Road trip Recap, Pin Trading

Adrian Denny and Jonathon Schaffer recap the successful three-game road trip for the Roadrunners as well as Johnny's trip back home for himself. They recap their away fan visitors to their broadcast box at the Acrisure Arena. They also hear from John Leonard and Travis Barron after the team's Sunday win in Coachella Valley and from Austin Poganski on his practice with the Jr. Roadrunners.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
When you want more Roadrunners, We'vegot more road Runners. This is the
two Soun Roadrunners Insider Podcast, andwe're not fighting. They were having a
discussion with the voice of the Roadrunners, Adrian Demmi. What advice do you
have for me? Drink a lotof water. It's pretty odd and your
new best friend my best friend,Jonathan Schaeffer. The guys are already talking,

(00:21):
so let's join them right here onyour Two Son Roadrunners Insider podcast.
Hey, everybody, welcome to thislazy Monday edition of your two Sound Roadrunners
Insider podcasts. We're back into song. Jonathan Schaeffer. I made her and
Denny Roadbunners, taking two or threeon the trip, winning four or five
overall. Johnny good game in Coachellaon Sunday. I could tell in the

(00:44):
first ten minutes of Roadhunners We're gonnawin the game. I just thought they
came out with a purpose. Thoughtthey were playing better than Coachella Valley.
Thought our goalie was gonna be better. He was and nice win there for
two. Soon they ended up gettinga couple of goals. And you know,
anytime we play Kachella Valley, wetalk about the key moments how do
we play after a goal four,How do we play after a goal against?

(01:07):
How do we manage the special teams? How do we play the first
five minutes of a period, thelast five minutes of a period. And
when Kachella Valley has success, they'remanaging those key moments. When we played
them in October opening Eye at theTCC, they scored just over two minutes
in led the rest of the way. Roaderwinners got the first goal. Here.
We always talk about fastest two goalsin a game. The team that

(01:30):
gets those the best chance to winthe game because of the momentum that you're
pulling. And Rodunners got fastest twogoals of the year, two goals seventy
seconds. Kachella Valley finally got onthe board. The Roadrunners drew a penalty
ten seconds later, scored that powerplay goal twenty nine seconds after they had
the lead cut to one. Ishould say we drew the penalty nineteen seconds

(01:55):
after the goal was scored, scoredon the power play ten seconds in so
alments, Roadrunners were good. Theypushed back, they didn't let the building
overtake them. They stayed disciplined,they stayed composed. I thought it was
a really nice game for twusons andyou know, Johnny, we'll talk about
it. You were at the gameon Saturday. Coachella Valley was playing it
back to back against Calgary, whichwas the Placific Division Championship playoff series from

(02:24):
last year, and Mitchella Valley scoredin the first, made it one nothing.
Calgary scored four straight and fire Birdsgot forty plus shots on Oscar Dance
in that game. And I thegeneral vibe I got in the building I've
talked about the vibe in that buildingbefore, was that, oh, good
Sunday, We've got the Roadrunners year. That'll be easy to get back on
track. And it's they felt thatway last year when they beat us in

(02:49):
game one. There was just avibe in the building from everybody that after
they won game one of that series, game two was going to be easy.
Series was going to be over read. Wunners came out, put up
a three spot in the first andforced the the siding. Game three yesterday,
despite the fact that both teams hadsix wins going into the game,
got another vibe, Okay, welost to Calgary. Now we've got the

(03:12):
Roadrunners coming in. That'll Uh,that'll be a nice it'll shake off for
the Sunday, and I thought theRoadrunners took it to him. Big series
coming up at the TCC Friday andSaturday against the Firebirds, expect to see
Chris Drieger, the Firebirds starting goalie, probably in both those games. I
would think that's how they've kind ofbeen going. But Tucson got the first

(03:34):
one and in a good spot tokeep it going. But but Johnny,
I think playing in the key momentslike the Roadrunners did, there's there's no
reason to think that the Euro upmatchedat all by the Firebirds. And I
thought Tucson played the better game,took it to him better in the key
moments, and just kept pushing.So I thought that was a really nice

(03:54):
sixty minutes for Tucson in every aspect, the way they play, the way
they man the game, the waythat they pushed back. Matt Walalta a
career high forty five saves, whichI would have thought there would have been
some games in Ontario where he mighthave made more, because it seemed like
every time we played him he gotforty five to fifty shots and they were

(04:15):
always at the bottom and shots allowedbut that was indeed a career game for
Maddie stopped forty five and the roadWinners take two to three. You know,
looking at the game Friday, youdon't always win every game you should,
or maybe you go sixty eight andfour, but you know, a
good goaltending performance from Eric Portillo Fridayin Ontario, the University of Michigan rookie

(04:38):
he stole that game. Matt Walaltahelps the Roadrunners get this game, Johnny.
A big narrative in the game onSunday was all the guys that got
their first first points for Travis Barronand CAMKROATEI first goals for Raku Ratu,
for John Leonard, for Cameron Hebig, and the goals are starting to come
as we said they would. Threeof the last four games Roadrunners have put

(05:01):
up four. More so, asI said, Johnny on the podcast two
weeks ago, don't judge a teamtwo weeks in, judge a team at
Thanksgiving. And since I said that, Roadrunners one four or five. I
said Colorado was going to do that, said Coachella was going to do that.
And we're starting to see see thegood teams get into their structure,

(05:25):
get rolling and get going. DylanGunther told us after the game on Friday,
He's like a lot of new guyshere, we're playing together, and
you saw what Dylan and Nathan Smithand Josh Doone have done. I think
that's going to be a line thatthe rest of the AHL is talking about,
if they are aren't already. Yeah, and I thought it was an
overall successful trip. I mean,in three games, you go two and

(05:46):
one. And we also talked abouthow important this trip was because at the
time, Ontario and Coachella and theRoadrunners all had five wins, so you
know, to come in to thesehostile environments. I mean Ontario and Coachell,
they both get a lot of fansin their crowds. They're both very
loud stadiums, and maybe just theway they're built as well. It was
successful. I mean sure, theloss on Friday was a close one.

(06:10):
I mean, you know, atleast we didn't It wasn't a game where
we got blown out. I meanwe were just very much in it.
So yeah, I'm sure the boyswere happy, you know, especially closing
it out, you know, withthat really big win against Coachelle. And
Yeah, I think that road tripreally demonstrated how we said it yesterday,
how unfhazed this team can get.You know, like the Wednesday night game,

(06:31):
the team was up three to onein the third, seemed like we
were gonna run away with it,and before you know it, Ontario climbs
back, you know, with thatfive on three goal, and then they
tie. They tied a game up, and what did the guys do.
They took into overtime and they theywon. I mean they completely dominated that
overtime period. I mean the ontariouldeven get a shot on goal. Next
night they lose. They were trailingthe whole game. They made it really

(06:55):
close. They had some really goodpushes at the end. Sometimes the puck
just doesn't go away. And thenon Sunday, sure they took they took
a two goal lead, but Coachellawas not giving up. I mean they
got over forty shots on goal forthe game, you know, when they
were up to nothing, and thenthey scored that goal and to make it
two to one. They got thefans back into it. And then what
do we do going to power playing? John Leonard scores and then of course

(07:18):
Cameron he been getting the insurance goalsfor us. The much needed ones because
seemed that Coachella was just firing onall cylinders in that late third period yesterday,
and yeah, the guys have justbeen unfazed, you know, even
whether they're trailing or their leading andjust need to keep that lead. I
thought they're very composed throughout the wholeweek. One of my messages yesterday was

