December 4, 2025 • 32 mins
This week on Between the Benches, David Mooradian and Patrick Moore break down the Roadrunners’ upcoming match again the San Jose Barracuda. They are joined with the voice of the San Barracuda and UA alum, Nick Nollenberger.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
From road Runners Weekly. This is Between the Benches. You're
all access preview love the week ahead. We'll look at
the road Runners upcoming opponents, get the inside story, and
here directly from the voices and players that know them best.
With David Moradian Nan Patrick Moore.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome back to another edition of Between the Benches, a
Tucson Roadrunners podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
David Meridian, Patrick Moore.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
And we're gonna sit down with the broadcaster for San
Jose in just a few minutes recap that series. A
two game set between the Roadrunners and the Barracuda. Tomorrow's
coverage on Fox Sports fourteen fifty pre game at seven
to forty five Arizona time, and then it will be
one hour earlier a seven o'clock puck drop in Arizona
on Saturday. Like I said, two contests here up in
(00:46):
northern California. We'll see the Barracuda again in the middle
of January. But before we zero in on that series, Patrick,
a game played last night between the Tucson Roadrunners and
the Bakersfield Condors.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And look the road Runners.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
A little bit handy capped when you think two of
their top players, daneil Boot mav Lamaru sent up to Utah.
Adjustments needed to be made, but these were key contributors
for Tucson that are no longer in the lineup. They
lost I think twenty five to thirty points combined between
those two players with their departures, So that's significant. And
it's safe to say they missed the offense yesterday just
(01:21):
one goal scored. What did you see from the team
and what do you think moving forward without these two guys?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Yeah, David, you know it doesn't help that your top
two players are gone. Also, cam Heinbrik also was not
in the lineup. Do not know why, but I think
it was. You know, when you don't have your best stars,
you know, you have to make a lot of adjustments.
And I think and I didn't really think that they
played bad in the first couple of minutes in the
first period. I didn't think they put bad at all.
(01:48):
I just I think they just had some bad balances.
I mean, Max Shoon's got kind of a weird, funky
goal last night. And you know, I mean they were
playing great, I mean offensively, they were playing great. Just
Matt Tompkins just stole the show for Baker Shield and
stop twenty nine out of thirty shots, So it really
wasn't that they they were handicapped. It just, I think
just things weren't going their way. Bounces were going the way.
(02:09):
I mean, the second goal came off carry him off
of a really bad bounce off to the offensive boards,
and Quin Huntson just went on a top shelf on
Matthew Volata. So it was just stuff bounces like that,
and I think it was just a culmination, just of
a bad night. But it wasn't something that you have
to hang your head because you have to jump back
on a plane to San Jose and try to get
(02:30):
some points here because this is a pivotal road trip,
the longest road trip of the season so far.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
And at the same time, Patrick, yes, Boot and Lamaroux
are out of the lineup. Like you said, he Big
didn't plan Wednesday. We're not sure if he'll be playing
on Friday. But opportunities created for other players, whether it
be Noel Nord playing up on the top line, Ty
Tulio also alongside some veterans. If you're one of those guys,
you get this opportunity, you don't know how long it's
going to last. Before there's possibly more line changes, how
(02:57):
do you seize the moment there and try to capitalize.
What are some things you can do to stay in
the top of the lineup.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Well, as I think a player is myself when I
get called up to D one in high school, I
think it was just, you know, you take it all
in and you soak in the moment and you don't
try to make unnecessary plays that you feel like you
can't do to you know, you're just trying to just
play the same way as you always do when you
were playing on the other lines. So I think for
Leonora Nord's it will be a great chance for him.
(03:25):
He's playing great so far, David, So I think it
goes to your show, like just kind of keep the
same kind of rhythm a little bit.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
And Nord did throw an assist in there yesterday, adding
to his point total now with seven points on the season,
three goals for assists. Now, one thing you have to
be positive about. The team did get off to a
good star Patrick. The first period very competitive. I think
at one point you may have mentioned they were out
shooting San Jose twenty one to nine, so that's certainly impressive.
(03:55):
But the third period, that's when things turn. So what
do you think changed in the game. The road Runners
were really efficient at the first forty minutes, a close contest,
and then things got away from them.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Yeah, and back to the second goal I mentioned earlier,
I mean, I think it might have been Prunovich who
just was a D to D pass and it just
took a really weird, funky bounce off of the off
of the end boards that led to a two on one.
And Hudson, who's been lighting up the league for Baker's shield,
he just ripped it over his shoulder and then that's
(04:27):
when things started kind of going south of the road Runners.
You know, some penalties that were taken, But overall, I
think it was just as you said, I mean, just
bad balances they played. I thought they played a good game,
but I think since when you know, the goals kind
of tally up, you kind of lose that that that
hope of. I don't know if it's gonna be our
night tonight. So I think the road Runners did the
best they could overall. I mean, again, twenty one to nine,
(04:50):
I think it was like middle of the second period,
so it wasn't that Bakersfield dominated. I think just Matt
Tompkins stood on his head and then when Bakersfield had
the chances, they capitalized and Tusson just didn't.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Let's talk about Matt Tompkins. He's played two games so
far against the road Runners, one goal allowed in each
of them. So that's two goals across six periods. I
want to say, Patrick, he's allowed two goals on maybe
fifty five or sixty shots in those two games. So
he appears to have the Roadrunners number. So as a player,
when you're going up against the goalie that just seems
(05:21):
to be confident and playing well against your team, what
can you do to kind of change that narrative?
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Well, I think you study his low points, you know.
