Bakersfield Recap, TCC Concession Favorites

Adrian Denny and Jonathon Schaffer recap the weekend against Bakersfield before Chicago comes into town to cap off the six-game home stand. They also discuss Johnny's Halloweekend, some of their Concession favorites at the TCC and give an update on some of our prospects who are hot off starts in the ECHL.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
When you want more road runners,We've got more road runners. This is
the Two Sun Roadrunners Insider Podcast,and we're not fighting. They were having
a discussion with the voice of theroad Runners, Adrian Demmi. What advice
do you have for me? Drinka lot of water. It's pretty odd
and your new best friend, mybest friend, Jonathan Schaeffer. The guys
are already talking, so let's jointhem right here on your Two Sun Roadrunners

(00:25):
Insider Podcast. Everybody, welcome forthis week's edition of your Two Son Roadrunners
Insider Podcast on your lazy Sunday,wherever you may be. I'm on my
balcony up here in the Catalina Foothillslooking over the mountains into Sabino Canyon.
My neighborhood is drone out earlier,so if that makes another appearance, you'll
hear the uh, you'll hear thebuzzing. Not as quite, not quite

(00:48):
as as intrusive as my move ofsailors in the school day moves sail as
we did on the last podcast.But that's the scene. Here. Birds
are chirping, seventy five degree dayhere in Tucson. Jonathan Schaeffer is inside,
wearing a new England Patriots, Jersey. Did they win today? Did
they wain now? They did not. It was a tough one today.

(01:08):
Just stuff was not going was juststuff wasn't going their way. So it's
just one of those games. ThePatriots lose. Cardinals are on the verge
of dropping to one and seven.So that's our their NFL update. Arizona
Wildcats one the beat number eleven OregonState last night, So big, big
football night in the old Pueblo,Johnny, When you went out and about

(01:29):
last night, did you see hcould you sense the U the uh?
How happy everybody was after the big, big win over Oregon State. Yeah?
I didn't see any U of a. Actually yeah, I saw a
couple, but there's just too manypeople to even notice anything like that.
The crowds were huge last night,you know, it being the weekend before
Halloween. Yeah, it was alot of traffic getting out of downtown last

(01:53):
night. When you leave, whenyou leave downtown between ten thirty and eleven
thirty, you're going to end upin a in a big pilot traffic trying
to get east on Broadway where Iwas. I was trying to get home,
unlike you. But that's what we'vegot here weekend wrapped up. Bakersfield
takes both games. I think ifyou look at the Roadrunners right now,

(02:15):
the biggest thing you'll look at isthe goals, the goals per game,
the scoring. We were joking aboutit during the contest on Friday when we
were three and one, that wewere last in the league and scoring and
still three in one. But I'venoticed over the years in hockey, Johnny,
that when you start the team andyou start the season and the goals

(02:36):
aren't quite coming, but you're playinggood defense, first five on five,
structured hockey as the Roadrunners are.They entered Saturday's game in the top five
in the AHL and goals against,and obviously Matt Malalta has been one of
the stars in the AHL so farthis season. And I think it's just
when you're playing, when you're playinga structured game like the Roadrunners are,

(02:57):
sometimes it just takes a little bitof time. The goals are the last
thing to come. And we've seenwe've seen some great stuff. Dylan Gunther
five points and six games, NathanSmith an assist in three straight games,
and Josh Stone has scored a coupleof power play goals Milosh Kellman has been
been everywhere and on the Pamalley Kill. What a huge, huge asset.
So that's what we got. Lookingfor a few more goals, but a

(03:20):
practice week with with Chicago coming totown. Bakers Shield, I think is
a is a really good team.Last year they came in this time of
year road winners, won both ofthem, and I thought, you know
what I think going into the series, I thought Bakersfield might be a little
ahead of us, and we wonboth games, and maybe at this point
now baker Shield's just just a littlebit ahead of us. They've had the

(03:43):
same same roster, the same coregroup for a while. So that's what
we got. Three and three onthe year, Chicago's coming in. Went
three and one against Chicago last year. Wolves sitting at one, three,
one and one right now, sogames five and six of the homestand and
and you look at Saturday's game,Johnny, And as I told you over
the weekend, one of my oldprogram directors told me one one afternoon,

(04:06):
well, you don't always have yourfastball. So just just one of those
games, or the course of aseventy two game season, you don't always
have your fastball. And it was. It was another game that was that
was close. Entering the third period, road Runners had a chance within a
within a couple of Bakersfield got gotan early one. But Friday night we
entered the third period one all anduh Connors got got one and then got

(04:32):
a couple empty netters. So that'swhat we see. And and Matt Vlalta,
you know, six straight games,tying Ivan Prosatov for the UH most
most consecutive starts UH to open theseason for for Tucson. And on Friday,
Matty you'll set that record at sevenstraight starts for for the Roadrunners.
He he goes without saying how impressivehe's been for two sons. So it's

(04:55):
kind of the table that that we'vegot right now. Call ups this week,
Zach Sanford, you on Unique goup, and then Unique and McCartney
trade places. So A's on thesweaters for Travis Barron and Cam Crotty over
the weekend. So you talk aboutdepth on the roster, depth in the
leadership department, but like seeing thatthat A on on Travis Barns sweater as

(05:16):
well with with Cam Crotty who hadwon last year for the Roadrunners. Yeah,
and you know, the first firstfour games when the Roadrunners were three
to one, Yeah, the defensewas playing just outstanding and that's how we
were winning our first couple of games. But now in that series against Bakersfield,
we finally got to see, like, you know, maybe the scoring
has to start getting a little bitbetter. And yeah, Agent, we've

(05:39):
been talking about We talked about itlast night after the game. It will
come eventually. You know, thisteam is just way too talented to be
putting up you know, one goalgames. It will come over time.
You know, the guys are gonnabe you know, long week of practice.
That's what kind of sucks about.You know these sweeps. You know,
you get swept and now you haveto wait a whole entire week to
play again. So I think thatguys will come out strong in Chicago on

(06:01):
Friday. I think this weekend showedthat, yeah, we're not perfect.
We still have a lot of workto do, a lot of penalties in
that first game as well. Andyeah, for Matt Valalta, he was
bound to have a bad game,you know. He yeah, I don't
think I don't think it was abad game. I talked to him after
the game and he said you know, a couple couple strange hops, couple

(06:21):
strange angles that that came in.Koy Shaanik made a really nice play that
ended up blocking his his his viewkind of there on the close range move
in by by James Hamlin. Imean, I wouldn't say I wouldn't say
defense, and I wouldn't say thatI'm overly concerned about about the penalties.
I mean, they entered uh Saturday'sgame allowing six to five on five goals

(06:44):
in five games, and you know, a couple ended up in the back
of the net. But I thought, I thought penalty kill was was pretty
strong for for most of the weekendand and Saturday, drawing the first four
power plays and they ended up atat four four. I just, I
just I think they're playing good structuredhockey. Uh. Maybe a mistake here
or there on on Saturday. Idon't think it's any any cause for concern.

