The American Hockey League’s most potent offensive force this season is an All-Star for the first time in his professional career.
The AHL announced Wednesday that Tucson Roadrunners forward Michael Carcone, the AHL’s leader in points, is the Southern Arizona club’s lone representative for the league’s annual All-Star Classic event Feb. 5 and Feb. 6 in Laval, Quebec, just outside Montreal.
Carcone is third in the league in goals and fourth in assists.
Although the league had not officially announced rosters until Wednesday morning, Carcone spoke after Tucson’s 7-5 loss to Milwaukee on Tuesday night on the possibility of his selection — a near given considering his standing among the league’s top offensive producers this season and his return to the Roadrunners this week after a recent six-game call-up to the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes.
“It’s cool. It’s something I’ve never experienced, especially with having kids now,” he said. “It’s something that they’re going to get to experience.”
Michael Carcone gets a shot off while playing for the Arizona Coyotes in an exhibition game at Tucson Convention Center on Sept. 25, 2022.
Carcone spoke after scoring two goals and picking up an assist, moving his 2022-23 AHL totals to 18 goals, 27 assists and 45 points while playing in 28 of Tucson’s 35 games. Carcone, the reigning AHL Player of the Month after recording 10 goals and 20 points in 10 games in December, was recalled by the Coyotes on Dec. 27, scoring two goals in six appearances before returning to Tucson this week.
“If I’m lucky enough to be selected, it’ll be a pretty cool experience for the whole family,” he added Tuesday. “Definitely excited if that happens.”
The Roadrunners, who have lost six straight, face the Milwaukee Admirals again Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Tucson Arena.
Tucson head coach Steve Potvin has multiple times this season used the same language to describe Carcone.
“He’s a special player,” Potvin said last month, shortly after Carcone recorded a hat trick. “For him to play the way he has this season is really, really remarkable.
“When he comes to the rink with the intention of … playing with a little grit and a little tenacity, he’s hard to stop.”
The two-day all-star event is the first of its kind since the 2020 season. The 2021 and 2022 events were effectively canceled amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
A skills competition is scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 6, with the All-Star Challenge scheduled a day later on Feb. 7. The Challenge is a four-team, three-on-three, round-robin style mini tournament pitting the selected all-stars for each of the AHL’s four divisions against one-another. The format is not unlike the NHL’s all-star format in recent years.
Because the AHL’s Pacific Division includes 10 teams this year, with only 12 all-stars per divisional team and a mandate each team have at least one selection, most of the AHL’s westernmost clubs have only one representative. That includes Tucson. It’s possible another Tucson player may be added as a replacement, pending injury or unforeseen NHL recalls over the next couple of weeks.
Mitch Love, coach of the AHL's Calgary Wranglers, moved to Marana during the Summer 2021 offseason.
While Carcone is the only Roadrunners choice, he is actually not the only Southern Arizona-connected individual as part of the Pacific Division team. The league announced earlier this month that Mitch Love, head coach of the Calgary Wranglers, would coach the Pacific Division team during the All-Star Classic.
Love is a Tucson-area resident despite coaching in recent years in Stockton and Calgary while heading the AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames (the Stockton AHL franchise moved to Calgary before this season). Love has called the Marana area his offseason home in recent seasons.
Roadrunners selected as all stars in prior seasons include former Tucson forwards Michael Bunting and Lane Pederson and defenseman Kyle Capobianco. Capobianco, who spent parts of five seasons with the Roadrunners, was a three-time AHL all-star selection for Tucson.
In previous seasons, portions of the AHL All-Star Classic have been broadcast on NHL Network, available via some Southern Arizona cable and satellite packages. AHL officials are expecting to announce television deals for this year’s event in the coming week.
Thousands of stuffed animals rained down on the Tucson Arena ice on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022 as part of the Tucson Roadrunners' "Teddy Bear Toss" game. Roadrunner forward Travis Barron scored the team's first goal of the night in the second period of a 3-2 overtime loss -- that first goal serving as the signal to the 5,171 in attendance to throw the stuffed animals they brought on to the ice. The Roadrunners plan to donate the toys to Aviva Children's Services, who will distribute them throughout Pima County during the holiday season. Video by James Kelley/Special to the Arizona Daily Star