I think if let's say that Tompkins is really weak
on his five hole, that you try to, you know,
make a lot of pressure, you know, put a lot
of shots down low or if he's low, if he's
weak on his glove, you know, you just try to
study his his weaknesses. Then none is his strength. I mean,
you don't want to shoot in his glove if he's
(05:47):
really good with his gloves. So I think if you
study the film, you kind of research Okay, this guy
gives up xra amount of shots on this point or
his right pad gives up a ton of rebounds. I
think if the road Owners can use some of that film,
you know when they play bakers Found and I mean,
you know, in the New Year. So as a former player,
that's what we would do in high school is just
you know, study teams and study goaltenders, and you know,
(06:09):
obviously we all knew each other playing youth hockey. So
I think that's something and I think I think all
the all the data that the teams have on goaltenders,
so magic compidence definitely is the Roadrunners kryptonite. If in
terms of superhero terms, I feel like, so, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Let's transition to the other team here, Roadrunners going up
to northern California. They were in central cal against Bakersfield.
Now they head towards the coast a little bit, the
real estate gets a little more expensive and the opponent
gets a little bit tougher. Barracuda young talent across the
board immensely, you know, gifted really and this is this
(06:46):
is going to be a challenge for the road Runners, There's.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
No question about that.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So strategically, you've got a team that has been decimated
a little bit, not with their own injuries, but with
what's going on up in Utah. How can they message wise,
go up to a team where you're you're going to
be the underdog and try to change things a little bit.
What's what's going to be the message for the team
and the spirit going into that matchup.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
I think just played with no fear. I mean we
saw it against Colorado, you know, the way that we
didn't really know what was going to happen against Colorado
because Colorado has been dominating everyone. I don't know if
you remember that, David, but it's just I mean, even
though the Bear could have won nine of the last eleven,
they did lose to Colorado. So this team is beatable.
I mean, even though they had a really hot November
and Tucson has played really well against some of the
top teams. You know, the goals came in and the
(07:31):
Roaderners gave him a good fight. They also gave a
really good fight to the Eagles. I mean they won
two of the four games that were played, and they
even won the back to back games if you go
back to the away series in Loveland. So I have
a really good feeling about this series, and I think
maybe Tucson can use kind of that frustration on San Jose,
as San Jose probably looks at the standings and looks
(07:53):
as Tucson is like, well, you know they're they're ninth,
but they're kind of close in the playoffs. They might
kind of feel uneasy and Tucson can kind of come
in with some momentum. So I think the Roadrunners just
play with no fear and see what happens. You never know,
maybe the bounces will start going Tucson's way, and maybe
this could be an opportunity for the Roadrunners to get
kind of hot at this point of the season since
the holidays are coming up, and.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
You touched on it, the Roadrunners have been very impressive
against the top teams, whether it be Ontario Colorado, it
seems like they are willing to play up to their
competition now on the other side of the coint maybe
playing down a little bit in that previous series against Abbotsford,
but hey, you'll take the positive here, right Going up
against the top teams, it has been competitive hockey. There
hasn't been this big discrepancy. Even last night, a very
(08:37):
compelling game for about fifty minutes. It didn't become a
laugher until the very end in that final score certainly
misleading because the Roadrunners had their chances going into the
third period. So you have to be encouraged about how
Tucson has performed against the top teams. We'll see if
they can keep it going against San Jose. Last question
before we sit down with Nick he or the broadcaster
(08:57):
for San Jose. Is there one player on your mind,
Pad that maybe you're looking to see a little bit more.
Not that they've been playing poorly, but the circumstances have
changed and it's time for them to step up. Is
there one guy that maybe you would put a little
bit more on his plate this series?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
I think it's Sammy Walker. I mean, he had a
really good start to the season against Ontario. He had
a couple of big goals in that series, and he's
you know, he's obviously that veteran presence, but you know,
he's been a little bit quiet. And sometimes guys who
kind of go through cold stretches, sometimes the puck is
really nowhere near your stick. And that's not a bad thing.
It's just the way that the game of hockey is
so and I think if he can go in there
(09:33):
and get a couple of goals. I mean Andre Gazino
same thing. I mean he got his first three goals
of the season in one game against Abbots for that
was mentioned a lot last night in the broadcast from
the baker from Ryan Holpe from Bakerfield. So, I think,
you know, Sammy Walker is a guy. I think Andre
Gazino is another guy. I mean, he had the hat
trick on Thanksgiving break weekend. But I think, you know,
(09:54):
there's some guys that are the veterans who are used
to getting points per game and they've been kind of struggling,
but not that bad. So I think if those guys
can really step up and you know, lead with the
veteran presence without he big if you know, I'm sure
what's going on with that Boot and Mavu and Lambrue
up in Utah. This could be a really important series
(10:15):
for these veterans to step up and make a statement
against San Jose.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
And one thought I had I shared this on our
broadcast yesterday and Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Sammy Walker was
playing really well at the beginning of the season when
Patrick he was on the line with Daniel Boot and
Kevin Rooney. Now Boot is up with Utah, but Rooney
is right here with the Tucson Roadrunners. I wonder if
head coach Steve Potvin will reunite those two players, because
certainly it was working well for Sammy Walker when he
(10:40):
got off to that hot start in October. Maybe both
players would benefit from that reunion, but we'll have to
see if that's the choice that's made. Coming up next
on Between the Benches, we're gonna sit down with the
Voice of the San Jose Barraku to get his thoughts
on the matchup and more. Stay with us on Between
the Benches.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
It's time to go Between the Benches on road Runners Week.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Welcome back to Between the Benches previewing the matchup between
Tucson and San Jose. David Meridian Patrick Moore now joined
by the Voice of the San Jose Barracuda, Nick Nolenberger.
And Nick, we understand that you went to the University
of Arizona and maybe also participated in Camp Student Radio,
of which I'm currently involved. Tell us a little bit
more about that and maybe the connection that we may have.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
Yes, I did, I am an Arizona lum still look
back at my time there as just such a great experience.
I was only there for two and a half years.