(07:06):
And you know that that you're gonnahave, You're gonna have games like
that, and you're gonna look tokeep just keep growing and and building,
and there's gonna be a period wherethey get a three goal period, a
four goal period. It's it's gonnahappen. I don't think there's really anything
you need to to overanalyze right now. I mean, it's not not any

(07:28):
kind of concern. I mean,you'll watch video, You'll you'll look at
this, You'll you'll look at that. I think the team's identity right now
is what really you know, putsme in an extremely confident spot, which
is the same same spot we werein when we were two and zero,
when we were three and one,and that is the road Wunner's block a
lot of shots. They are tenaciousthe puck. It's hard to get the
puck out of our offensive end.How many times, uh this weekend did

(07:53):
it look like a sure h asure exit out of the zone and Josh
Done comes in and just takes apuck away, sneaks in from behind,
takes it away. I think yougot that. And again the amount of
shots that have been blocked, andand just the tenaciousness. And I think
it's really really impressive to allow sixfive on five goals in five games.

(08:15):
And I don't think you can reallyjudge anything over the first month one way,
one way or another. I mean, for instance, right now,
the Colorado Eagles, who were oneof the favorites to contend for the Pacific
Division or two four to two andoh, and that's probably a team that's
going to be twelve six two andoh at some point. And Calgary's off

(08:39):
to another hot start. Coachella Valleyis another team that's two and two,
and when we record this right now, going to the third period in San
Jose, they're down three to two. That's a team that's probably going to
be ten and three at some point. So teams come together at different points,
and you look at some teams thatthat aren't a structured that are a

(09:01):
little more free wheeling that sometimes getoff to some decent starts. I think
San Jose's an example of that.Last year they were four and one at
at one point and getting good goaltendingand a little more free wheeling offensively than
some of the teams that took alittle bit of time to to find their
structure. So I think you lookat Tucson right now, Colorado right now,

(09:22):
Cochilla Valley right now, teams thatare five hundred or maybe a little
less and and have a confidence thatyou know there's going to be a different
look at what we get in thestandings through the next three four weeks and
and the road un is gonna goingto continue the home stand. And you
know, Steve talked about it whenwe started the home stand. You know,

(09:43):
we've been on the road for amonth and a half, We've we've
been together for a month and ahalf, and now we're going to be
separating. We're going to be gettinginto you know, our homes and where
we're going to live in Tucson andand have some some free time, and
and and sometimes it you know,it doesn't necessarily translate to the best on
the ice. You see it alot coming back from a lengthy road trip,

(10:03):
your your home for a little bit, and maybe there's a false sense
of security. I don't I don'tnecessarily think the Roadrunners had that. I
think that that they've played pretty decent. You know, maybe two three things
in the game Saturday. Uh youlook back at last Saturday Kachella Valley in
their key moments. That's what youhave to manage when when you play Coachella
Valley is the first, first coupleof minutes of a period, last couple

(10:24):
of minutes of a period, shiftafter a goal for, shift after a
goal against. So I think that'sI think that's what we have and at
three and three, I don't thinkthere's anything. Uh, I'm thinking differently
than against what we had two weeksago at two and oh, and what
we had going into the weekend atthree and one. Yeah. Yeah,

(10:45):
still an overall great October. Andyou know, we always look at the
positives from every single game and youknow, you knee coming back. You
know, getting a power play goalwas awesome. Now he has four points
and four games played. I thoughtJosh Stone was amazing over the weekend as
well. I mean he got thepower play goal on Friday night's game and
Agrient you just said those turnovers,I mean he was He's a grinder for

(11:05):
the puck and I think we reallygot to see that against Bakersfield. Yeah,
so we look at you look atthe positives. Yeah, a lot
of penalties and on that Friday game, but that you know, gave more
opportunities for the penalty kill and theyhad a great, great weekend as well.
The special teams was good. Soyeah, positives, the team will
figure it out. It's yeah,it's still very early, but the identity

(11:26):
is still there. And yeah,a lot of honestly, a lot of
a stake free hockey is what I'veseen from the road Runners as well.
You just said, a very structuredteam, you know, like the bad
bounces you known' it's it wasn't froma bad turnover or you know, they're
not making bone headed mistakes. Soyeah, Still it's definitely looking good and
we'll see how Chicago goes. Yeah, and I think, uh, a

(11:48):
big part of it is is Baker'sField too. I mean, there are
solid they're a solid team. Theythey always play well in Tucson, we
always play well in Bakersfield, andwill we'll see them as as a contending
team going down the stretch. Andand I think we've what we've seen from
the Roadrunners is that they have shownthe ability to to win close games that

(12:11):
I don't think finding ways to winis is something that they're looking for right
now. You look at San Diego, a team that's two and four right
now, four straight games have goneto the third period and they've been tied.
So I don't think it's a situationlike that. We we've won three
games by a goal, waning offextended six on five time. Can you
hear the neighbors drone? He's gotthe drone back out there. Could you

(12:33):
hear it flying overhead? No?No, no, I don't think I
can. Yeah, that's all right. We've got we've got only the best
high quality mics here. But theroad owners have shown I think they're finding
ways to win is going to bea strength. Not we need to find
ways to win because we're playing closegames. And all the credit to Bakersfield

(12:54):
for coming in and playing a nice, nice series. Uh, they were
the first team to beat Anderson onTuesday night. Henderson's now six and two
on the year, with a victoryover San Diego earlier this afternoon. They
went in in the one opening nightin Coachella Valley did the Condors so good
Bakersfield team at four and one,and again, as I said last year,

(13:16):
I thought when they came in inOctober, they might be a little
more ahead of us than than wewere, and we ended up winning both
games. So that's that's what youget in hockey. It's it's six games
in. I mean, we lookat the NHL and and there's some teams
like the the Edmonton Oilers and theAnaheim Ducks that are kind of in two

(13:37):
different directions of what what teams aredoing right, Like nobody expected Edmonton at
this point to be sitting at onefive and one, and Anaheim, for
instances, won three in a rowand they're four and four. So everybody
kind of comes together at their theirown time. You look at the Stanley
Cup finalists from last year. Yougot Vegas at eight ohoe one. Meanwhile

(14:01):
the Florida Panthers a little slower outof the gate at four and three.
So early on I was think youjudge too much from it unless you're a
team Mike san Jose that's eight andone, and then you might, oh
my god, might in a differentspot. I don't. I wonder how
many games is, like the recordfor not having a win has Was there

(14:24):
a team that had a really badstart like this, like recently, like
a few years ago, or myam I wrong? I think I think
it goes into the teens, probablyprobably high teens. So yeah, I
think they've got a ways. They'reon are longest losing streak. The longest
losing streak in NHL history, Ithink is fourteen games or sixteen games,
but or I don't know if it'swinless or like, because you know,

(14:46):
you get the points and overtime lossesas well. But uh yeah, man,
that's it's a rough start. Iknow, the Kuda's got a couple
of guys, Thomas Borlo's back withthe team now, and it was we're
too A lot of people on thesocial media weren't happy with the with the
sendowns. But you know, whenthe Sharks are struggling and the Kuda are,