(07:40):
it's not the same road Runners teamthat it was last year that lost in
the deciding Game three to Coachella Valley. They're a year older, They've got
some more experience that's been added,and I thought that showed yesterday. We
talked about key moments. Remember thatplayoff series last year, Coachella Valley all
of a sudden up four top thingin that first period. Tucson was was

(08:01):
unable to stop it. They wereunable to contain when Kachella Valley got that
first one game one, all ofa sudden, the three nothing game,
couldn't couldn't contain it. And yesterdaythe Roadrunners we were able to contain it.
And like what we saw, andbig performance from Cameron he Big.
He had two goals in the game, the ultimate game winner and the big

(08:22):
insurance goal. And you know we'veseen Cam. This is fourth year with
the Roadrunners, and anytime he's insertedin the lineup, he does something big
that's impactful in the game. Mentionedit with Steve yesterday pre game and then
all of a sudden he comes outand he gets two goals, just like
that with the baron and Kelleman justjust out in front. But that's why

(08:45):
he's He earned a contract when hecame here on the tryout. So I
heard another contract, So I hearedanother contract, So I heared another contract,
and a big game for Cam.He big and Milos Kellman getting called
up to the Coyotes this morning,the fifth road Runner to to get called
up to Arizona this year. Andfor the road Runners just continue to put

(09:05):
new pieces, uh, new piecesin. They did it on the defensive
side this week with kessel Ring goingup to the Coyotes with Cam for forgetting
hurt last weekend cotching and on yourBucci stepping right in catch a guy that's
played for years in Europe, onyou Bucci, a couple of years in
San Jose on an entry level NHLdeal with Coyotes, and and yesterday with

(09:26):
UH with a spot in the lineupopen Cameron he big takes it and steps
right in and and does a greatjob. Other thing yesterday the road Runners
did was they control of the specialteams. Entering the game at Chella Valley,
was fourth on the PK, theywere second on the power play.
Redners scored a power play goal.I'm perfect on the PK, so a
lot of shots in the game.It was uh, you know, it

(09:50):
was a game where the goalies allsaw some some rubber. Uh. Valalta
was was great. Another another bigone for for Maddie. Now six and
three on the year, so uhhe entered uh ended the day where six
wins would have been tied for forthe league lead. So so all good
stuff across the board there. DylanGunther gets another point, now eleven points

(10:13):
in in eleven games. As faras the heavy hitters go, how about
Victor Sholderstrom three assists, multiple pointsfor Aku Ratu. He uh tapped that
puck to to Victor on the JohnLeonard power play goal. So everybody involved
all great. Take two or threeon the trip. That's that's big,
Johnny. Four out of six points, you said, each team with five

(10:35):
wins entering the week, and thenwent to Palm Desert yesterday, each team
had six wins. Kat chill AValley coming off loss. Thank every I'm
not saying the Firebirds thought it wasgoing to be an easy shakeoff game,
but everybody in the building did so. Uh. Tucson took it to him.
Liked uh, liked what we saw, liked uh, liked it all.

(10:56):
Excited for the challenge we'll talk aboutwith Steve Potland coming up on Road
Winners Happy Hour Tuesday at five onFox Sports fourteen fifty am. Now the
challenge they're coming into our barn.Want to continue to take care of business?
Yeah, I expect Coachella Valley to, you know, come in strong.

(11:18):
I mean two games in a rowwhere they've had over forty shots and
they lost both of them. That'sgot to be frustrating. You know,
they ran into really two hot goaltenders. You know, Oscar Dance had forty
saves for the Calgary Wranglers on Saturdaynight's game. I was there, I
saw him. I was sitting onhis side. He played an amazing game,
and then the next night you puteven you put more than forty forty

(11:39):
shots, put you put the fortyeight. It was forty eight, right,
Yeah, the loss. Had fortyfive saves, they put forty eight
shots on goal and they still can'twin. They got three goals, but
they still didn't win. I mean, forty five out of forty eight.
It's amazing for a goaltender. Sothey're going to be frustrated. They do
have a game in between this tripheading into Tucson now, so you know,

(12:00):
maybe they get back on track,maybe they don't. I'm sure it
will effect the two games ahead,so you know, at least the guys
have a whole week to prep Ithink Travis barn when we talked him after
the game, he had a reallygood point. You know. I asked
him, how do you prepare forthis weekend, you know, two games
against him? He said, well, we kind of already did with tonight,
you know, compared to the veryfirst game, the home opener,
where we were shut out for nothing, compared to this game, the adjustments

(12:24):
were there. They figured out whatthey did wrong. And yeah, we
also go back to the defense.Victor Soderstrom getting the three assists, The
whole defense has been stepping up offensively. Patrick Koch has had a couple points
in his season debut, or atleast sorry. His second game, Cam
Crotty had his first assist. ColiaChonik is starting to get on the board,
so you know, instead of justthe first month of the season where

(12:45):
lots of goals were not scored,it was probably I'm not saying it was
the defense's fault, but you know, the defense wasn't really contributing offensively as
much. But now we're seeing thewhole team come together and now we're seeing
goals on the board, which againwe were expect. So team's playing great
and it's going to be a funtwo games this weekend. Dylan Gunther told
us after the game on Friday,when we were getting ready to come to

(13:09):
Kutchella Valie to play the game,he's He made the comment, I think
we've grown a lot as a teamin the last three weeks, and we've
we've seen it from the Roadrunners nowseven and four, winning four of their
last five. Speaking of Travis Barron, Johnny caught up with him after the
game. Let's hear it right now, Travis, is a good game for
you guys tonight. I mean,you guys had a couple of multi goal

(13:31):
leads. They just kept pushing back, but you guys really stayed unfazed.
Just what was the message on thebench about this whole game? I mean
for us, I think we juststick to our game plan and things will
be fine. I mean the chanceswe gave them were kind of on all
of our mistakes, just blue linemanagement stuff like that. I think when
we just you know, kept itsimple and we were we were fine.

(13:52):
And for you, you know,you've had a lot of chances about the
whole season. We even talked aboutit, you know, just sometimes the
puck just doesn't go in, butyou get your first to assist tonight.
Just how big is that for you? Yeah? It's huge. I mean
I feel like Biggie and Milos inmy line, we're just keeping it simple
and just you know, we're Ifeel like we're out working on our team
and the simpler the better for us, I feel like. And finally we

(14:13):
got rewarded, So it's good.Yeah. And how about Matthew Volotta.
We've talked about him a lot throughoutthe whole season, but he had another
big game for you guys tonight ina very loud building. Just how big
was he for you? Mattie iceIs is always a rock for us back
there. We have we have nodoubt in him. We trust him with
our lives. And you know,it's such a good feeling when you have
a goaltender like that in net.And now you guys get a couple of
days off, we bust back hometonight, and now Coachella comes in next

(14:35):
week on Friday and Saturday. Justhow do you guys prep for that?
I feel like it started already.You know, today's was a game one
of a three game series, andnow they're coming to our barn. So
I think we just got a youknow, rest, recover and then go
to work. Awesome. Thanks Travis, thank you, thank you. Yeah.
Good for Travis Baird. Uh.You know, he's the kind of
player we talked about on the pregameshow and even during the game yesterday,