So I transferred in from a junior college just outside
of the hometown, my hometown in Santa Cruz, and so
I was there for two and a half years. And
during that time, yeah, I worked for the camp radio.
(11:44):
I didn't work, I guess they didn't pay me, but
got called games for the student radio. And I did
baseball and basketball, but predominantly hockey. That was the sport
I wanted to get into from the start. So yeah,
it was a great, great spot for me to start
kind of my career and just get my you know,
my footing and you know, my first couple of games
I called, I was probably just horrible, but nobody was
(12:04):
listening anyway, so it worked out. But yeah, great, great
time at Arizona. I still look back at the time
as some of the best of my life.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That's the key sometimes you have to remember, especially in
that student radio world, it's not necessarily about the listeners.
And maybe you're almost fortunate that there aren't that many
listeners because getting you're getting the bad reps out first.
It's like if somebody was starting to play golf their
first couple of rounds. Maybe they want to go out
there by themselves when they can't get it in the air.
Then once they get that out of the way, okay,
(12:31):
I'll go play with some friends now that I can
actually get it up, you know, moving towards the flag six.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
So that sometimes is better for us.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
So I imagine Arizona alum obviously sports interested, you have
to be aware of what the Wildcats accomplished on Friday night.
I was going to say Saturday on Black Friday against
Arizona State and the Territorial Cup. We have a couple
of ASU people involved in our operations, so maybe if
you want to just remind them Nick how that game
played out.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Yeah, yeah, we were keeping tabs. It's funny. Our head
equipment manager with the Baracouda is also an Arizona alumni.
We we never well, we did go to school together,
I think for one semester week a cross pass, but
we didn't know each other. So yeah, we're always kind
of going back and forth. He's very in tune on
the basketball program, and obviously football is more on my sport,
I would say than basketball. So yeah, I'm pretty locked
(13:19):
in on the football. But yeah, it's been uh, you know,
it was a little I think everybody was a little
nervy for a moment there on where the program was
going to go. So this was kind of a I
went crossing season.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah it was.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
It was, I mean, the way this team performed, So yeah, yeah,
it was. It was fun to see that. And obviously
beating Arizona Arizona State at the end of the year
is always it's kind of you know, if you do that,
it feels like nothing else that happens during the season
really matters, even though it's not true.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
So yeah, that was awesome.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Good to see the Cats to get back in the
win column and take the take the territorial cut back
back to Tucson.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And for the road Runners here, my partner, I'm the
color broadcaster, pregame host in a mission type of deal,
but my partner the play by play broadcaster for US James.
He went to er he currently is an ASU Sun Devil,
and then our boss, Chase, our communications director, he is
also from ASU. So it was a little bit testy
leading up to the matchup, and certainly I was pleased
(14:16):
with the outcome and Nick, you have to be pleased
with the outcome for San Jose this year as we
transition to the Barracudah again. The Roadrunner is playing the
Barracuda a two game set that gets underway tomorrow eight
o'clock here in Arizona seven o'clock local time, two game set.
San Jose is playing exquisitely well, especially recently, I think
a five game winning streak before they split with the
(14:38):
Colorado Eagles, which, if you know about the Colorado Eagles
is split there as almost a win. So take us
through what's been going well? The team seems to be gelling.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
How's it going.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
It's been a lot of fun. This is my tenth
season with the team, so my first year was back
in twenty sixteen seventeen. I'm aging and dating myself a
little bit, but that team was the best team we've
ever had. We made it to the conference finals. We
had the best regular season record in the American Hockey League.
Our coach won the Coach of the Year. We had
the Rookie of the Year in the league, we had
the goalie of the Year in the league, and we
had a lot of top prospects that year. We had
some first round draft picks. I think we had it.
(15:09):
We ended up having eleven guys. I believe we played
the NHL off of that team, So that is certainly,
you know, I can look back at my time pretty
easily and go back to that first year. Is the
best team. I don't know if I can say this
team is better yet, but it's it's pretty close. I
mean in terms of talent, in terms of the mix
of veteran players and young players coming in. From a
prospect standpoint, you know, the Shark's top prospects in the
(15:31):
NHL already. Macklin celebrating their second top prospects, Will Smith.
He too is in the NHL. Sam Dickinson probably their
maybe third best prospect. He's in the NHL. Michael Mesa
just got reassigned to the Barracuda. He'll be with the
team this weekend on a conditioning loan. He may be
in that top three discussion as well. He was the
second overall pick this this last summer. So you know,
when you're as bad as the Sharks have been, and
(15:53):
it's been a tough grind for the last four or
five six years, you know, the franchise which was so
successful for almost two decades where it was pushing for
Stanley Cup every year. Eventually some of those pillars are
going to age out and retire and you have to
start over. And when Mike Greer came in, I think
it was three years ago, you know, it went from
(16:13):
a retool to we got to rebuild this thing. We
got to rip it down to the studs. We got
to start over. And if you do that, there is
some risk involved, and you know, Coyote fans can it
attest When the team is still in Arizona. You know,
they decided let's try to rebuild and retool. I guess too,
and it doesn't always work because you don't always hit
a home run. Now the Sharks seem to have hit
(16:33):
a home run in Maclin Celebrini. He looks like a
player who, over the next fifteen years is going to
be one of the best players in the NHL. That
isn't a guarantee, but because they hit on Celebrinia, it
seemed to kind of put everything else in place, and
some of the other picks maybe don't have as much pressure.
So a very long witted answer is they have been
bad for a few years and they picked very high.