(15:07):
you know, still in it earlyon, I mean still very early
in the season, but you know, sometimes you got to give your your
farm team a chance to at leastcompete, whereas the Sharks on the other
side are kind of falling apart early. And it's all about development and you
want players to be in a spotwhere they're going to get minutes to develop.
But yeah, you look at theRoadrunners at three and three. We

(15:28):
talked about Colorado Kachella Valley not necessarilywhere they're expected to be, where they
usually are in the standings, andwe saw what the road Runners have been
capable of three and one and droppingtwo straight. I don't think it's to
cause too much cause for concern.I mean, Seattle's two five and two,
the Flames are two five and one, So it's just you know,
it's just just getting rolling and gettinggoing. And I think a month from

(15:50):
now you talk about it at Thanksgivingand the NHL the playoff races are basically
eighty percent set of who's going tobe in the playoffs. So give it,
give it a couple of weeks,but don't think any any reason for
any over analysis year. Yeah,yeah, for sure, And can't wait
to see what the guys do,you know, how they adjust and what

(16:11):
we'll see again. I think Ithink they're gonna come out firing on Friday,
just you know, a little littlehow would you say, a little
chip on the shoulders, you know, just from after this strong weekend in
against Bakersfield. Yeah, and BenMcCartney going up, So congratulations to Ben.
And it just shows how highly thoughtup he is in the organization.
Seventh round draft pick in twenty twenty, came here out of juniors in twenty

(16:33):
twenty one, and again I thinkI think the plan was just get him
some practice time, get him acclimated, get him, you know, connected
with the coaches, after coming outof that that kind of bubble COVID year,
and then all of a sudden he'splaying. He's in the lineup,
and and then the next year hecomes out, he has a hat trick
on opening night. He's called upto the Coyotes in November twenty twenty one,

(16:55):
and and then you look at ita solid year last year at a
on his sweater twenty one years oldand the neon his sweater at twenty two.
So really highly thought of there forfor the Coyotes has been McCartney on
unique comes back and and we've alwaystalked about how much better of a hockey
team we are when when Yon's inour lineup. Obviously we'd like him to
be in the lineup with with theCoyotes, but last year when he when
he was hurt, was really thebiggest, biggest absence of of Yan.

(17:18):
We we just missed that edge outthere and missed the guy hacking and whacking
out in front and missing his UHmean and mean and clean style of play.
I think that that was the messagethat they we were talking about all
week with UH with Steve Potman.You know, some of the some of
the penalties, but we want tobe UH, I want to be mean
and clean. But but yeah,Yan out there, big addition back to

(17:41):
us, and UH, congratulations tohim getting called up a couple of times
the Coyotes this week. Yeah,and that uh, that Unique, Gunther
and Smith line, it's looked good. I mean it's mainly being Gunther and
Smith before Unique came back. Thosetwo have been just tic tac toeing on
the most recent goals from the roadRunners. Now you're plugging Yanya Nique in
that lineup or yeah, in thatlineup, It's it's gonna be a good

(18:04):
three headed monster. I think they'regonna start contributing to a lot of goals
as long as yan Unique is alsoin the lineup. I mean Unique every
Obviously with the road Runners, hecould be the highest scoring player on the
team easily, but I think overtime he'll start going up and down a
lot. You know, whenever theCoyotes need an extra man, it's gonna
be yan Yanique, or if theyneed people to play, it's gonna be

(18:26):
yan Ya Nique. Uh So,yeah, it's it'll be good for him.
It'll be a tough season for himjust to uh, you know,
try to stay consistent with the roadRunners and then all of a sudden,
like you're you're going to Phoenix,Now go go play with Go play with
the Coyotes or you now you're withthem for a few days and then uh
so you know, I'm sure hewould love to keep going up to the
Coyotes, but it's also that mentallychallenged where it's you're going to basically a

(18:48):
new team, you know, everyfew weeks. Yeah, and uh,
they'll they'll take it like they'll takeas many call ups as as they can
get. And and for jan asas we talked about when he when he's
here, it's just a great opportunityto play, to develop, to get
that ice time, to be onthe ice in those situations, and just
to be ready when the call tothe Coyotes does come. Two teams play

(19:11):
the same systems, they've both hadkind of the same core, the same
coaching staff third year with the Coatiescoaching staff and the Roadrunners in the seventh
year of their coaching staff. Soa lot of consistency there which aids in
the transition. And we've talked aboutit over the years, the amount of
players that go up from the Roadrunnersand make an instant contribution their first game,

(19:32):
you really see a lot of thesynergy. So the number is it
three right now? Three Roadrunners havebeen called up to the Coyotes so far
this season sixteen two years ago oftwelve. Last year, Zach Sanford had
an assist on Friday night for Arizona'salready getting his first game in there an
alternate captain for the Roadrunners, oneof the last guys to join Tucson for

(19:53):
the start of the regular season,picks up assist on Friday night. So
Samford and assists and goes up,comes back, McCartney goes up. There
is the count of of three guysdefensively. Caught up with Stephen Camper after
the game on Saturday night and Johnny, one of the things I did talk
about was, you know, we'vehad three forwards called up, but as
far as our defense goes, MichaelKetzering did leave, did leave the game

(20:15):
last night as we were down tofive d But going into last night's game,
six games and six six defenseman inthe lineup every single night, so
good consistency there. As we talkedabout with allowing six goals five on five
and five games going into the weekend. Let's hear from Steven Camper right now
on the Roadrunners d repetition. Yeah, I think you know, obviously you're

(20:40):
playing with the same parents for thefirst six games. You know, we
got two guys waiting there that areready to goes. So we'll kind of
see how it goes this week.You know, hopefully, hopefully we get
a guy who's okay, and thenyou know, we just kind of build
off from there. I think,you know, it's one of those situations.
I think we gotta, like Isaid, we gotta, we gotta
go back to more campra. Yeah, and the defense has been great.

