 14 games for Tucson.
“Obviously he’s a veteran guy. He’s been around a long time (with) different teams so he’s seen a lot and he’s got experience,” said Smith, his Team USA and now Roadrunners teammate. “So that’s gonna be huge for us because we have some younger guys and some guys who haven’t played in the playoffs. But he’s a good leader for us.”
The Roadrunners closed out their regular season this past weekend, dropping their final two games against the San Jose Barracuda, though Tucson had already clinched a playoff berth before that series took place. Unless the Roadrunners defeat the Coachella Valley Firebirds — the expansion team had the AHL’s second-best overall record this season at 48-17-5-2 — in the best-of-three first-round series starting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Palm Desert, California, last weekend will mark Tucson’s final home games of the 2022-23 season.
Since turning pro in 2010, Kampfer, 34, has played for six AHL teams, along with four in the NHL and one in the Russian-based KHL.
The Ann Arbor, Michigan, native played college hockey at Michigan for four years before going to the Providence Bruins of the AHL. He also played for the NHL’s Boston Bruins. Kampfer then played for the Aeros (AHL), the Minnesota Wild (NHL), the Iowa Wild (AHL), the San Antonio Rampage (AHL), the Florida Panthers (NHL), the Hartford Wolfpack (AHL), the New York Rangers (NHL) and then both Bruins teams again.
Since his assignment to Tucson after the Arizona Coyotes acquired him from the Detroit Red Wings organization March 9, veteran blueliner Steven Kampfer (44) has added some scoring, experience and leadership as Tucson fought to clinch a playoff berth over the final weeks of the regular season.
Last season Kampfer played for the Kazan Ak Bars of the KHL in a turbulent season that included the Olympic break and the regular season ultimately being shuttered due to COVID-19 and Russia’s war with Ukraine. Kazan is located in the Southwestern part of the country, a little more than 500 miles (800-plus kilometers) east of Moscow.
“Honestly, Kazan, the organization that I was in, treated not only myself, my family, the imports very well, so I don’t have a bad thing to say about how they treated us,” Kampfer said. “They were first class in how they handled everything from start to finish, from the time we got there to leaving.”
The Ak Bars qualified for the KHL playoffs but lost in the first round.
This season Kampfer signed with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and played for their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins. On March 9 the Red Wings traded Kampfer to the Arizona Coyotes for future considerations; the Coyotes assigned Kampfer to Tucson.
Potvin said experienced Olympians such as Kampfer and Cracknell will be important in the playoffs. Potvin said he could hear Kampfer’s instructions to his teammates from the bench during the Roadrunners’ playoff-clinching overtime game on March 8 — a game that started 4-0 in favor of the Texas Stars before Tucson rallied to tie it at 4-4 before the end of regulation.
“Our guys were getting pretty revved up. We were in a couple dustups, and you could hear him on the bench: ‘Calm down. Get to our game. Have patience,’ ” Potvin said. “So that type of dialogue on the bench obviously comes from experience, and we’re gonna be right there to accept it all and we’re gonna lean on him.”
Tucson Roadrunners defenseman Steven Kampfer scores his first goal in a Tucson uniform March 25, 2023 in a 7-1 win over the Colorado Eagles after the NHL's Arizona Coyotes acquired the veteran blueliner from the Detroit Red Wings organization, then assigned him to Tucson, on March 9. Video courtesy Tucson Roadrunners