(14:58):
that he's so valuable as his team. You know, the first ten games
of the season didn't have a pointat all, no goals, no goals
or no assist. But he wasplugged into the lineup every single night because
you know, sometimes points still matterfor a play. I mean they matter,
but you know, if you're notscoring points, it's not the end
of the world. Travis Barron isa great penalty killer that five on three,

(15:20):
the couple nights ago where he hada breakaway and you had a couple
of scoring chances like that's beautiful,and he had a lot of great chances
overall during the whole season, justyou know, sometimes he gets snake be
in, so you know, it'sgreat for him to get on the board.
Great for John Leonard to get hisfirst goal of the season, and
also Cam Cryd to get his firstassist on the year as well. Let's
hear from John Leonard right now.He got his first on Sunday on the

(15:43):
power play, and Johnny, it'sgonna be the first of many. He
scored seventeen with Milwaukee last year,scored seventeen with the Barracuda the year before
that, and we're starting to seeall the points, all the goals start
to drop for Tucson. Johnny cutup with John Leonard after the game on
Sunday, John, a big winfor you guys tonight. But let's go

(16:06):
back to that end of that secondperiod where you know, you guys were
up to nothing. They scored back, got the fans back into it.
But then you guys scored that powerplay goal to make it three to one.
Just overall the whole night, youguys were pretty just non phased by
them pushing back. Just how bigwas that for you guys? Yeah,
I think it was a huge win. You know, a pretty successful road
trip overall for us. I thinkwe let one get away the second night

(16:29):
in Ontario, but obviously came outtonight ready to go. And you know
they played last night, so wetried to jump on them earlier and I
thought we did a good job ofthat. Yeah, And for you to
get your first of the season,you know, you've been working hard,
You've had a lot of great chancesthroughout the whole year. But yeah,
just how big was that one foryou to get the first one on the
board. Yeah, it felt good. Sometimes that's you know, the way
it plays out and you go throughstretches like that, and obviously it's felt

(16:52):
good. But you know, toget to win in this building, and
you know, it's a tough placeto play and a really fun place to
play at the same time. SoI'm just happy to get to win.
Yeah. Now you guys have wonfour of your last five, and now
Coachella comes into you guys, intoTucson for Friday and Saturday. Just what's
going to be the preparation for that. Yeah, obviously we traveled back tonight
and then get some rest, andyou know, I'm guessing they're gonna come

(17:15):
out a little harder than they didtonight. And you know, obviously they
got a lot of good skill overthere and play a fast game, So
expect a lot of that and youknow, hopefully we can you know,
have some counters with that. Awesome, Thanks John, Thank you. Yeah,
And sometimes you just need one gameto get a goal and then all
you all of a sudden, Wella week from now, we'll be saying,

(17:36):
oh, John Leonard has five goalsin his last three games or something.
You know, all it takes isfor one game to kind of get
back on track. And you know, again, John Leonard's also a player
this year that I really think hasbeen snake bin a lot, whether the
puck just rolls on him, lastsecond, he has a great shot,
but a body gets in front ofthe net, it hits a pipe,
the goaltender makes a sprawling save onhim. So I expect him to star,

(18:00):
are you know kind of really inthe points? Yeah, it's I
think he's going to get a goodstretch. Yeah, so Travis Barron,
John Leonard heard from them after thegame on Sunday, Brodinners held on and
Johnny there was never really any doubt, right, Coachella Valley made it two
to one, they made it threeto two, and and the way the
Roadrunners responded after those goals against whatit took less than thirty seconds to make

(18:22):
two one three one. But inthe third period we were going to kind
of go in at three to twofor a little bit there before that he
big goal and uh never really neverreally a doubt from from Tucson. They
were they were never really in ain a spot. Right. You can
tell maybe maybe a couple of minutesof the game against uh Ontario in the
third period on Wednesday, maybe we'retrying to weather the storm. They're coming

(18:44):
hard. Never felt that way inthe game on Sunday that we're just trying
to get through a situation that we'rejust trying to weather. Yeah. Again,
it's it's the word unfazed, youknow. And that's that barn To
Actress Arena. You know, I'vebeen there. I went there for the
first time on this It's loud andyou know it wasn't up pack. It
wasn't every c wasn't packed, butfor a Sunday game, there were a

(19:06):
lot of fans there, so I'msure the guys had to kind of block
out the noise. And of course, going up to nothing that kind of
silences the crowd. So that firstperiod was great. Again when they scored
back and got back into this game, you don't want to get the crowd
into it. And then of courseJohn Leonard gets the powerplay goal to kind
of silence the crowd again. Andthen you know, once Tucson, honestly,

(19:26):
once Tucson was up four or fourtwo, I started seeing people leave
and of course got the five twolead, and then you know, they
scored back to make it five tothree. But of course Cameron Hebig was
the insurance man of that game,you know, making sure that they just
weren't able to climb back into it. Yeah. I always wonder where people
are going when they leave a gameearly. Like I heard it. I

(19:48):
heard it takes forever to get outof that parking lot. That's what my
family told me. So they saya lot of people leave early, but
they were still well in it inthe game. I'm like where's that one
going? You know this? Thisis fine? I don't know for me.
Whenever I paid for a sporting eventticket, I stayed throughout. I
don't care if the team I goto watch this game blown out or not,
like I paid money to be there. Like my questions, where do

(20:11):
you have to be? Like youhalf hour two and a half hour three
hour window? What just changed thatyou gotta leave two hours in where?
I mean it wasn't early game.I mean five o'clock is pretty early for
a hockey game. So well,what time was it? Like? Probably
seven by the time the game ended, I think seven thirty, so the

(20:32):
night was still young. I meanpeople probably just went out downtown to go
enjoy the rest of their days.I guess probably another Firebirds gear that you
know, they just lost their game. You live in Palm Springs, where
what's the rush? Like? Whatwhat can't you do in an hour like
that? You? Yeah, howabout what we did? How about what
we did in two hours? Yeah? We we'll talk about our our afternoon

(20:53):
in in Palm Springs. We hada nice little, uh, nice little
afternoon. I think the folks,all folks will enjoy. But speaking of
the fans, at the actressher Johnny, you were one of them. On
Saturday night, you were sitting frontrow in a Tucson Roadrunners hoodie. I
was. I had to, soI went with my family that lives there,

(21:15):
and they told me like, oh, do you want to wear you
want Coachella Valley gear, and I'mlike, no, I have my Roadrunners
gear. I cannot wear that.It was fun, you know, it
was nice going to a hockey game. I guess as a mutual fan of
the sport for once sat on theside that Coachella's offensive zone. So basically

(21:37):
again I got to watch Oscar dancethat really that whole game. So his
forty save performance was kind of funto watch because I'm a goalie guy.
I like goalies. Really. Funnystory, don't know if I told you
this. One of it was numberforty six from Calgary. I'll maybe I
can get a name real quick.But one of their players scored and went
up to one of my family membersand pointed right at them and it was

(22:00):
just it was hilarious. And thenher dad, his name is Dan Jacobson.
He's like this six seven giant andwhen the period was over, he
stands up and he wanted to gojust kind of smack talk the player that
pointed at his daughter and he theplayer got out of there quick because you
know, he probably saw how tallDan was. Just it was it was

(22:22):
just kind of a funny moment.But yeah, it was fun being down
by the glass and just watching somehockey as a fan for once. Any
any comments about your road Runners hoodieat the game on Saturday night. I
don't think anyone really noticed. Itwasn't really it was the black and white
one I have, so, youknow, maybe not as standout. You
know, maybe it was like theRoadrunner's actual colors. But yeah, no,