(16:55):
So despite having three or four of their top prospects
already in the NHL. We have several first round and
second round draft picks on this Baracuti team. Igor Ternishov
was the player of the Month in the AHL in
the month of November. He's nineteen years old, just turned
twenty actually on the thirtieth of November. He lit it
up this past month. He's big six' three. He can
absolutely rip the puck. He's pretty defensively sound for a
(17:19):
guy with as much skill as he has, and for
his age, He's played in the KHL, so he has
some pro experience. He's been outstanding. Quinn Musty as a
first round draft pick from a couple of years ago,
he's been lighting it up on a line with Turnershof
Cam London, the second round draft pick Quintin or choosing
Casper Halton in the second round draft pick. But he'savlet
a second round draft pick. I go down and list
(17:39):
of guys. These are very high picks, and then you
couple out with some veteran players who have won, and
that's going to be a good recipe at the HL level.
So sorry for my very long answer. That's the reason
why this team's off to the start they are, and
that's why they had points in all but one game
in the month of November and why they're now pushing
for the top spot in the division.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Well, I just had two things to say, Nick, when
you were going on there. One is, you took out
eighty percent of my research. I was going to ask
you some of these questions and boom, boom boom, you're
you're one step ahead of me. The other thing I
was going to say is we have now reached the
point I'm still, you know, pretty young, not only in
my broadcasting career but just generally. But turnershof right, he is,
(18:17):
he was, He's actually younger than me. So it's like
the first time that there's a notable athlete that I'm
kind of following here that I can say is actually younger.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
Than I am.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
And I had in my notes that on the thirtieth
he had turned twenty. So it's pretty remarkable the success
he's having in professional hockey at such a young age.
But that's really the case for San Jose, like you said,
it's not one of those teams sometimes in the American
Hockey League, a couple of vets get sent down right
there they're in the later stages of their career, they're
still very good. Not necessarily cutting it at the NHL level.
(18:46):
That HL team has success, that's not the case for
San Jose. Like you said, young talent across the board,
and they're really the key contributors right now.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Yeah, without a doubt, that's I think been the big
key too. You do have some good veteran player. Jimmy
Honey was a guy they brought in this summer, signed
a one year, two way NHL contract you want to
call their cup A couple of years ago, I think
four years ago, he was in a conference final with Milwaukee.
So he has a winning resume and he's been outstanding
the locker room. So you do need those kind of vocal,
experienced guys who want to get to the NHL, want
(19:17):
to continue to push for that opportunity. They're trying to
fulfill their dreams and lifelong goals as well, but also
understanding where they are, where their feet are, and what
their role is in the American League, and that's to
help these young players be productive, but help the young players,
and that's what they've done. We have a really good,
good mix of guys who understand where they are, to
understand the situation, what their job is with the Baracudain.
(19:38):
That's to be productive and be good pros. Show these
young guys what it takes to be professional. Don't sulk
and complain and be kind of a nuisance if you
will in the locker room, because that's not going to
help them get to the NHL and it's not going
to help the young players. So it really is a
balance of kind of those young prospects, the veteran players,
and even some in between guys too who are maybe
(20:01):
in their their third or fourth season who aren't really
really young in terms of HL standards. They have some experience,
but they're not in their late twenties too. So it's
kind of a cyclical thing in the HL because these
rosters turn over so quickly year to year, it's totally different.
So you do have to, you know, take every year
with a great assault and see what you have. But
(20:22):
right now, for the barrel Kuda where the Sharks are,
this is just an extremely talented group and you know,
the sky is only the limit for what they could
do this year.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Now, nick I wanted to go on about the point
of the veterans, someone that kind of stuck out to
me as as someone who've been from southern California and
the Ducks fan Pavlo Rigenda. He had some time with
the Anahem Ducks and also the Santiecua Goals. Also Colin
White had some Angel experience. So what if you notice
from them helping out these young guys, as you say,
you know, not you know, being down yourself as obviously
being in the AHL, But what if you noticed so
(20:53):
far in this into the first you know, twenty games
of the season between those two guys.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Well, starting with again the interesting player because he's twenty
six years old, undrafted, originally signed by Anaheim, as you mentioned,
started his career with the Ducks and the goals, got
some games I think it was like nineteen games, but
was still trying to get a stranglehold of an opportunity
in the NHL. And last year he came over to
the Barracuda in a trade from Anaheim and he just
(21:18):
fit in seamlessly and he kind of got a fresh start,
if you will. He had a slow offensive start to
a season, wasn't really producing. The San Diego comes to
the Barracuda on a pretty good team and really found
a niche in particular on the power play. He gets
called up earlier this week, I think it was Monday.
He scored on Monday night in the Sharks win over Utah.
He had the only goal last night in the Sharks
(21:40):
blowout loss to Washington. So he plays two games, scores
two goals, and then they reassigned it back to the
American hockeyger And that just kind of shows where the
Sharks are from a depth standpoint. They're getting a little
healthier too, but there's a lot of internal competition, and
you know, Pabo has been a really good piece to
the room. He's a really positive guy. He's a good
player at the American League level. He's big, he's physical,
he's really fit, a nice niche in terms of providing
(22:02):
a little more heaviness for the team. He's productive too,
and I think he can go up to the NHL
and be a player who can fit in too. So
those are the type of guys that are really important
in my mind to have it in your organization where
you can go up and fit in pretty quickly in
the NHL, but in the American Hockey League year you're
a go to player and a very productive player. So
you know, Pavel has been great. On the other side,
(22:23):
you know, Colin White was one time a top prospect himself.
He was the first round pick of Ottawa. He's played
a lot in the NHL. You know, three years ago
when Florida made it to the Stanley Cup Final, the
year they lost to Vegas, he played almost every game
during that playoff run. So he has a lot of
experience in the NHL. He's played in the Stanley Cup
playoffs and then for whatever reason, he just didn't quite
get his footing back in the NHL. And last year
(22:45):
he came to San Jose on an American League deal,
started with the Barracuda, then they signed him to an
NHL deal halfway through the year, got a couple of
games up top of the Sharks, but he liked it
so much he decided to resign. And he was open
to being in the American Hockey League and being with
his team because he enjoyed the group in or the
you know, the environment. We've got a beautiful, brand new arena,
you know, Sant Jose. It's it's not cheap to live,
(23:06):
but it's a great place to live. From a weather
standpoint and a lifestyle standpoint. So sometimes it's hard to
convince these guys to come to the barrier because of
the price of living. But if you enjoy where you're at,
you know guys find there to be value there too.