(21:04):
I mean we've seen over the firstfew games, not only Matthew Vilalta has
been arguably the best goaltender in theAHL so far in the early going,
the defense has been helping him aswell. I Mean, every time Vilalta
just happens to let out with somekind of rebound, it's cleared away.
Not saying Velotza allows a lot ofrebounds. He has really good control over
the puck. But the defense hasbeen really good at just boxing in or

(21:27):
boxing out traffic in front of thenet, and then whenever there's a puck
just laying there, they cleared away. Yeah. Defense has been has been
solid. And the way they're theway where they're positioning the pucks and clearing
him into the corners, clearing themup against the walls, just getting them
out of that slot area, outof that house area, out of the
crease area. I've really really noticedthat from from the road Runners already this

(21:51):
season. So there you go,Captain Stephen Camper. Let's hear more from
him, just talking about the gameon Saturday night. We didn't play well
well enough. There's a lot ofmistakes that we need to clean up,
we need to correct here. Soyou know, we get back to work
on Monday and you know, tryand write the ship for next weekend early

(22:11):
stages for a young group and youknow, lots of lots of time left
and a full week to get readyfor Chicago. Yeah, I think,
like I said, I think it'sit's one of those things. We get
back to work, we do alittle bit of corrective stuff, get back
to our identity. Yeah. AndI liked how Stephen Kempfer just said,
we're gonna go back to work onMonday. We are going to you know,

(22:33):
work on what we liked and itdidn't like about the weekend at Bakersfield,
and we're just going to take itto Chicago. And I mean there's
there's nothing else much you can say, you know, just week of practice
and just get back to work.And more from Steven right here our third
clip just on on the scoring.Well, I think you know, sometimes

(22:55):
you know, we might be grippingthe sticks a little bit too tight right
now. I think, you know, we're trying to might be forced a
little bit too much and might betrying to trying to create a little bit
more than what we what we have, And I think sometimes it's just simplifying
it. Sometimes it's it's going backto the drawing board, just going back
to the fundamentals, going back tothe basics, the stuff that we talk
about every single day. So uhso it's the little things that if we

(23:18):
do that I think will be uhwe'll be good to go on Friday.
Yeah, and Adrian, we've we'vewe've said before, you know, the
scoring hasn't particularly been there the firstcouple of weeks. But again it's it's
the structure of the team and this, uh in the AHL, you you
almost have a brand new team everysingle year. I mean, of course
the Roadrunners have a lot of guysreturning, but then they also have a

(23:41):
lot of new guys. So youknow, sometimes it just it takes a
while for that chemistry to start buildingup. You know, you you know
each other's weaknesses, you're each other'sstrengths, and once you figure that out,
then the game plans start become moreeasy. And then you know,
one night, like you said,we're gonna get a three or four goal
period and like, yep, thisis exactly what we've been expecting. Yeah,
and the goals will start coming,they'll start piling up some more wins.

(24:04):
And as we said, a coupleof games here with Chicago. You
look at the schedule so far,Johnny, it's a six game home stand
of the Roadrunners welcoming in four teams, So going to play five teams on
this first what is it eight gamesof the year with the Chicago coming in,
another out of division team coming into play the Roadrunners and again the

(24:26):
Wolves independent this year and off toa little bit of a slow start.
A former Roadrunner on that team isHudson Ellenix, So we'll see Hudson with
the Roadrunners the last couple of years. But Chicago outscored twenty two to fourteen
at one, three, one andone on the year coming out. I
know they always enjoy their trips hereto Tucson, as do we enjoy our

(24:49):
trips to Chicago when we've got togo out of the Central Division. Yeah,
and I think it'll be interesting becauseI in my lifetime, I don't
think I've ever seen an independent AHLteam play, So it's a little different
structure. And I know they stillhave a couple of rules where they can
have a certain amount of players withsome NHL experience. I don't know the

(25:11):
exact numbers, so it's still goingto be a young team. It's mainly
just you know, guys who aren'tunder contract with any NHL team. It's
guys who are just trying to youknow, get their footing back into the
North American Pro League somehow, someway. So yeah, I think it's
gonna be interesting. I mean youcan either say, like, oh,
they're going to have a lot ofexperienced guys playing, but the problem is
they don't have They're not gonna haveany young prospects, so that could be

(25:34):
the struggle there. But also forChicago's standpoint, they don't they won't lose
guys to call ups, so it'sgonna be interesting how they play this season.
Overall, I mean, of coursethe slow start, but yeah,
I'm excited to watch them, youknow again. And then independent AHL's team
is just very interesting. They've gota lot of guys who you know,
may have gotten to the end ofthree R entry level contracts or two way

(25:56):
NHL contracts that just were you know, is good spot for him to sign
a nice HL contract which still paysgood money. And you're living in a
city like Chicago, which is aplace where a lot of people from the
Midwest have played in a lot ifthey're not not from Illinois. There's a
lot of a lot of hockey playersfrom Chicago, but the surrounding areas,

(26:18):
Wisconsin, Illinois, Uh, thosespots produce a lot of hockey players,
and it gives give some guys thatmaybe didn't quite get a two way contract
offer a chance to to stay home. So they're gonna be a team,
as you said, not gonna havea lot of call ups. So they're
going to be throughout the course ofthe year pretty pretty cohesive. Keith kin
Ka, their their goalie with who'swho's played their most minutes, is on

(26:41):
a two way contract with an NHLteam, So that's one of the one
of the exceptions there, but yeah, largely in part most of the guys
on AHL contracts and and and Chicago'salways been kind of a different group.
They've they've always had a large handand their their hockey operations as a team
not owned buy an NHL team,and going this route for for this season.

(27:03):
So we'll see Chicago and then wewill go there right after Christmas in
January. So Chicago, Iowa,and Texas are out of Division opponents this
year to go along with nine inthe Pacific Division. And after this weekend,
Johnny, we're headed on the roadthat she talked about on the mid
week podcast. You're gonna come withus. Will be in Ontario for a

(27:25):
couple and Coachella Valleys. We'll getback into the Pacific Division for a little
bit. Yeah, I'm really excited. My hometown, Riverside is about thirty
minutes from Ontario, so be ableto go see the family, spend some
time at home. So you know, you won't you won't have to be
bunked. You will have to bebunked with me for the first few days

(27:45):
of the road trip. But yeah, I'm stoked to come. I haven't
worked in away game. You knowbeing at the game yet. I also
Ontario is the one of the firstHL games I've ever been to. Actually,
i'd even know the AHL existed,and so when asked me do I
want to go to a hockey game, I'm like, what hockey game?
What other hockey is around here?And they explain to me how the whole

(28:06):
callps and everything works. I thinkOntario played the Stockton Heat at the time,
or am I e been in aStockton Heat or the Senators is HL
team from Belleville, But I thinkit was Stockton and Ontario one. I
think six to four or something.It was fun, It was fun,
So it'll be nice to go backthere, you know. It's kind of

(28:26):
relive the memory of my first AHLgame. And then we go to Coachella,
which I've not been to their newarena yet. And I also a
family in Coachelle as well. Soyeah, of course business is first,
you know, going on these trips, but it'll be nice to see some
family and friends. Yeah, andalways great to be in in southerther California.
You've got a new segment coming upon the podcast. We'll call what

(28:47):
I don't know is our division betterthan yours? Too strong maybe, but
we're gonna run through the weather throughoutthe AHL in uh Okay. I like
that as I sit out here ona seven degree afternoon and Tucson, if
you can't hear this drone, Idon't know. I can't hear the drone.
I feel like I'm under an AirForce base right now. Is it

(29:08):
a big drone or is it likea small one. It's a it's a
I don't know. It's just it'dbe easy to lose if you didn't know
what you're doing. It it uhend up mile away. But it's what
we have in our Sunday Afternoon podcastwhen I opt to come outside here in
the sunshine. Yeah, so whatso what's the weather around the HL right