(22:47):
no, no comments at all.No one really noticed. It was
a kid. Actually, sorry,there was a kid. There's a little
boy scout sitting next to me,and I don't know what it is.
Whenever I'm walking around in either likemy suit or something, kids just want
to talk to me. And thiskid starts talking talking to me and he's
like, where are you from.I'm like, oh, well, I'm
from Riverside, but I live inTucson. Now it's explaining to him,

(23:08):
how uh, how the Roadrunners,the team I work for, is coming
here to play tomorrow. And he'slike, I don't know what you said,
but he said somewhere along the linesof like, oh, we're gonna
beat you guys, blah blah blah. Probably doesn't even know who we are,
just you know, just there forthe fun of it. And then
he asked me if he can getsome merchandise. I'm like, I don't
have that kind of power yet andI don't even know if I give it

(23:29):
to you. So that was uhso that was interesting. We got we
got to asked for a lot ofthings. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
this So I don't know if youwant to, I guess I'll tell the
story because you're kind of getting readyto go on there. So I just
finished my segment. I think itwas second intermission. So I just finished
my second intermission and I see this, uh, this lady to the very

(23:51):
left of us, because at theactressure arena, we're not really in a
broadcast booth. We're kind of justfenced off, so there's fans all over
us, which is fun. Ilike kind of like sitting by the fans.
As to an extent, they canbe fans can be interesting sometimes,
but right you, Roadrunners, fansare awesome. Come by any time,
but when we're on away games,it can be interesting because people ask us
like, oh you with the awayteam anyway? Sorry. So this lady

(24:12):
comes by us and she's at thevery left of agent, but she's getting
my attention. I'm like, ohhi, and she asks me it's like
is that Roadrunners pin. I'm like, yeah, it's our it's our season
pin. And then she asks melike oh, Like she doesn't even ask
me for it. She just sayslike, oh, like, because I'm
collecting pins, and I already gotit, kind of got the notion that

(24:32):
oh, she wants my pin,and I went straight to the point like
no, like, this is myseason pin. I like this pin.
I wear it to every game.And she just kind of looks at me
as if like I'm in the wrongfor not giving her the pin, because
I'm like, it's my pin.What am I supposed to I'm not giving
you my pin. I appreciate thecollection, like I'll I'll bring a pin
next time, and if she comesby, I'll give it to her because

(24:52):
I have a couple of pins fromother seasons. I'll give her one because
I appreciate the collection. It's acool collection. But I just didn't like
the look she gave me as ifI was supposed to give it to her
because she was collecting the pins shedidn't like. Usually, usually these pin
people have stuff to exchange. Idon't think she had one to exchange.
I had no idea where Hey,sure, maybe because I like pins too,

(25:17):
they're cool, Like I would Iwould have a Coachella pin to just
have. I mean, it wouldbe cool to have, but probably didn't
have one to trade, so shejust wanted me to give it to her.
Yeah, So it's it's it's funny, like we'll be we'll be at
these practice rinks and people will comeup to us, Hey, you can
you got any sticks? Do youhave any pucks? Like we're pulling a
separate trailer with just stuff to giveaway gear, Yeah, merchandise usually when

(25:40):
we're out in the crowd. Usuallyrun out in the crowd, Johnny.
The number one thing we get askedis, hey, can you announce this
birthday in the arena? Like,but in Coachella Valley was people asking us
for stuff like the the pin thingwas the pin thing was really like she
hunted down your pin, like shesaw that I was wearing a pin.

(26:02):
Ooh, I want that pin.I want that Tucson Roadrunners twenty three twenty
four pin. Like you were justgonna take the pin and right off your
suit jacket and give it to her. Yeah, No, I love that
pin. I'm not getting rid ofthat. Like, I don't know pin
trading etiquette, but the first partof it is you should have something to
offer the person you want their pininstead of just taking their pins. Yeah.

(26:23):
And then and then we had anotherfan ask for our media notes.
He didn't even know what he didn'teven know what he was asking for,
why, he just wanted He justYou're like, can he have your notes?
I'm like, well, they're scribbledeverywhere. That's just a stat pack,
Like he had no idea what hewas even a yeah, I don't
know because he said that, likehe's like, oh, do you guys

(26:45):
Are you guys gonna throw that away? And I'm like, well, I
don't know, because my boss mightkeep it for future stats. I don't
know what he does with them.And I just kind of felt awkward asking
you, like, hey, thisguy's asking for our stat like the stat
packs, and then you I methe AHL official one, which you can
probably just get off the website.I'm like, here you go. Did
you want my notebook? Did hewant that for free too? Did he

(27:07):
want a notebook with scribbled pages init? No? No, man,
people just wanted stuff from us.So I'm like, that's just here to
call a game man. That wasit was. It was weird, and
I'm all for pin trading and collections. But yeah, I appreciate. I
appreciate the pink collection because she didshow me them. I had a split
look. I obviously she had Coachella, John On, Ontario One and San

(27:30):
Diego. I think those are theonly teams shed their broadcasters are nice and
just give away the Yeah, Iguess I'm the I'm the bad guy for
not giving the pin, or atleast not having an extra one. And
then probably would't even get because Calgaryand Abbotsford they'reight, their guys don't travel,
so that's probably it. I meanprobably, I don't know who else

(27:52):
she can get. When I workedin when I worked in a supermarket and
people would come in and like,you're out of this item. Do you
have any in the back, Likewe had a separate grocery store in the
word at you've worked at a supermarket. I worked in a supermarket for five
years in high school and college,and people would be like, you're out
of this. Do you have anyin the back? Like, well,
if we had any in the back, we would have probably brought it out

(28:15):
from the back and filled the shelveswith it. Like, no, we
don't have any of the back,we're out. Do you have any in
the back, like they had someold trick up their sleeve. Do you
have any in the back, Likewe had a separate grocery store in the
back with all the stuff that we'dbe out of. I feel the same
way when I worked at Chili's.Uh. People would like people would come
for something or like sorry, peoplewould come in order something, and then

(28:37):
we're just we're out of it.I'm like, oh, I'm so sorry,
Like we were out of that.We had a really busy day yesterday.
It was like maybe a Sunday oractually no, I never worked Sundays,
so maybe it was like off Saturday, I don't know, or like
the Friday before we were super busyand I'm like, oh, sorry,
like we had a very busy day, We're out of this, and they're
like, oh, that's all Icame for and then it'll just stare at
me and I'm like, what amI supposed to do? Do you want
me to go to another Chilis andpick it up for you? Like they

(29:02):
don't understand that sometimes like we runout of stuff, like we only we
can only do so much, andthen sometimes we just we don't have an
extra pin to give away. I'msorry I didn't. I'll bring it next
time. If if I don't thinkI will bring it, I apologize Johnny,
like like this is this is thepart of the program that we can
call Adrian's a jerk but as niceas I am, and it is,

(29:26):
you know, everybody knows I'm agreat guy. But like asking somebody for
a pin on there, that's whereI draw the line, like no,
sorry, we're not doing this,Like I still appreciate the collection though.
It's a cool collection. So Iwas very I was very happy that you
put your foot down. Yeah Iwas. I was not giving that away,

(29:47):
but I'll make sure she was.She was put out by it.
She was put off. See,I know I need to bring one because
she did tell me she'll be backwhen the road Runners are back, and
we're we're done this is not asituation should it's up for negotiation. We're
not debating it. We're not doingpins. She blew it, She blew
it. You have to be maybemaybe maybe I maybe I'll I'll hit her

