Tucson Roadrunners

Tucson Roadrunners
2016–17 AHL season
City Tucson, Arizona
League American Hockey League (AHL)
Conference Western
Division Pacific
Founded 1994
Home arena Tucson Convention Center
Colors Brick red, desert sand, copper, black, white
                        
Owner(s) IceArizona, LLC
Andrew Barroway
General manager Doug Soetaert
Head coach Mark Lamb
Media Arizona Daily Star, KTZR, Fox Sports Arizona
Affiliates Arizona Coyotes (NHL)
Rapid City Rush (ECHL)
Franchise history
1994–2016 Springfield Falcons
2016–present Tucson Roadrunners

The Tucson Roadrunners are a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) which began play for the 2016–17 season. Based in Tucson, Arizona and affiliated with the National Hockey League's Arizona Coyotes, the team plays its home games at the Tucson Convention Center.

History

On April 19, 2016, the Arizona Coyotes announced that they had reached an agreement to purchase their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons, and would relocate the team to Tucson for the 2016–17 season.[1][2] Said purchase and relocation was contingent on three approvals; the first from Rio Nuevo (Tucson's downtown revitalization authority) to invest $3.2 million in arena upgrades to bring the Convention Center to professional-quality standards was approved on April 26,[3] the second from the AHL Board of Governors to conditionally approve the purchase and relocation of the Coyotes was approved on May 10,[4] and the third from the Tucson City Council for a 10-year lease with the Convention Center was approved on May 17.[5][6]

A name-the-team contest was held between May 17 until May 31.[7] The hockey club's new name and logo were revealed on June 18 during the Tucson Convention Center's open house event.[8] The chosen name, Roadrunners, pays homage to the Phoenix Roadrunners, a team name that was used for various Phoenix professional hockey teams from 1967 to 2009, and creates a play on words with its parent club the Coyotes (a reference to the classic cartoon duo of Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner). Its logo, as well, is a close match for the traditional logo used for Phoenix Roadrunners' teams of the past.

On June 21, 2016, Mark Lamb was hired as the team's first head coach after holding the same position with the Western Hockey League's Swift Current Broncos since 2009. Mark Hardy was hired as an assistant coach.[9] The team named its first president Brian Sandy, along with three other key staff members, on July 18.[10] On July 20, the Roadrunners announced their first general manager, Doug Soetaert, promoted from his former position as a scout for the Coyotes.[11]

Players

Roster

Updated December 12, 2016.[12]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace Contract
27 Canada Bunting, MichaelMichael Bunting LW L 21 2016 Scarborough, Ontario Coyotes
7 Canada Burlon, BrandonBrandon Burlon D L 26 2016 Nobleton, Ontario Roadrunners
39 United States Cheek, TrevorTrevor Cheek LW L 24 2016 Vancouver, Washington Roadrunners
29 Canada Cooper, MarkMark Cooper RW R 24 2016 Toronto, Ontario Roadrunners
14 Canada Cunningham, CraigCraig Cunningham (C)  LW R 26 2016 Trail, British Columbia Coyotes
45 United States Fejes, HunterHunter Fejes LW L 22 2016 Anchorage, Alaska Roadrunners
36 United States Fischer, ChristianChristian Fischer RW R 19 2016 Chicago, Illinois Coyotes
26 Canada Fournier, StefanStefan Fournier RW R 24 2016 Dorval, Quebec Coyotes
22 United States Garland, ConorConor Garland RW R 20 2016 Scituate, Massachusetts Coyotes
10 Canada Gaudet, TylerTyler Gaudet C L 23 2016 Hamilton, Ontario Coyotes
28 Canada Hache, JustinJustin Hache D L 22 2016 Petit Rocher, New Brunswick Coyotes
33 Canada Hill, AdinAdin Hill G L 20 2016 Calgary, Alberta Coyotes
30 Czech Republic Langhamer, MarekMarek Langhamer G L 22 2016 Moravska Trebova, Czech Republic Coyotes
20 United States MacInnis, RyanRyan MacInnis C L 20 2016 St. Louis, Missouri Coyotes
6 United States McBain, JamieJamie McBain D R 28 2016 Edina, Minnesota Coyotes
43 United States Mermis, DakotaDakota Mermis D L 22 2016 Alton, Illinois Coyotes
4 Czech Republic Michalek, ZbynekZbynek Michalek D R 33 2016 Jindřichův Hradec, Czechoslovakia Coyotes
19 United States Mueller, ChrisChris Mueller (A) RW R 30 2016 West Seneca, New York Coyotes
21 Canada Olver, MarkMark Olver C L 28 2016 Burnaby, British Columbia Roadrunners
35 Canada Peters, JustinJustin Peters G L 30 2016 Blyth, Ontario Coyotes
23 United States Ross, GarretGarret Ross LW L 24 2016 Dearborn Heights, Michigan Coyotes
9 United States Samuelsson, HenrikHenrik Samuelsson RW R 22 2016 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Coyotes
44 Canada Selleck, EricEric Selleck (A) LW L 29 2016 Spencerville, Ontario Roadrunners
5 United States Tinordi, JarredJarred Tinordi D L 24 2016 Burnsville, Minnesota Coyotes
3 Canada Wood, KyleKyle Wood D R 20 2016 Waterloo, Ontario Coyotes

References

  1. ↑ "Coyotes Sign Agreement to Purchase Springfield Falcons AHL Franchise". Arizona Coyotes. April 19, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  2. ↑ Chimelis, Ron (April 19, 2016). "Springfield Falcons to be sold, AHL team expected to leave Western Massachusetts". MassLive.com. The Republican. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  3. ↑ Pallack, Becky (April 26, 2016). "Rio Nuevo will spend $3.2M to get arena ready for pro hockey". tucson.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  4. ↑ "BOG conditionally approves Coyotes' purchase". TheAHL.com. American Hockey League. May 10, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  5. ↑ Pallack, Becky (May 17, 2016). "City Council approves deal with Coyotes for AHL hockey in Tucson". AZCentral.com. Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ McLellan, Sarah (May 17, 2016). "Tucson City Council approves lease agreement for Arizona Coyotes' AHL team". AZCentral. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Our AHL team is Coming to Tucson: Name the Team". Arizona Coyotes. May 17, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Coyotes to Unveil New Name & Logo for AHL Affiliate in Tucson at Open House Event at TCC on June 18". Arizona Coyotes. June 1, 2016. Retrieved June 8, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Coyotes Hire Lamb as Head Coach of Tucson Roadrunners". coyotes.nhl.com. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  10. ↑ "Tucson Roadrunners hire new president, three others". tucson.com. Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  11. ↑ "Tucson Roadrunners Name Doug Soetaert as General Manager". OurSports Central. July 20, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Tucson Roadrunners Roster". The AHL. Retrieved October 24, 2016.
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