(29:32):
now? Yeah, we let's startan art division. Let's keep it simple,
okay in Tucson seventy three and sunny, Okay, Palm Desert, Coachella
Valley seventy five and sunny as theFirebirds play on the Road Ontario seventy four
and sunny San Diego seventy five andsunny Bakersfield seventy and sonny San Jose seventy

(29:52):
five and mostly sunny. Now westart to scoot into the outskrewed areas.
Calgary thirty four degrees, mostly sunny. Avatard fifty one and sunny. It's
okay there. Loveland, Colorado twentynine and partly cloudy. I haven't seen
the Broncos game today, but Idid hear it. It was snowing there.
It was, but it cleared outby the time the game started,

(30:15):
so it was cold, but thesnow it didn't snow like it was earlier
when the whole field was covered insnow. I'm a was hoping for a
snow day game, but we didn'tget one yet yet. Yeah. Yeah,
saw the crew get in the fieldready. Chicago where the Wolves are
now? How excited are they goingto be coming to Tucson forty one in
showers right now in Chicago, DesMoines, Iowa thirty six and mostly cloudy

(30:40):
Cedar Park where we we love togo. Johnny fifty one and mostly cloudy
even in Texas a little cold.Rockford thirty nine and cloudy Grand Rapids forty
two in showers, Winnipeg twenty fivein snow, Utica forty two in cloudy,
Rochester forty five and cloudy rain inthe next hour it's also dark there,

(31:02):
Syracuse forty five and dark, cloudyToronto forty six and dark. It's
cloudy Belleville, Ontario forty four andcloudy Springfield, mass forty four in showers,
Hartford, Connecticut forty seven and showers. All right, well we'll give
them Charlotte seventy and clear. Thereyou go. There's one. There's one
that say, all we need allof the cities that we go to seventy

(31:27):
five and sunny right now on thisSunday. Everywhere else it's in the forties
and dark. Yeah, we're gonnahold it. We're gonna hold dark against
them because it's only five o'clock here. Everywhere else right dark and cold.
I feel like we only need todo one segment of that. We just
prove that it's the best weather toplay here. We are talking about really
similar thing on the This Midweek podcast. You know this could this division is

(31:52):
always good. The specific division hasso much talent because when guys are free
to sign anywhere, I mean,who doesn't want to come play in Ontario
San Diego even here in Tucson.Of course, you know it's always nice
and sunny here, you know,spending all day in a rink, to
walk out into this weather, itbrings your spirit up. Yeah, that's
what gave me the idea. Wastalking to Hunter Drew on Happy Hour on

(32:14):
Tuesday night just about, Yeah,these teams are really good, and he's
like, yeah, because everybody wantsto play here. Everybody wants to play
in this division. So that's agreat point that, Like, I didn't
even think about that when before youbrought it up to me. I'm like,
that's a really good point, Likewho wouldn't want to come play here?
Who wudn't want to come play inthis division? And and then of

(32:36):
travel, you know, obviously allthese teams play each other throughout the whole
season, so you're always in thesame weather. Yeah, and when you
leave after a game, that's myfavorite part is walking outside, and it's
the walking The TCC is cold,so when we walk out, like last
night and the night before, Imean it's starting to get a little cool
here at night. I think itit hit the fifties last night, so

(33:00):
it was actually pretty cold, butit's still a lot better than you know,
walking out and it's twenty degrees orsomething, so we'll take it.
Yeah, No, I like walkingoutside after game and it's dark and it's
still sunny and seventy five and it'sit's a great spot. We love it
here. We're never going to stop, never going to stop talking about it,

(33:22):
Johnny. But we'll find something everyweek for our divisions better than yours.
We can do that. Well,we'll figure we'll figure some more out.
Next you get to do our ourdivisions better than yours. Next week.
It's on you. I'll do it. Okay, just remind me so
I don't forget. Oh okay,I'll remind you. Did you speaking of
don't forget? Did you have adid you have an edition of does Adrian

(33:43):
know? This week? I donot. Today's been kind of a weird
day for me. Part of oneof our things we were going to talk
about. It was my night outlast night. I pulled my first old
night er in Tucson. I didnot get home until six am today,
so I guess I was out allmorning, if you want to say that,
I was out all morning and gothome at six, and then I

(34:07):
decided to wake up for the Patriotsgame because I'm just a loyal fan.
So I'm running on about three hoursof sleep right now. So if I
do sound sluggish, I apologize.Didn't have time to really nap today because
I was watching football. I'm notsure if that's a great excuse, but
yeah, So I don't have onetoday for you, but I'll be more
ready next week. Let's talk aboutsome of our guys in their weekend in

(34:30):
the ECHL. How about micah Millerand Reese Vatelli off to some great starts
in Atlanta with the Gladiators six'three. Atlanta beat Allen last night.
Do you know where Allen, Texasis, Johnny, I do not.
It's a suburb of Dallas. It'sright outside of Dallas. So I didn't

(34:52):
know. Yeah, I didn't knowthere was a Texas team in the EHL.
That's cool. Last night Atlanta beatAlan sixth to three. Reese Fatelli
had one goal and three assists.Micah Miller had two goals and one assist.
Today, on the back to back, they both got more points.

(35:14):
Atlanta won six to nothing. Reesehad an assist and mikeah Miller had a
goal. So looking at two ofour prospects in the the EHL right now
with with Atlanta, how about micahMiller, He's up to six points in
three games, four goals and twoassists, two multiple point games. He
had one goal and one assist intheir opener against Savannah on Saturday last week.

(35:37):
And then how about Reese Fatelli.He's got got quite a few points
as well. Reese right before Halloweenget it pieces here with one goal,
six assists, seven points and threegames off of that that four point effort.
So great job by those guys withus being really really deep right now,

(35:58):
they're in Atlanta, May the bestof it, scoring a lot of
points and helping them win games.Yeah, again, that's a great sight
to see. Reese Ftelli, MicahMiller. I did a volunteer. I
did volunteering with them before the regularseason starts. Still got to chat up
with, you know, with thema little bit. Michael Miller being from
Minnesota, so he's a big Minnesotasports guy. That's when I think when

(36:20):
I drove him too and we're talking. As we're talking, I think the
Twins won their first playoff game orseries. So yeah, that was great,
great guys to talk to, Sohopefully looking forward to seeing them down
the line. You know, again, the death on this team is very
deep, so you know you canget I guess you can say the same
things. They wouldn't get as manyminutes here with the Roadrunners probably right now,

(36:42):
but you know in Atlanta they're gettingprobably first line minutes and they're showcasing
their skills that you know, beinga full time starter. And again expect
to see them soon, hopefully,and we'll see how they can contribute to
the Roadrunners when their opportunity comes.Yep, so both averaging oh were two
points? A game breaking news inthe podcast right now, Katie's just announcing

(37:04):
that Ben McCartney's been assigned back tothe Roadrunner. So Benny is on his
UH on his way back to UHto Tucsons. So that's what we've got
uh going into the UH the practiceweek UH tomorrow. You know, we
were talking about some NHL teams areoff the the slower starts, and some
teams in our division. One teamin the AHL's Atlantic Division that's always you