(30:10):
with the I have a pin.I brought the next one, But do
you have one to give me?You could say I might do that.
I might try to try to doa trade, because now you intrigued me
saying that we should do a trade. So yeah, see, well,
I mean it's a few months.When's the next one we're back in coach
or at least I don't even knowwhen I'll be back into coach out with

(30:30):
you guys. I guess we're backin February, and then we go for
a couple one offs in March inApril. Yeah, I don't know if
I'll do February. I don't.I think the schedule doesn't work. But
definitely, because I only bust withthe team, so when you guys fly,
it's not I'm not there usually itjust depends how things are going.
But definitely March. You guys playthere on my birthday or we play there

(30:52):
on my birthday, so that'd befun. It's gonna be fun. It's
gonna be a fun weekend. Soyeah, probably March pretty much when I'll
be back there. We've got himback here Friday and Saturday, Runners taken
on the Firebirds and again we mentionedit. Milos Keleman called up, how
about Milosh? Three points last night? And we always talked about his points

(31:14):
are going to be there. They'regonna be there in bunches. Fourteen games
with the Coyotes last year, andyou know it's uh, you love everybody
getting a chance, right like Benmc cartney's been called up, Milosh Kellman,
Michael kessel Ring, Zach Sandford gettingthe call already, Yanny Unique getting
called up. So five guys alreadywe had sixteen two years ago, twelve
last year. You just love it. Love the rotation they're going around based

(31:37):
on the need. And congratulations toMilo. She was not on the bus
with us. I confused by that. I got confused because I'm like,
wait, why is Milosh not here? And I don't know why. I
think I was just so tired thattwo and two didn't go together that he
got called up. Yes, soI didn't. I got the news this
morning when I woke up that Milojust called up. You thought missed the

(32:01):
bus. Yeah, well, Idon't know. Maybe I thought he went
back home or something. I justI just didn't think about that he got
called up, which I'm not sayinglike, oh, he's never gonna get
called up. I just I sometimesI don't put two and two together,
Adrian, And that's it was late. It was late. It was late
at night. And as a resultof Milosh getting called up, you got
a seat. I did. Idid get a seat. We the players

(32:24):
had ten minutes to claim to seat. Actually, well, gun Th Dylan
was sitting there first, Dylan Gunther, and he moved back to go hang
out with the guys. So thenI took his seat. But then his
air pods were still there, soI was worried that he was gonna try
to take the seat back, andI was it was just gonna be an
awkward situation. I'm like, oh, my bad. But he told me

(32:45):
from the back, He's like,oh, no, you're good, just
sit there. I'll get the airpods later. And I was like,
okay. So when Parker, whenParker Poor or performance coach, and I
were talking about the situation, likeall right, I said, well,
if if it looks like we mighthave an open and seed if the guys
don't claim this one. When wetake off. They had ten minutes,

(33:05):
uh ten minutes to our uh toour first uh stop there, and uh
we all got off and went inand got snacks and and I said to
Parker, well, if nobody takesit getting on the bus, I guess
Johnny gets it. And he's like, no, they had their chances.
Johnny gets it now. And thenall of a sudden, you see Dylan
Gunther's air pods there and dyaling tenfeet behind you, Like You're like,
whose air pods are these? Whoseair pods? I'm like, I don't

(33:28):
know whose air pods are these?Who seed that? I just snag?
Uh yeah, part I loved partwhat Parker said. He's like, dude,
it's it's an hour and never situation, like you either sit there.
It's either you take the seat oryou're gonna be stuck next to Adrian for
five hours. So yeah, wedid. I did enjoy our first uh
first ten minutes of the bus ride. And we were sharing some cookies that

(33:49):
uh I stacked up at the arenaat the Actors Arena. Great Cookies by
the way. Great food by theway, also like that. It was
like shredded barbecue chicken with some tatertots. I ate it really asked,
but it was phenomenal. Yeah,the post game Johnny went down for the
post game meal and helped himself tothe buffet and then sends me a text,
I got you some cookies and we, uh, yeah, we shared

(34:10):
some postgame cookies and it was waswonderful. Yeah. I had like I
had like ten minutes to eat.Uh, so I was I was pretty
rushed and then Unique was getting WhenI realized, like, oh, I
shook get some agents some cookies.Unique was getting cookies too, and we
just had a little laugh where it'slike, well, we're not gonna let
these cookies wat and Unique said,yep, not when I'm here. So
we uh we both got a lot. How about Unique and Patrick Cotche playing

(34:32):
video games the whole bus ride rightbehind? We were talking with Jan on
Happy Hour last week and he hewas talking about FIFA and you got a
firsthand. But what Jan didn't tellus is he does play by play during
the FIFA. Was he doing playby play? I didn't catch that.
I just thought he was he wasspeaking Czech. I think so, yeah

(34:55):
he was doing that was play byplay by Playney, I maybe you can,
uh you can do a little playby play for some highlights of the
Roadrunners. We can show some peoplethat I be kind. Yeah, we'll
give him, we'll give him somestuff to call. Yeah, but uh
yeah, that was that was hilarious. Uh those guys, Like, I'm
like, how did they have?First off, how did they have so

(35:15):
much energy playing that game the wholebus ride after playing a whole hockey game,
Like I was more tired than them. And yeah, I guess that's
the only question I have. It'slike, how'd you guys play it so
long? You know, they're soenergizing. Uh, Parker uh even had
to tell them to be quiet alittle bit because they were too loud.
We love, we love the passion, the blood, sweat and tears in

(35:37):
everything we do. That's that's whatyou call the heart of a roadrunner,
Johnny. Yeah, No, thatwas definitely a Roadrunner bus right, no
doubt about it. Like, theguys are great. It was a great
trip. It's really my first roadtrip ever with like a pro hockey key
team, because I've traveled with collegehockey guys. You know it's it's similar,
but uh, it was fun.I had a great time, and
uh hopefully I can uh go onsome more road trips into future. Sure

(36:00):
we started the trip in uh Ontario. We had some special guests in Ontario.
You looked up during the first periodof the game on Wednesday night and
you started tapping me, and Ithought, oh, no, we're off
the air. Something's happened. We'reoff the air. There's an emergency tapping
me. It wasn't that Johnny somethingelse. I was pointing at my mom

(36:23):
on the screen with my aunt videoboard. I see. I know, I
know not to tap you when you'reon air, but i just got super
excited to see my mom and I'mlike, oh my gosh, it's my
mom. And I just started franticallytapping you and just just pointing, and
you look up while you're talking andI was I was like, oh,
dude, I'm so sorry. Ididn't mean to like disturb you while you're

(36:45):
talking on air. I just gotto look excited in the moment that was
we're off the air tap. Yeah, yeah, it wasn't we're off the
air tap. So I'll make sureit to not. I'll make sure to
give you a different kind of tap, I guess, but fun, uh,
fun trip. Glad you were withus be able to send you down
and get our live locker room interviewsduring the intermissions you and sax stirteeny your

(37:07):
usual uh second emission chat and caughtup with U. Caught up with the
usual guys during the first intermissions isalways. I'm sure they were happy to
happy to see you. Yeah.I think that's the perks of me coming
on the road with the team,you know, because when we're away,
I can't really do the live interviewsas much, so you know, it's