So yeah, call a White Pavo Rigaenda, two great guys
in terms of what they provide on the ice but
also off the ice.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
And then someone who has played state like youth hockey
playoff games in San Jose at the Cellar for ice
practice facility. It is, trust me, it is one of
the best probably brings I've ever played in. I wanted
to ask you again just about the success that they've
had the Baracoud in November, I mean nine to one
oh one in the last eleven games. I think obviously
the goaltending has been something about that. So if you
(23:49):
want to go into a little bit more of the
goaltending situation for San Jose and what can they do
and what roadrunners can Roadbunner fans can see this weekend.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
Well, we kind of have a two headed monster right
now in Yakub Scarek, who they signed to a one year,
two way NHL contract. He's a veteran guy. I think
he's in his seventh season pro for six years, spent
all within the Islanders organization. And then Gabe Carrier, an
undrafted guy out of Vermont who I thought it really
solid year. Last year he started in the ECHL with Wichita,
got his chance in the back half of the season.
(24:20):
He kind of ran with it. It's a lot different
than what we saw last year. Last year, the Barracoot
had Yardislav Ashcroff, the number one probably goalie prospect in
the NHL as the eleventh overall pick by Nashville a
couple of years ago, came over and traded to the Sharks,
so they had the guy in the AHL, and he
knew who was going to get the Lion's share of
the starts. You knew who the guy was, if you
will in the room. This year, it's different because you
(24:41):
have a player in Scarik who's been around the block,
has a lot of HL experience, played two games last
year in the NHL, but those are the only two
of his career. Gabe Carrier has not played in the
NHL at this point. But I thought, again was solid
last year, so you didn't know what to expect and
for the Barracouter. They were two and five in the
month of October, and I think it ties into the
fact he have such a youthful t tea and the
young players trying to get their footing under him. But
(25:02):
you go into November and they had an eleven game
point streak, a five game winning streak at one point.
All the young guys are coming alive. They've gotten great goaltending.
But I think you can really pinpoint it to a
I think it was a five or six game road
trip that we had that spanned almost two weeks that
started in southern California. We played Ontario right at the
start of the month, then we flew up to Calgary,
(25:22):
played two games there, had a day off in between,
and then we were in Abbots for a couple of games.
So it was a very long trip. Guys had the
rookie Party. There was an opportunity for these guys at
bond and spend time off the ice, and that's really
really important for a young team, and that seemed to
be the point where things came together and this team
just kind of took off. So as you look at
the month of November, which was, you know, a month again,
I think they picked up points in twelve of thirteen games.
(25:44):
You can tie it back to that road trip and
a chance for bonding. But again, I think it has
to do with the young players figuring it out to
getting some games under their belt at the HL level
and then you know, letting their talent kind of go
from there.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Nick, let's talk play style.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I see eight eight power play opportunities for San Jose
this year. That mark is second in the American Hockey League.
That tells me we've got a young team here. We've
got a fast team that's able to generate opportunities and
create power plays. Am I reading that right?
Speaker 3 (26:14):
And is this a quick team along with being a
young team.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
Yeah, definitely, it's a team that wants to, you know,
generate off the rush a little bit. They also want
to play a puck possession game where they hold on
to pucks. And I think when you have a talented
team and you've got possession, you're gonna draw more penalties.
You take penalties when you do off the puck, right,
It's pretty simple, and if you have the puck, you're
gonna draw more. Now we've got a couple of guys,
Anthony Vincent is the first guy that comes to mind
(26:36):
is he's twenty eight years old. Now, he's only in
his third season of pro, but he played five years
at coll of Hockey. He is one of those players
when you watch a hockey game, if he's not on
your team, he's gonna drive you absolutely nuts and you're
gonna hate him every every piece of his game, you're
gonna absolutely despise. But he's the type of guy that
when he's on your team, you abstract love. He has
a total knack for drawing penalties. He has a total
(26:57):
knack for getting under the opposition skin. So keep an
eye on for seventy six because he hits everything with
a pulse. He's a total energizer bunny out there. He
will mix it up after every single whistle and teams
know it too. They'll tell the referees like, watch out
for this guy. He's embellishing, he's trying to draw penalies,
but he just has a knack. He gets into the
(27:17):
dirty areas. So yeah, I think it's a combination of
a lot of skill and that's going to draw some penalties,
but also some guys who are pretty good at getting
under the skin of the opposition as well. So, yeah,
you're exactly right. And last year the team of the
number one power player in the league, they lost the MVP.
Andrew Poterowski was the best player in the league last
year signed in the KHL. But this team is still
a top five unit and it has to do a
(27:37):
lot with a young player in Luca Canyone who's in
his second season. He was an All Rookie member last year.
He's an undersized defenseman, but he's really slick, really offensive,
and on the power play in particular, he's as good
as it gets in the league. So that helps the
power play too.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Certainly a good combination when you have a team that's
drawing a lot of penalties and also twenty eight point
four percent on the man advantage getting looks and scoring
on them. That's usually a good thing in any sport.
Last question for men, can we really appreciate the time
enjoyable conversation here. Can you speak to the relationship between
the Barracuda and the Sharks. Is there a nice synergy there,
(28:13):
the collaboration between the two just your observation on that relationship.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Yeah, you know, it's when the team moved out to
San Jose back in twenty fifteen from Worcester, which is
a suburb of Boston. You got to think how big
of a drastic improvement that was for players. Because our
head coach was a long time prospect in the organization,
kind of spent most of his career in the minor leagues.