(37:28):
know, near the top, butoff to a slow start, and don't
expect him to be there is theProvidence Bruins. They've got one win in
seven games, they're one three,uh one and two. So just I
think just a just another example ofnot to take uh, not to take
too much out of the first uh, first couple of weeks here, unless
we were six and oh, andthen we really would be but that's uh,

(37:50):
oh yeah six and six and ohyou're six and oh, you're excited.
I think I think the records inthe beginning of the season is just
uh, you know, obviously it'slike, oh, we're five hundred,
but you know, still really earlyon. But of course hockey is a
sport where you have tons of games, whereas football, if you're three and
three, you're not as happy,I think. So I think that also
plays into it. You see threeand three, you're like, oh,

(38:12):
like three and three, But it'sjust how it is. Sometimes this season
starts and you know, you wina couple, you lose a couple,
but then over time then the recordsstart really settling in place when more and
more games are played. Yeah,so that's that's what we got there.
But yeah, three and three iswhat it is. Going into the weekend
at three and one, obviously didn'texpect to lose a pair, but but

(38:36):
that's how it goes. I mean, we talked about it with with Hunter
Drew. Every team's good in thePacific Division. Going on the weekend,
six of the ten teams and thePacific Division had a record of a winning
percentage of six hundred or better anda lot of out of division play so
far. Tucson's played Texas, Henderson'splayed Iowa, Rockford was playing San Jose

(38:57):
Grand Rapids in Colorado. So youlook, the Central Division, one team
had a winning percentage of six hundredor better. So just if that gives
you any kind of kind of samplesize on the Pacific Division right now,
there it is. Yeah again,Pacific Division is going to be really competitive
once again, and I'm sure luckilyit'll make the road Runners a better team

(39:20):
too. I mean, you'll justthe team mentally will be hey, guys,
we're in this very we're in thisvery competitive division. Every one of
these games matter. Of course,almost every game is a divisional game in
this league. But you know everygame is gonna matter. These games matter
right now too, because it's earlyand you can look back and say,
yoah, this game, if wewin this game, we're in this position.

(39:42):
Or if we don't win this game, we're in this position. So
every game the games are will startgetting important. I mean against Chicago.
Obviously wins still matter, but it'llbe again going back to playing Chicago,
how interesting it is playing a differentteam, a team the Roadrunners aren't used
to seeing as much, so curiousto see what the game plan is there.
Yeah, And when you watch teamsfrom the Eastern Conference, it's a

(40:05):
different it's a different kind of hockey. You can tell when you're watching the
Pacific Division. And I'd say tothe Central to a little bit of an
extension to that that uh, youknow, it's a it's it's a little
more, little more higher end.It's just essentially two different leagues. And
and the way that that that theteams are treated in the Pacific Division,

(40:28):
for instance, there's just a coupleof different rules. You remember when when
the Pacific Division came out West,they played sixty eight games instead of seventy
six because they wanted practice and developmenttime. And and one of the scheduling
rules was that teams in the EasternConference that are playing three games and three
days every weekend, it doesn't happenin the Pacific Division. We don't play
three games and three nights. Wedon't play four games in in five nights.

(40:52):
And I've said this before on onthe podcast Johnny. But in the
EHL, when we'd play three gamesand three nights on the road or four
games and five nights on the road, the team would have to give their
players a free meal. So thatmeant that I was always ordering pizzas after
we played three games three nights orfour games at five nights, So we
were we were joking about it whenYon Unique I think a couple of years

(41:13):
ago, played on a back toback with Coyotes and then came back and
played down with us, so wehad to get I had to order you
on a pizza for playing three gamesthree nights. But just just the way
the the the teams out here lookat hockey and the development and and just
the process a little different. Andyou see it on the ice and and

(41:34):
you know you've you've got your yourteams out in the East. But that
that are good teams that are playinggood hockey. But when you're watching if
you watch hl TV the early gamesversus the late games, you can tell,
uh, you can tell the Pacificvision is at a little bit different
of a level. Yeah, Ithink also that was that's what makes the
Calder Cup finals so fun to watchbecause it's two teams that have never seen

(41:58):
each other, like who probably ever. I mean obviously Coachella never played Hershey
ever in their existence because Coachella wasa brand new team. But it's it's
like, you know, just puttingtwo things together and just seeing what happens.
Because again, these two leagues areso different, they're they're almost brand
new too or sorry, they're almostjust completely different two leagues. Uh yeah,

(42:20):
and you know Pacific Divisions is stillit's it's it's own. It feels
like it's a it's on lea too, just how the scheduling is and just
how many teams there are in thein this division. So, Johnny,
what were you for Halloween? Becausewe had a fun night was CCC.
We had a fun night at CCClast night. I want to want to
talk about it because, uh,kids in costume trick or treat bags from
Williams and associates trick or treating beforethe game, and uh then then you

(42:45):
afterwards, what were you for Halloween? Uh? So I I took a
while to do my trick or treat, my costume shopping. I went to
Spirit Halloween and it was just absolutelypacked and I'll of these. See all
the costumes were taken. So onenote to myself is, you know,
don't wait to last second to getmy Halloween costumes. Just get it early,

(43:07):
get it over with, and thenI have it because there's a better
selection. You know, when Ijust went to go check out costumes a
month ago compared to when I went, like what the thing? I went
on Thursday. So my costume wassomething I actually did kind of want to
be. So luckily I did getthe costume I semi wanted. Bought a
Friday to thirteenth hockey jersey. Ihad four he's on the back with the

(43:29):
number thirteen of big hockey mask inthe middle, so you know, it
was a hockey jersey and then Igot a mask with it just for the
aesthetics. So yeah, my costumewas pretty simple. I usually get better
costumes over the years, but youknow, just really busy with the Roadrunner
starting their season obviously, so justgot to prepare better for next year.
But I overa also elect my costume, and you know, so have Tuesday

(43:52):
night for Halloween to do whatever theplans are. And I'm sure more Halloween
celebrations will go on in November,because who doesn't want to just keep wearing
their costume. I mean I alwaysI love wearing costumes. Just just just
wear it every weekend. Yeah,I see a picture of you here with
your uh, your your jersey andthe the mask. You look good.
That's a good costume. Don't don'tapologize for that at all. What about

(44:15):
Cold's costume? You like? Youlike the Reeses, Yeah, Cole us
as usual of Reese's uh, Reese'scandy wrapper two peanut butter cups. I
think, yeah, yeah, hesaid he's wonder for years. It's just
his go to. Yeah, hewears uh, he's uh decorated as uh
as Reese's pieces wrapper so or Reese'speanut butter cups wrapper. Everybody, uh,

(44:39):
everybody looking good for Halloween. Butthe thing I liked about Halloween,
Uh last night, a lot ofstuff going on in town. And it's
uh, it's uh, it's aweekend where you're not going to see the
biggest crowds in in pro hockey andin the AHL. But yesterday, so
many kids, so many families atthe game in their costumes, trick or
treating and and just like on Tuesdaywhen we had all the school kids out,