(37:29):
it's good to still at least talkto the players as much as we can
throughout the whole season. And yeah, I could tell the guys were some
of them are just like, oh, hey you're here, you know,
so yeah, great scene the guys, great cheering for the guys on the
road. You know, it's it'smore fun to be on the road because
it's like us against everybody there essentially. So like the OT win on Wednesday

(37:52):
night, Oh, the locker roomwas fun. You know, everyone was
super excited. You know, it'sit was great. And then you know.
The second game, it was agood The Roadrunners played great, you
know, and they lost two toone. Locker room was still pretty pretty
energized, you know, the guysknew they had a great game. And
of course I win against Coachella.I mean, everyone was kind of rushed
to get out of there because wehad a bus to catch. But uh,

(38:13):
yeah, it was it was fun. It was a fun road trip
and uh again, just looking forwardto some more. I missed a FaceTime
call on the bus coming back onSunday night. I missed it. Who
called you? Mike Carconi? MikeCarconi, Mike Carconi, you know,
the a at the top of everybody'sphone list. I'm the first person that

(38:37):
gets pocket dialed. Oh he pockethe pocket dialed you, pocket dialed me.
My friend on the bus too,on on the weight on uh on
the way to Coachella. He uh, Mike. Mike texted me sorry,
I didn't mean to call you,I said, I thought you must have
wanted the scene on the bus afterwe throttled Coachella Valley tonight with the cool

(38:58):
sunglasses of Mooji face. Nice.Yeah, big game for Mike Carconi.
Saturday night in Nashville, had hada couple of goals. Yeah, I
saw the Desert Dogs and Mike Corconialready a second multi goal game of the
year, had that hatcherck a coupleof weeks ago. Yeah, I saw
that. The I think in thelocker room the Coyotes, uh passed the

(39:21):
football around to kind of just show, you know, who's the player of
the game or you know, whowas just the best guy in the locker
room that night. And when itwas pasting to Michael Carconi, I'm like,
well, what did he do now? So you know, I got
to see what he did. Andyeah, he's he's coming off. He's
coming along really nicely, you know, for the Coyotes, and it just
shows that his season last year andthe HL was just not a fluke.

(39:44):
You know. It shows that hecan play in any league. He's competitive
any league. And again he healways just likes to think his teammates.
So just loved the success for MichaelCarconi. Yeah, he's up to six
goals, which is tied for theteam lead. He's tied with Clayton Keller
for the team lead six goals toassist eight points in thirteen games for Arizona.

(40:06):
They're above five hundred. They're backin action on Tuesday night. So
all looking good with with Arizona.JJ Moser up to seven points in fourteen
games, with Tis Mitcheli the usualclip ten points in fourteen games. Austin
Kraus another former Roadrunner, eight pointsin in thirteen games. So love,

(40:27):
love seeing what the guys are doing. Zach Sanford when he's been up this
year, Johnny pointing game guy oneassist in one game. So Arizona going
to continue their road trip coming upon Tuesday night and they'll be in Dallas.
Yeah, and again we it's becausesometimes we see teams call up the
same guy every time they need someone. We've seen it before, but I

(40:50):
like what the Coyotes are doing withthe Roadrunners. Were they're calling up different
guys each time. Started off withyan Na Nik, then Zach said,
well it was started with Zack said, and Nik of course, then they
called up McCartney and then now theygot Kessel Ringk and Milosh Kellman. So
I like that they're rotating it.They're giving every guy a chance to go
play with the big club. Yeah, it's really really special to see,

(41:13):
and you love when the guy's gotthe call and Milos fourteen games last year,
doing a great job with us thisyear. And and it's not always
point based, Johnny. Before beforelast night, three points, Milos hadn't
hadn't scored in a bit. BenMcCartney get gets called up, and again
it's it's just goes beyond the points. It's it's the way they're playing,
it's it's the leadership, it's it'swhat they bring. I think it was

(41:36):
Todd Walsh a couple of weeks ago, Uh, maybe after Carconi at that
hat trick, said that he askedBill Armstrong before the season who he thought,
you know who who's going to bea player this year that steps in
at the NHL level and and chockseverybody, And he said, Mike Krconi,
And here he is, so justuh maybe maybe the one of the

(41:58):
better stories you'll ever see hockey.Did you see it? Uh? Did
you see it last week? Johnny? When they when the Coyotes put put
the mic on uh on Mia anduh and the kids I did, and
yeah and and and yeah, Eliand Lennon and and Miya were all miked

(42:19):
up and uh watching dad play andthe Coyotes got got a big got a
big kick out of it, gota lot of a lot of likes,
a lot of impressions. The NHLshared it. And those are those the
guys, those the kids we sawskating. Uh. I think they had
ice at one o'clock every day atthe Tucson Arena the last three years.
Uh with Mike. Uh after practice, me had bring the boys down and

(42:43):
they'd uh, they'd skate. Yeah. And his family's got to be so
proud of him, just the journey, the kind of journey he's had,
and you know, now playing withthe Coyotes and having the season he's having
it it seems, honestly, andkrcone is he's got to get better,
you know, he's he's just gonnaget better. For he's still a young
guy. So this could be reallythe beginning of a really good NHL career

(43:06):
for Michael Krconi. It's it's it'samazing. We love it, We love
him, love the family, andhe's he he understands it, Johnny like
he's he's at an age right,he's he's a dad, Like he's he's
still a young guy. But he'stwenty seven years old and being in the

(43:28):
the AHL for what was it onetwo, three, four, five,
six, seven eight years in theAHL is one two three four, five
six eight years in the I'm tryingto count this one two three for five
six eight years in the AHL.Like he understands, I want to go

(43:52):
up and stay like what. Hegot his first call up in December twenty
twenty two. It was in theCOVID, the COVID year and Taxi squads,
and he ends up being in gettingput in his first NHL game because
uh COVID protocols and and gets activatedat the last second, plays the game
in San Jose, comes back downwith us for a couple of months,

(44:14):
and and he said, well,I just I want to get back there.
I just don't want to sit withthe one game gets called up,
plays twenty plus games last year,nine games, spends the second half of
the year with us while guys aregetting called up. He just kept piling
in the points of the league inscoring, and and that that great contract
that yearned obviously the the one way, and and putting up putting up the

(44:34):
points again. But but realizing,you know that the maturity of of you
know, being a twenty seven yearold dad with with two boys and raising
the family and just realizing what's atstake and wanted to be in the NHL
and and wanting to stay there,and uh, I wanted to have a
long career and not just being happywith one game, one call up,

(44:57):
just just realizing that the magnitude andand using the moment and the situation.
Great job by Mike Carconi. Yeah, and you know, it's everyone's goal
to get to get to the AHL. And Carcone is beyond grateful for his
time with the Roadrunners and we're gratefulfor him, you know, with the
season he gave us last year.But yeah, we want every single player
to succeed. We want every singleguy in this Roadrunners roster to crack the

(45:21):
NHL one day. And you know, we support him and we love we
loved the success for everybody. Andyeah, congrats to Milos Kellman again on
the call up. And we'll seeif he gets plugged into the lineup.
I mean, he's a great penaltykiller, so definitely we'll see him on
the p K if he's in forthe Coyotes. Yeah, and that's what
we talk about, right, It'snot just the stat line, it's not
just the stat sheet. It's notthat they're watching everything here and Milos is