He had times where he would hop on a flight
(28:39):
from Boston, he'd fly cross country. This happened, and where
he flew cross country, his phone was off because he
was on the flight, turned on his phone as soon
as he landed. He had a text that said stay
in the airport, were sending you back. And he got
back on a flight and flew back. So it gives
an idea of how incredibly non productive it was to
have your team across the country. So you know the
team's owned by our hostile Platner is the owner of
(29:00):
the Sharks own z of Baracuti too. We're under the
same building. The practice facility for the Sharks is where
we play our games. They build us a brand new
arena three years ago, holl It's forty two hundred. It's
part of this Shark s ized facility that now has
six rinks. It's the largest of its kind in North America.
So five practice sheets plus an arena. So down the
hallway is where the Sharks are and where they are
(29:21):
ninety percent of the time. They play their games at
SAP Center, a couple of blocks down the street, but
predominantly they practice and basically live at Shark's Heyst and
so do we. So we've got our own area, our
designated area as well our own locker room and own arena.
So yeah, this synergy is great. Just today we had
Mike Wrow, our general manager, watching practice, probably because Michael
Misa was there, but he takes in I would say
(29:41):
ninety percent of our practices because it's down the hall.
Same with our assistant GM, Joe will and Tom Holey.
They're at almost every single practice. So yeah, there's communication
constantly between the HL coaches, John McCarthy's staff and Ryan Warsowski,
the head coach of the santals A Sharks. Those guys
are in constant communication. So they want to play the
(30:02):
same way most of the time, and they do. Sometimes
things will impact that and there will be some you know,
changes in terms of PK structure and powerplay structure, things
like that, but predominantly they want to play the same
way because when guys get called up, they want that
transition to be almost seamless. So yeah, the relationship is great.
You know, the communication is great, and it helps when
you're down the hall, you know. I think for the
(30:23):
road Runners, I'm sure they're happy with the situation because
Utah has been such a good partner over the last
two years. But it is a little different when you
do have to catch a flight compared to walking down
the hallway when you get recalled. So, you know, I
think there's pros and cons to everything and every situation.
But for the Sharks, it works out pretty well. And
it took a while because we played at SAP Center
(30:44):
with nobody in the building for seven years. But now
that we have our own arena on our own space,
it's kind of totally changed the entire dynamic of the team.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
That sounds great.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
And by the way, Nick, you'll be surprised to hear
second show in two days, and it's also the second
show in two days where wo's their mass made it
into the conversation.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Alti, the broadcaster for Bakersfield.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I believe he went to Holy Cross, which is a
college in Worcester and my grandmother went to Clark, which
is right across the street. So we were talking about
Wooster on Tuesday. Here we are again. It's not a
very big place, like you said, it's forty minutes outside
of Boston. But nonetheless, funny that came up. But I
think Kevin Rooney is listening to the operation in San Jose.
He's been going back and forth between Tucson and Utah.
I think he's made that flight six or seven times,
(31:27):
so he, I think, is hearing what you're describing and
he's a fan of it. But noneth it's not a
bad flight, I'm sure pretty su Yeah, No, I don't
think it's too bad, but it's not as it's not
as different.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
It's different than going down the hall. Right, there's a difference.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
There, right, exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
But anyway, road Runners in Barracuda's going to be a
two game set up in Northern California. Coverage right here
or not right here, but coverage on Fox Sports fourteen
fifty am pregame at seven forty five Arizona time, and
then it'll be one hour earlier on Saturday. We'll catch
up with Nick when the Barracuda come to Tucson in January.
But that's our coverage, that's what's coming up. Thank you
so much for listening to between the benches. We will
(32:02):
see you next week.
From road Runners Weekly. This is Between the Benches. You're
all access preview love the week ahead. We'll look at
the road Runners upcoming opponents, get the inside story, and
here directly from the voices and players that know them best.
With David Moradian Nan Patrick Moore.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome back to another edition of Between the Benches, a
Tucson Roadrunners podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
David Meridian, Patrick Moore.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
And we're gonna sit down with the broadcaster for San
Jose in just a few minutes recap that series. A
two game set between the Roadrunners and the Barracuda. Tomorrow's
coverage on Fox Sports fourteen fifty pre game at seven
to forty five Arizona time, and then it will be
one hour earlier a seven o'clock puck drop in Arizona
on Saturday. Like I said, two contests here up in
(00:46):
northern California. We'll see the Barracuda again in the middle
of January. But before we zero in on that series, Patrick,
a game played last night between the Tucson Roadrunners and
the Bakersfield Condors.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
And look the road Runners.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
A little bit handy capped when you think two of
their top players, daneil Boot mav Lamaru sent up to Utah.
Adjustments needed to be made, but these were key contributors
for Tucson that are no longer in the lineup. They
lost I think twenty five to thirty points combined between
those two players with their departures, So that's significant. And
it's safe to say they missed the offense yesterday just
(01:21):
one goal scored. What did you see from the team
and what do you think moving forward without these two guys?
Speaker 4 (01:27):
Yeah, David, you know it doesn't help that your top
two players are gone. Also, cam Heinbrik also was not
in the lineup. Do not know why, but I think
it was. You know, when you don't have your best stars,
you know, you have to make a lot of adjustments.
And I think and I didn't really think that they
played bad in the first couple of minutes in the
first period. I didn't think they put bad at all.
(01:48):
I just I think they just had some bad balances.
I mean, Max Shoon's got kind of a weird, funky
goal last night. And you know, I mean they were
playing great, I mean offensively, they were playing great. Just
Matt Tompkins just stole the show for Baker Shield and
stop twenty nine out of thirty shots, So it really
wasn't that they they were handicapped. It just, I think
just things weren't going their way. Bounces were going the way.