(45:02):
forty three hundred people that wouldn't necessarilyhave been at a hockey game had
it not been for that activity.With the school day field trip game and
last night, I think most ofthe crowd was there with families because they
could bring their kids in trick retreatand get a free Halloween bag. So
I thought that was really cool.Definitely introducing roadbunners hockey the folks through different

(45:24):
ways, and it was definitely noticeablein the building last night, a lot
of new faces. You could tellthere was a lot of people at the
game for the first time and inDusty's cheering section for the first time hockey
fans as we always do on ElazaDa Tucson. A big crowd there meeting
Cam and he big and getting theRoadrunners hockey rules, the curriculum there on

(45:45):
how to enjoy a Roadrunners game,what to watch for Q and A with
Cam, So a lot of newfaces there, definitely a lot of new
faces out for the trig Or treat, so a lot of folks exposed to
roadwunner hockey this week with the schoolday game with the Trigger treating and NASCAR
Night on on Friday night at attracteda group, so definitely excited to keep

(46:07):
bringing more and more new people tothe TCC. Yeah, honestly, it
was a it was a really reallygood week. You know, the game
on Tuesday, huge success. Man. I wish we could do more of
those field trip day games because itwas so electric in there and it was
loud. Those kids did not messaround. I made a slight joke I

(46:28):
think I mentioned on one of ourother podcasts, Who's going to be more
loud? Adrian? Are the kids? The kids won, you know,
the first minute of the game,so that was awesome, and then of
course the you know, last night'sgame and the Friday night NASCAR night.
I thought the crowd was still prettygood considering, you know, everyone out
being hollow, being out for Halloween. It was still a little loud in
there, so you know, theRoadrunners fans are just routing and I love

(46:51):
it. We talked about it onHappy Hour in the last week of Brett
Brett Fair of making the point thatthe TCC just in just an older building.
It's got it's got bones, it'suh, it's it used to be
nicknamed the Madhouse on Maine, andwe were trying to figure out why isn't
it nicknamed that anymore? But nevertheless, but just an older building that gets

(47:15):
crazy, it gets loud, itdoes not take much to add atmosphere.
And that's it's why it's uh oneof my favorite spots. You know.
It's it's it's fifty years old andand it's got its character and it gets
loud, and it's not cookie cutter, and it's got a smell. You
can smell the fresh popcorn and anduh it just uh it looks like it

(47:38):
looks like a funneld barn to gowatch a game, and it certainly gets
fun. Yeah, I love thesmell of hockey arenas. You know,
you you walk in, smell thepopcorn, and you smell the food.
I I was, I didn't knowwe served con candy. It's something I
just haven't noticed of our first coupleof games. But yesterday I was,
I was walking just near the whereall the food is sold in so and

(48:00):
see a bunch of con canyon.I'm like, oh my gosh, I
love kN canyon and know we soldthis year. Do you know what the
most popular item at the TCC isduring Roadbuners game as far as the concession
concession item goes. It is knownstate wide when when people in Phoenix talk
about coming to Roadrunners games, there'sone thing that they talk about is what

(48:22):
is it? The mini donuts?It is we have mini donuts. Mini
donuts that Brett Farrah. I don'tknow exactly what the price is, but
Brett fair has coined it the bestvalue in professional sports concessions. The mini
donuts. They've got several different flavors. The only time I will get them

(48:42):
is when my parents come to townbecause they will get some. They will
eat a couple and then on theway back they will stop by my condo
and pop them into the kitchen,so that when I get back back from
the game, I've got some minidonuts. But yeah, those are those
are legendary. Everybody that comes togame knows about the mini donuts. Well,
Adrian, what do you say,do you want? You want them

(49:05):
for Friday's game. I'll get somefor us. Yeah, yeah, you
can go, uh go get sometotally all right, that's that's what Well,
I know what I'm doing before thegame starts on Friday. Speaking of
speaking of favorite concession items, Cattie'sgeneral manager Bill Armstrong, was it the
game on Saturday night and he hashis favorites. I don't. I don't
think it's necessarily a TCC thing,but but maybe it is. I mean,

(49:30):
we we talked about how how greatthe popcorn smells. But uh,
when Bill comes to Roadbunners games,Uh, we always make sure we've got
the big bag of popcorn for himover and the GM suite when he when
he settles in and gets into towatch the game. Yeah, well we

(49:50):
always send uh our intern Brad toget the popcorn for him. Brad is
Bill the popcorn popcorn check. Bradis Bill Sweet con Thiers. Yeah,
yeah, that's a good title forit. What do you have a go
to concession item when you go toa sporting event? A favorite thing?

(50:10):
It sounds crazy, but I haven'tbeen too many because I think it's because
I work in hockey now. Ihaven't been to a lot of hockey games
as a fan over the years,which I'm totally okay with. Uh.
Just went to a couple of Ducksgames last year when I would visit at
home in Riverside. But that's reallyit. For baseball. I love con
candy. I'm a big con candyguy. I try not to eat it

(50:32):
too much because you know, it'skind of almost pure sugar and give you
a bad stomach ache. Love popcorntoo, Like I have a bag of
popcorn in here that I'll probably munchon well after we're done with this.
And I watched some Sunday night football. But oh man, it's just a
soda. I don't know. I'mpretty basic. I don't really have a

(50:52):
thing I go to. It's justwhatever. Like I walk up to the
concession and see like, oh theyhave they have popcorn, or they have
a large soda. I love icys. I love icys. I went to
a Dodgers game last summer too,and I was so thirsty. It was
a super hot day, and obviouslywhen you're thirsty, you don't want to
be drinking something sugary because it willmake you more thirsty. And I was

(51:14):
I was just I don't know,I was feeling crazy. So I bought
a the ones you bring home.I bought a huge cup of that for
the icy and I just downed it. And it was a really bad mistake
because I started feeling sick after andit was hot, so then I was
just feeling worse. And then Igot a water, so con candy,

(51:35):
popcorn, icy soda. I guessall this the sugary stuff is what I
go for. Really, Yeah,I'm not I'm a eat before I go
guy or eat after I go.Yeah, I like to also, I
mean some some places are just tooexpensive. Yeah, it's it's just like
just I'm a messy in nature.So eating eating a meal sitting in a

(51:57):
seat is not not always the great. One thing we'll do when we go
to a game is always make surewe have our factory sealed bottle of water,
just to take that in. Mostplaces allow you to take in a
factory sealed bottle of water and thenthen maybe a soda. My favorite concession
item all of all time is itUS Cellular in Chicago, where the White

(52:20):
Sox play. I don't even thinkit's called that anymore. It's called Guaranteed
Rate, but Guaranteed Rate Field inChicago is a full size baseball helmet with
eighteen scoops of ice cream and it'sjust topped with everything. It's the best
thing. You're like, you're anice cream You're an ice cream connoisseur.
You might you must love that icecream and milkshakes. Yeah, I had