(45:46):
a guy that can go up anddo everything. Johnny. Some some players
that are looking to, you know, do what these guys are doing.
Some Junior road Runners. We hadsome guys at Junior road Runners practice a
couple of weeks ago. We're gonnado it again on Tuesday, all three
sessions. But you were at theJunior Roadrunners practice a couple of weeks ago.
Austin Bagansky was there. You youcaught up with him and Uh,

(46:07):
as usual, we had Uh,we had a great time with the kids.
Yeah, it was awesome. Uh, they just had a fantastic time.
It was It was Anson Thorne,Montanna on to Boucci and Austin Bagansky
and Jared bo who all came outthere and yeah, they had a great
time. I'm glad some goalies gotto go there too, you know,

(46:29):
to show the goalies some ropes anduh, uh Montana and Tobucci was I
forget. I don't know what theywould call it, but you know,
when the practice starts, all theplayers skate from one across one ice.
She arded one area of the iceto the other and uh, Montana and
Debucci was showing them how to skatelike he's a good skater, So it
was really fun. Butganski was youknow, doing some passes to some kids,

(46:52):
you know, helping them score somegoals. And then jereedmo and Anson
Thorne of course we're working with thegold with with the goaltenders. Uh,
it was fun. It was reallyfun to go to. I'm looking forward
to the next one. And yeah, it's it's good to just bring up
the next group of hockey players herein southern Arizona. And the fun thing
about it is we We've mentioned thisbefore, but we only have one sheet

(47:14):
of ice, right, but everybodyplaying on the same sheet. I think
it's pretty awesome. The Roadrunners,you have a college team, the high
school Roadrunners, the adult league,all the junior Roadrunners, and and and
with that situation and with this hockeycommunity, most of the families are going
to Roadrunners games and a lot haveseason tickets and they watch these guys and

(47:36):
they know who they are, andthey show up at the junior Roadrunners practices
and they know them by first name. Yeah, no, most definitely,
And you know it means a lotto them as well. For these you
know, players to take time outof their busy schedules as well to you
know, come out and teach theirkids thing or two about hockey. And
they loved it too. I hadsome fans were this group of kids took

(48:00):
some pictures with Manyabucci I believe,And yeah, that dad was just telling
him like, you know, cometo every single game, like, thank
you so much for being here.You know, we love you guys.
Uh. So, yeah, it'syou know, it's it's the part of
having a hockey team in here inTucson. You know, it's one of
the only it's the one of theonly professional sports teams here, so you

(48:20):
know, it's it's a big impacton the whole community. And again just
big for the guys to come outhere and teach the next wave of southern
Southern Arizona hockey. And you caughtup with Austin begancy let's hear uh.
It's here a clip from Austin aftera Junior Roadrunners practice. So Austin,
Uh got to hang out with someof the junior Roadrunners. Just how was

(48:42):
it? Yeah, I know,it was awesome. I look back at
when I was this age and havingolder guys in the area that come out
and skate with us. It wasIt was amazing to see that. So
whenever US players get opportunities like thisto come out and give back and and
see the excitement and the hunger ofthese young players to become great athletes and
great people. It's fun and welook forward to getting out there and helping

(49:04):
out. And what kind of drillswere you guys doing out there? Oh?
Yeah, a little bit of everything. A lot of skating work to
start working on the knee bend andthe power on one and two legs,
and then there's some different stick handingand shooting drills and passing drills, all
the little fundamentals that really help outas you get older. So it was
great. It was a lot offun, and I'm glad I was able
to come out here and help out. Yeah, And just how great is

(49:28):
it to just see the youth ofhockey still alive and electric? Yeah,
I know, it's awesome. Ithonestly gives me a little bit of extra
motivation, a little extra hunger tokeep getting better, to see how excited
these guys are to to get betterevery day, and just has so much
fun. It's important to keep thatfun aspect and it even when you do
get a little bit older. Soyeah, I know it was great and
I hope I'm able to come outagain sometimes awesome. Yeah. I like

(49:50):
what Austin said that it kind ofgives him some you know, motivation as
well to maybe just play better forhimself. And you know, it probably
brings these players back to win.They were kids being taught by many professional
athletes or you know, guys whohave played before. So you know,
it's just it's kind of like ajust a whole chain, you know.
It's it's just progressing over time,and then maybe one day these kids will

(50:14):
be playing with the Roadrunners or youknow, any other hockey team, and
then they're going to grow their owncommunities. So we love, we love
going out there. We're gonna bethere again on Tuesday. Roadrunners home Friday
and Saturday. And and Johnny,I think one of the big focuses here
with with with the Roadrunners as weget back to talking about us and playing
Friday and Saturday, is taking oursuccess and building on it. Starting every

(50:40):
game zero zero, but having inour minds what we did to take two
out of three to win in KachellaValley on Sunday to win four of our
last five and keep that mindset withthe chip on her shoulder that we had
after Bakers Shield to come out withthat scene chip. And we've won four

(51:01):
or five when we beat the teamon the road and now they're they're coming
home. So I think that's that'sone thing that that Steve Potman and the
staff is really focused on is realizingthe success, enjoying it in the moment,
but being in the moment the nextday at practice, the next game

(51:21):
we play. And that's uh,that's that's gonna be a big thing here
for the Roadrunners and and it's goingto lead to a lot of success.
That mindset of being in the moment, remembering how we have success and pushing
forward the way we want to witha chip on our shoulder after we've gone

(51:43):
through some adversity. Yeah, andyou know, the schedule doesn't get any
easier. This specific division is alwaysprobably the best in the AHL. It's
full of talent, and these gamesjust get more big. You know.
We go back to how that roadtrip was huge and the road Runners did
their job. They got two outof three wins, and now there they
have seven wins on the year,Coachella Valley has six Ontario wins at seven

(52:07):
now and then we have three teamswith eight with Abbotsford, Calgary and Henderson,
So you know, focus on Coachellaof course, you know, get
you know, split the series evenor get two wins, which would be
great, and you know, youcan really bury them down there in the
standings, and if Tucson can getsome wins this weekend, they can really
climb up those standings. And thenI believe they have Calgary afterwards, if

(52:29):
I'm not mistaken in Calgary and thenHenderson. So next four games are huge,
you know, these next four games, can you know, really again
determine this these standings in the PacificDivision, just like how the road trip
did as well and the regulation winsRoadrunners seven and four six regulation wins,

(52:49):
which is second most in the AHL, behind only of course Civic Division teams
Ontario and Abbotsford. But winning thosegames in regulation it gives few points and
it doesn't share any points with theother teams, which you know, going
down the stretch in the seventy twogame season, it's they're they're all going
to be big. So winning thegame's regulation, winning the close ones holding

(53:13):
on two sons, done a greatjob at that road. Winders now seven
and oh when scoring that first goal, They've got a model, right,
And five of the seven times thatwe've taken that one nothing lead, the
opposition is pushed back and tied it. But then, as we talked about
the key moments of coming back,getting that lead back, managing the game,
and moving forward, have we everwe haven't trailed at all in any

(53:37):
of our wins. No, that'syeah, that's crazy. So yeah,
it's going back to just how thisteam is unfazed. I mean, they
haven't blown a lead yet this seasonat all. You know, no matter
how many goals are up by,they have not blown a lead. So
yeah, this team has kind ofhad the same routine every game, or
at least every win, where thescore goal, the team either ties it

(54:00):
or kind of climbs back a littlebit. But this team just doesn't collapse.
And one thing I've also seen isthat this team just doesn't make a
lot of mistakes. I haven't seena lot of bad turnovers. I haven't
seen a lot of moments where there'sa wide open net and you know,
we blatantly missed it, or youknow, Matthew Volalta makes doesn't make us
safe, like you know, hemisses a terrible shot or something. So

(54:22):
this team is very mistake free.They've been playing really good hockey to start
off the season, and you know, we're really seeing it how each of
these games go that you know,we score the first goal, we just
don't take the foot up the pedal. Yeah, and you know it's it's
it's a model for success of justbeing routine. You want to be routine.