(02:09):
I mean, the second goal came off carry him off
of a really bad bounce off to the offensive boards,
and Quin Huntson just went on a top shelf on
Matthew Volata. So it was just stuff bounces like that,
and I think it was just a culmination, just of
a bad night. But it wasn't something that you have
to hang your head because you have to jump back
on a plane to San Jose and try to get
(02:30):
some points here because this is a pivotal road trip,
the longest road trip of the season so far.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
And at the same time, Patrick, yes, Boot and Lamaroux
are out of the lineup. Like you said, he Big
didn't plan Wednesday. We're not sure if he'll be playing
on Friday. But opportunities created for other players, whether it
be Noel Nord playing up on the top line, Ty
Tulio also alongside some veterans. If you're one of those guys,
you get this opportunity, you don't know how long it's
going to last. Before there's possibly more line changes, how
(02:57):
do you seize the moment there and try to capitalize.
What are some things you can do to stay in
the top of the lineup.
Speaker 4 (03:04):
Well, as I think a player is myself when I
get called up to D one in high school, I
think it was just, you know, you take it all
in and you soak in the moment and you don't
try to make unnecessary plays that you feel like you
can't do to you know, you're just trying to just
play the same way as you always do when you
were playing on the other lines. So I think for
Leonora Nord's it will be a great chance for him.
(03:25):
He's playing great so far, David, So I think it
goes to your show, like just kind of keep the
same kind of rhythm a little bit.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
And Nord did throw an assist in there yesterday, adding
to his point total now with seven points on the season,
three goals for assists. Now, one thing you have to
be positive about. The team did get off to a
good star Patrick. The first period very competitive. I think
at one point you may have mentioned they were out
shooting San Jose twenty one to nine, so that's certainly impressive.
(03:55):
But the third period, that's when things turn. So what
do you think changed in the game. The road Runners
were really efficient at the first forty minutes, a close contest,
and then things got away from them.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Yeah, and back to the second goal I mentioned earlier,
I mean, I think it might have been Prunovich who
just was a D to D pass and it just
took a really weird, funky bounce off of the off
of the end boards that led to a two on one.
And Hudson, who's been lighting up the league for Baker's shield,
he just ripped it over his shoulder and then that's
(04:27):
when things started kind of going south of the road Runners.
You know, some penalties that were taken, But overall, I
think it was just as you said, I mean, just
bad balances they played. I thought they played a good game,
but I think since when you know, the goals kind
of tally up, you kind of lose that that that
hope of. I don't know if it's gonna be our
night tonight. So I think the road Runners did the
best they could overall. I mean, again, twenty one to nine,
(04:50):
I think it was like middle of the second period,
so it wasn't that Bakersfield dominated. I think just Matt
Tompkins stood on his head and then when Bakersfield had
the chances, they capitalized and Tusson just didn't.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Let's talk about Matt Tompkins. He's played two games so
far against the road Runners, one goal allowed in each
of them. So that's two goals across six periods. I
want to say, Patrick, he's allowed two goals on maybe
fifty five or sixty shots in those two games. So
he appears to have the Roadrunners number. So as a player,
when you're going up against the goalie that just seems
(05:21):
to be confident and playing well against your team, what
can you do to kind of change that narrative?
Speaker 4 (05:27):
Well, I think you study his low points, you know.
I think if let's say that Tompkins is really weak
on his five hole, that you try to, you know,
make a lot of pressure, you know, put a lot
of shots down low or if he's low, if he's
weak on his glove, you know, you just try to
study his his weaknesses. Then none is his strength. I mean,
you don't want to shoot in his glove if he's
(05:47):
really good with his gloves. So I think if you
study the film, you kind of research Okay, this guy
gives up xra amount of shots on this point or
his right pad gives up a ton of rebounds. I
think if the road Owners can use some of that film,
you know when they play bakers Found and I mean,
you know, in the New Year. So as a former player,
that's what we would do in high school is just
you know, study teams and study goaltenders, and you know,
(06:09):
obviously we all knew each other playing youth hockey. So
I think that's something and I think I think all
the all the data that the teams have on goaltenders,
so magic compidence definitely is the Roadrunners kryptonite. If in
terms of superhero terms, I feel like, so, yeah, okay.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Let's transition to the other team here, Roadrunners going up
to northern California. They were in central cal against Bakersfield.
Now they head towards the coast a little bit, the
real estate gets a little more expensive and the opponent
gets a little bit tougher. Barracuda young talent across the
board immensely, you know, gifted really and this is this
(06:46):
is going to be a challenge for the road Runners, There's.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
No question about that.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
So strategically, you've got a team that has been decimated
a little bit, not with their own injuries, but with
what's going on up in Utah. How can they message wise,
go up to a team where you're you're going to
be the underdog and try to change things a little bit.
What's what's going to be the message for the team
and the spirit going into that matchup.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
I think just played with no fear. I mean we
saw it against Colorado, you know, the way that we
didn't really know what was going to happen against Colorado
because Colorado has been dominating everyone. I don't know if
you remember that, David, but it's just I mean, even
though the Bear could have won nine of the last eleven,
they did lose to Colorado. So this team is beatable.
I mean, even though they had a really hot November
and Tucson has played really well against some of the
top teams. You know, the goals came in and the
(07:31):
Roaderners gave him a good fight. They also gave a
really good fight to the Eagles. I mean they won
two of the four games that were played, and they
even won the back to back games if you go
back to the away series in Loveland. So I have
a really good feeling about this series, and I think
maybe Tucson can use kind of that frustration on San Jose,
as San Jose probably looks at the standings and looks
(07:53):
as Tucson is like, well, you know they're they're ninth,
but they're kind of close in the playoffs. They might
kind of feel uneasy and Tucson can kind of come
in with some momentum. So I think the Roadrunners just
play with no fear and see what happens. You never know,
maybe the bounces will start going Tucson's way, and maybe
this could be an opportunity for the Roadrunners to get
kind of hot at this point of the season since
the holidays are coming up, and.