(52:43):
a milkshake today at Coldstone, thebirthday cake batter milkshake. Second time this
week. I've gotten that. Thatsounds good. I had, but I
had a healthy I had healthy PandaExpress. We always talk about pan expresses
as healthy as you want to makeit, and I make it healthy.
And then I went next door andgot a milkshake from cold Stone to to

(53:04):
bring home. But yeah, icecream, ice cream gets me. I
gotta have ice cream and I wantsomething a little sweet with it. So
I ate had the milkshake. Andthen we had a fun fan at the
game last night. It was handingout little Halloween bags of candy and I
just destroyed all of that at thesame time. Oh, I have mine
right here. I've been, I'vebeen. I was nibbling on on it
before we we got on here.But I think part of also why I

(53:30):
love like I love sweets too,Like you know, I don't just eat
straight ice cream, like I likehaving something crunchy with it. But I
think the I think the best partof the dessert, which you know,
it's why they call it dessert.You know, after you eat is you
know, you eat something and thenyou're like, I just need something sweet
to complete it. You know,I want something. I want the last
taste in my mouth to be somethingsweet. So that's why I like going
out with you, Adrian, tolunch or dinner, because you're a dessert

(53:52):
first kind of guy. You know, once the waiter comes back and they
ask like, oh, can weget you anything else, you don't even
ask cause you're like, dessert menuplease. So that's why it's it's it's
fun to it's fun to eat outwith you because you know, sometimes I
do the same thing and people arelike, no, I don't want something
sugar, and I'm like, comeon, like, let's just share it.
So I can always be talked toit. I can always be talked

(54:13):
into dessert. And when I'm everybodyand they don't want THESSRT, I'm always
a little disappointed. I always haveroom for dessert, no matter how much
I eat. What about those chocolatecakes yesterday? They were were they were
kind of it was kind of whatare they called, sue? Uh?
Yeah, it was kind of.It was a terram Suis chocolate cake with

(54:36):
our TCC pizza that we had inour VIP media yesterday that nobody listening can
have nobody listening is allowed to haveit. But sorry that other people can't
have it because it was awesome.But if you're ever at the TCC and
you want an unbelievable pizza, getTCC pizza. It's really good. Yeah,
and I I it's the first timeI've ever seen meatballs on a pizza.

(54:58):
I've never had meatballs on pizza.I said, the pieces were huge.
I said, if they would justgive us meatballs, we'd be happy
that. That's how good the yeahwere. They could have just served the
meatballs with our VIP meal and leftout the pizza and we've been happy.
But the TCC pizza was very good. That's definitely a concession item. I'd
recommend. The Philly Cheese steak caseIda is another TCC concession item I'd recommend

(55:24):
going back a couple of years.Folks that have listened to this podcast for
a while know that Steve Popman's favoriteis the Wildcat rap. So some some
of our favorite favorite food items atthe TCC. If you haven't, you
know, dug into everything yet.Through four games of this home stand,
we've got games five and six comingup. Speaking of Friday Night, five

(55:46):
dollars sixteen ounce draft beers discounted hotdogs. So there's your concession deal Saturday
night and Military Appreciation Night hockey andHops is the the food and beverage item.
Well, twelve drink tickets to samplelocal beers from local brewers at at

(56:06):
the two Soon Arena, come overin a sampling glass, and game take
at two sound venors dot com slashhops. So we got coming up this
weekend at two Soon Arena. Yeah, sorry, Adrian, you you might
have seen me a little happy therelive update Austin Eckler getting a touchdown?
Have him been Fantasy tonight? Sooh, I'm watching the game live,
So yeah, I'm a little stokedfor that. Well, congratulations, I

(56:30):
saw you. I did. Ididn't know if you were having an arm
spasm or going on. Yeah,I haven't. I haven't mete it obviously,
And I just happened to look upand Eckler caught this swing pass and
just had all grass the rest ofthe way. So great, great touchdown.
People. People love our live updatesduring the podcast on when we do

(56:51):
them on these Sundays. You know, I'll I can have the game on
in the background and you know,if something I'll do it if something,
if it's something significant for fantasy purposes. For me, I'm a I'm in
six fantasy leagues this year, soI always usually have a player for every
single game. You're in six fantasyleagues, I am it. I honestly
I don't. Next year I'm probablytry to cut it by half because six

(57:13):
fantasy leagues is just too much.Like this morning, when you know,
when I went to bed at sixand woke up at nine forty. I
woke up at nine forty just soI can check my fantasy because it takes
me, you know, five toten minutes because I have to go through
every league. It was rough becauseyou know, I was a little dillerous
this morning waking up and I waslike, gosh, WoT do I start?
I can't even think about who Iwant to start right now. But

(57:36):
yeah, it's been great, greatday for me. I think, yeah,
I think I'm gonna at least winfive, four or five of the
six today. So happy in thatcategory. That's the beauty of being in
a lot of leagues. You canhave a bad week in one team,
but then another team does great orguess in the season overall. But then
if you have a bunch of badteams, then it's not fun. That's

(57:57):
the risk of it too. Yeah, I've I've always said that my life
is a fantasy hockey league, SoI've not typically gotten into that stuff in
the last twenty years because I'm livingit, man, living living the fantasy
right here with our team. Ohyeah, and most definitely, I haven't
done a fantasy hockey team league ina while. It's been last time it

(58:22):
was weird. Last time I didone, I think it was with a
bunch of it just ducks people livingnext living next to Anaheim, and one
of the creators or the creator ofthe league made like a whole account for
the league, so whenever there's atransaction, they would post about it and
it was kind of interesting. Butthen after a while he texted the group

(58:45):
chat and just said, I can'tdo it any more, guys, like
everyone's making too many transactions. I'mlike, well, we didn't really ask
you to do it. It wascool, but it's like, why why
were we it was? I don'tknow, it was just fun, it
was. It was a fun league. I think my team was bad though.
I couldn't keep setting lineups every singleday. Yeah, it's a lot
of work work for hockey because hockey'severy day, whereas football, you know,

(59:08):
three days a week, just likeour podcast once a week, unless
the folks are really lucky and we'llgive them a bonus edition midweek midweek special.
I like the midweek specials, youknow, uh, you know,
just to give it fans like,hey, we got one up. Listen,
listen to our beautiful voices for thenext hour with us playing. Not

(59:29):
until Friday, though, this isgonna be the one podcast of the week,
and I think that's gonna that's gonnajust about do it. Yeah.
So we ended I think we endedlights to Tucson last week. So I
want to do some Roadrunners rock.Yeah, take us out with the Roadrunner
rock. All right, let's doit. We'll see you. We see
you on Friday, folks, Let'sgo Tucson. Come after one of ourse

(01:00:00):
friends. We've seen us gape before. We know how this story ends.
Tonight. We're rising up tonight togoing down. You try to run up
on us, We're gonna und yourtime. Get off the bus, go
back to where you came from.Getting on the bus, drop far far

(01:00:22):
away, hang up the skates,drop your gloves. Put just this away.
You got beat down tonight. That'sthe Two sad Way road right from
road Ridder from road Rider, fromroad righting Frock. That's the Two sad Way