(54:47):
Predictable is the word that Seve Potvinuses a lot. It predictable.
It sounds, you know, boring, But if we do the same exact
thing every day at practice, inthe game, on every shift, on
every power play, on every penaltykill, that follow is the game plan,
it's gonna lead to success. AndI think the Roadrunners have done a
good job of being predictable to thepoint of coming out getting off to that

(55:12):
good start. How about that statyesterday Johnny Roadrunners, Ontario, Colorado,
and Bakersfield top four teams in theAmerican Hockey League in fewest goals allowed in
the first periods. There's so manystats or the top four, top five
teams through out of the Pacific Division, and we've talked about it. We
talked about it earlier with Hunter Drew. It's because players want to come play

(55:34):
here, so you get the bestcrop of talent. It's the best division.
But it's you're good, but you'realso playing a lot of good teams,
especially when you're in the two gameseries. It makes it all the
more challenging to win one night andnow come back and play them again,
which is going to be our challengethis weekend is we want to Coachella Valley.
Now they're going to try and comeand win at our place where they're

(55:55):
undefeated on the road. They're twoand four at home and looking to keep
it going. But yeah, themodel of predictability, that first goal being
stingy in the first period. Secondperiod, we're in the top third in
the American Hockey League and fewest goalsallowed in the second period and honestly top
of the league. Banks in partsof Matt vlalt our PK has been good.

(56:17):
We've been a good defense, firsthockey team and in goals allowed,
which gives us a chance to gowin a game when we put up three.
But now you see the roadrunners inthree the last four they've scored four
goals or more because you're getting thatcontribution from the blue line. Talked about
all the first points that we gotyesterday, Leonard, he big Ratu,
the first goals, multiple points forRatu his first of the year. There.

(56:39):
Then you get first points from Barronand Cam Crotty and next man up.
Even with the call ups and youknow, unfortunately the injuries, but
looking good seven and four. Excitedwith Coachella Valley coming back Friday and Saturday.
Good week of practice. Our developmentstaff from the Coyotes is going to
be down, so we're gonna geta lot of good work time, a

(57:00):
lot of good practice time, beat the Junior Roadrunners on Tuesday night,
and continue on with our week,wrapping up four or five weekends at home,
so big, big chance to comesee the guys. Will be on
the road over over Thanksgiving to Calgaryand to Henderson and to to Ontario and

(57:20):
back on December third and fourth againstSan Jose for two of the next three
weekends. So that's what's on thetable here for the Roadrunners. Yeah,
I'm excited for that San Jose trip. Former team clashing with my with my
Roadrunners. That's gonna be a phoneand also shout out to Nick Nolenberger,
their broadcaster getting his first NHL gameaction as first NHL regular season game,
he got to call for the SanJose Sharks against the Anaheim Ducks. Yeah,

(57:44):
just great opportunity for him. Yeah, with Dan Rosanowski, the Sharks
radio broadcaster going into the Hockey Hallof Fame. The Hall of Fame every
year has one broadcaster that is enshrined, and this year it was Dan Rossanowski,
which opened the door for for ourfriend Nick nolan Berger to go do
Sharks Ducks last night. Yeah,that was that was great. It was

(58:05):
great to listen to him. Uh, listen to a couple of highlights.
Guys got to do his first goal. So unfortunately the Shark's loss to the
Ducks. But yeah, I thinkhe's heading back to the Barracuda nounce.
You know. I think he calledit just regular programming, So maybe more
opportunities will come for him in thefuture. I do think that he is
the next in line for that job. You know, it would be crazy

(58:28):
if he didn't get it. Solooking forward to seeing the San Jose Barracuda,
looking forward to seeing Nolly and justlooking forward to how this specific division's
going to pan out. I mean, sure you can say, like,
oh, we're in such a toughdivision, but I think it just makes
us a better team because we playsuch hard opponents. So I'm excited how
this pans out. I'm excited forthese next couple of games. Excited how

(58:49):
the team is going to play againstCoachella Valley once again. Just a lot
of excitement. This team is reallycoming along, has really came along this
these last few weeks. Let's getit, Let's get to it. Let's
go Tucson. Let's go Tucson.Six of the ten teams in the Pacific
Division have winning percentage of winning percentagesof six hundred. You look at the
rest of the ahl the other threedivisions, it's let's see one, two,

(59:17):
three, four, five, six, seven, eight. So six
of the ten teams in the PacificDivision have winning percentages of six hundred or
better and eight of the other twentytwo teams do so. Sixty percent of
our division six hundred or better,eight of the twenty two teams outside the
Pacific Division six hundred or better.If that says what we're going up against,

(59:39):
Yeah, it's it's changed over time. I remember there was a time
maybe in the early seasons, youknow, until we kind of had that
huge realignment where San Diego and Ontariok, you know, became teams here.
Of course, the regulars have movedaround. Abbotsford just became a team here.
Tucson is also coming in that twentysixteenth season, and the San Jose

(01:00:02):
Barcuda, if I'm not mistaken.Yeah, it used to be kind of
the opposite where the Eastern Conference teamswere the best, you know, they
were always just had the dominant teams. But now we've seen kind of a
shift and again it's now the PacificDivision that is arguably the best division in
the in the whole ahl right now. And yeah, it goes back to
where who doesn't want to play inthe West Coast or you know, or

(01:00:24):
the desert. You know, whodoesn't want to play here? It's warm,
it's beautiful, it's sunny. Youknow, you spend all day in
the cold arena. To walk outsidein this weather, I would do it,
you know. That's why I'm here, That's why you're here. So
it's great. It's it's a fundivision to play in, you know,
it's it's a lot of rivalries,it's a lot of competitive hockey, and

(01:00:44):
I'm just excited for it. It'dbe one of those days where we do
the podcast on the balcony. ButJohnny, it's it's a beautiful eighty one
degree day. There's a little wind. There's a little wind just to breeze
up here in the canyon. Andyou can't live in a condo community without
the uh, the landscapers working allday every day, so a lot of

(01:01:08):
leaf blowers, a lot of edgers, a lot of that stuff today.
So we stayed inside, but definitelyloving it. Johnny, appreciate it,
Buddy. Good job, Lazy Mondaypodcast in the books. Thanks to the
folks for waiting with us getting onthe bus last night and leaving Coachella Valley

(01:01:29):
after the game. We're gonna doRoadrunners Rock Lights of Tucson or other coming
out tonight. Hmm, what shouldwe do this time? Let's do Let's
do some Roadrunners rock just because ofthe great road trip come after one of

(01:01:52):
ours. We're gonna need a morefriends. We've seen Newscape before. We
don't have the story tonight. We'rerising up tonight. It goes down.
You try to run up on us. We're gonna run you a time.
Get on the bus. Go backto where you came from. Getting on

(01:02:14):
the bus, drop five file away, Hang up the gates, drop your
gloves, put just this away.You got beat down tonight. That's the
Two sad Way Road right from roadRider from road right from road righting Frock

(01:02:43):
Next the Two sad Way