It’s not just a new season for the Tucson Roadrunners. It’s the start of a season of change.
Coach Steve Potvin said there will be internal competition with the influx of new talent, starting with Friday night’s opener against the Henderson Silver Knights in Nevada. The top affiliates of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights will open their American Hockey League seasons at 7 p.m..
“The team’s looking really good,” said Potvin, a former Roadrunners assistant now in his second stint as head coach. “I think we’ve got a lot of good leadership to add from the season past and the young guys that were up and down last year, a lot of them are back or scheduled to maybe be back and we’re looking very strong right now. We’re looking a lot deeper.”
Tucson has added players like forward Laurent Dauphin, alternate captain for Tucson in 2018-19; forward Adam Cracknell, who has played in 998 professional games; and goalie Jon Gillies, who has seven professional seasons under his belt.
The rebuilding Coyotes called up 16 Tucson players last season, and some are back for the start of this season.
“There’s a lot of new faces, we couple guys coming back from last year, which is nice obviously,” said Roadrunners defenseman Cam Crotty. “We’ve got a pretty good core but the last couple of weeks have just been a lot of getting to know the guys and their styles on and off the ice.”
Tucson and Henderson split a pair of preseason games. The Roadrunners opted to stay in the Las Vegas area for the week rather than return to Tucson.
Crotty said they’re taking the opportunity to bond. The club hit balls at Topgolf earlier in the week.
Potvin likely doesn’t need an introduction. He served as the club’s head coach in the 2020-21 season after Jay Varady was promoted to the Coyotes — then moved back to an assistant’s role last season when the club assigned Varady back to Tucson. Varady left to join the Detroit Red Wings’ bench this summer, and the coach players call “Potsie” was promoted again.
“He’s great,” Crotty said of Potvin. “He’s a great motivator for everybody and he’s got tons of passion for the team and he’s always on guys making sure everyone’s striving to get better every day and really lean into the role that everybody has, so yeah I think he’s done a great job and I think he’s only going to continue to get better just as he asks of us.”
The Roadrunners will compete as part of a new-look AHL Pacific Division. The expansion Coachella Valley Firebirds will make their debut as the Pacific Division’s 10th team. The AHL’s Central and North have seven teams apiece, and the Atlantic has eight.
Tucson and all other AHL teams will play 72 games this season. Previously, Pacific teams played 68 and the other teams played 76 or 72.
“It’s a strong division,” Potvin said. “The Western Conference is always getting harder and harder and harder,” Potvin said.
Slap shots
Last year’s Pacific Division champions, the Stockton Heat, relocated to Calgary and were renamed the Wranglers. The club remains the top affiliate of the NHL’s Calgary Flames.This weekend’s games will be free for anyone with an AHLTV account. Visit AHLTV.com to sign up.