Speaker 2 (08:13):
You touched on it, the Roadrunners have been very impressive
against the top teams, whether it be Ontario Colorado, it
seems like they are willing to play up to their
competition now on the other side of the coint maybe
playing down a little bit in that previous series against Abbotsford,
but hey, you'll take the positive here, right Going up
against the top teams, it has been competitive hockey. There
hasn't been this big discrepancy. Even last night, a very
(08:37):
compelling game for about fifty minutes. It didn't become a
laugher until the very end in that final score certainly
misleading because the Roadrunners had their chances going into the
third period. So you have to be encouraged about how
Tucson has performed against the top teams. We'll see if
they can keep it going against San Jose. Last question
before we sit down with Nick he or the broadcaster
(08:57):
for San Jose. Is there one player on your mind,
Pad that maybe you're looking to see a little bit more.
Not that they've been playing poorly, but the circumstances have
changed and it's time for them to step up. Is
there one guy that maybe you would put a little
bit more on his plate this series?
Speaker 4 (09:12):
I think it's Sammy Walker. I mean, he had a
really good start to the season against Ontario. He had
a couple of big goals in that series, and he's
you know, he's obviously that veteran presence, but you know,
he's been a little bit quiet. And sometimes guys who
kind of go through cold stretches, sometimes the puck is
really nowhere near your stick. And that's not a bad thing.
It's just the way that the game of hockey is
so and I think if he can go in there
(09:33):
and get a couple of goals. I mean Andre Gazino
same thing. I mean he got his first three goals
of the season in one game against Abbots for that
was mentioned a lot last night in the broadcast from
the baker from Ryan Holpe from Bakerfield. So, I think,
you know, Sammy Walker is a guy. I think Andre
Gazino is another guy. I mean, he had the hat
trick on Thanksgiving break weekend. But I think, you know,
(09:54):
there's some guys that are the veterans who are used
to getting points per game and they've been kind of struggling,
but not that bad. So I think if those guys
can really step up and you know, lead with the
veteran presence without he big if you know, I'm sure
what's going on with that Boot and Mavu and Lambrue
up in Utah. This could be a really important series
(10:15):
for these veterans to step up and make a statement
against San Jose.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
And one thought I had I shared this on our
broadcast yesterday and Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Sammy Walker was
playing really well at the beginning of the season when
Patrick he was on the line with Daniel Boot and
Kevin Rooney. Now Boot is up with Utah, but Rooney
is right here with the Tucson Roadrunners. I wonder if
head coach Steve Potvin will reunite those two players, because
certainly it was working well for Sammy Walker when he
(10:40):
got off to that hot start in October. Maybe both
players would benefit from that reunion, but we'll have to
see if that's the choice that's made. Coming up next
on Between the Benches, we're gonna sit down with the
Voice of the San Jose Barraku to get his thoughts
on the matchup and more. Stay with us on Between
the Benches.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
It's time to go Between the Benches on road Runners Week.
Speaker 2 (11:00):
Welcome back to Between the Benches previewing the matchup between
Tucson and San Jose. David Meridian Patrick Moore now joined
by the Voice of the San Jose Barracuda, Nick Nolenberger.
And Nick, we understand that you went to the University
of Arizona and maybe also participated in Camp Student Radio,
of which I'm currently involved. Tell us a little bit
more about that and maybe the connection that we may have.
Speaker 5 (11:22):
Yes, I did, I am an Arizona lum still look
back at my time there as just such a great experience.
I was only there for two and a half years.
So I transferred in from a junior college just outside
of the hometown, my hometown in Santa Cruz, and so
I was there for two and a half years. And
during that time, yeah, I worked for the camp radio.
(11:44):
I didn't work, I guess they didn't pay me, but
got called games for the student radio. And I did
baseball and basketball, but predominantly hockey. That was the sport
I wanted to get into from the start. So yeah,
it was a great, great spot for me to start
kind of my career and just get my you know,
my footing and you know, my first couple of games
I called, I was probably just horrible, but nobody was
(12:04):
listening anyway, so it worked out. But yeah, great, great
time at Arizona. I still look back at the time
as some of the best of my life.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
That's the key sometimes you have to remember, especially in
that student radio world, it's not necessarily about the listeners.
And maybe you're almost fortunate that there aren't that many
listeners because getting you're getting the bad reps out first.
It's like if somebody was starting to play golf their
first couple of rounds. Maybe they want to go out
there by themselves when they can't get it in the air.
Then once they get that out of the way, okay,
(12:31):
I'll go play with some friends now that I can
actually get it up, you know, moving towards the flag six.
Speaker 3 (12:36):
So that sometimes is better for us.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
So I imagine Arizona alum obviously sports interested, you have
to be aware of what the Wildcats accomplished on Friday night.
I was going to say Saturday on Black Friday against
Arizona State and the Territorial Cup. We have a couple
of ASU people involved in our operations, so maybe if
you want to just remind them Nick how that game
played out.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
Yeah, yeah, we were keeping tabs. It's funny. Our head
equipment manager with the Baracouda is also an Arizona alumni.
We we never well, we did go to school together,
I think for one semester week a cross pass, but
we didn't know each other. So yeah, we're always kind
of going back and forth. He's very in tune on
the basketball program, and obviously football is more on my sport,
I would say than basketball. So yeah, I'm pretty locked
(13:19):
in on the football. But yeah, it's been uh, you know,
it was a little I think everybody was a little
nervy for a moment there on where the program was
going to go. So this was kind of a I
went crossing season.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah it was.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
It was, I mean, the way this team performed, So yeah, yeah,
it was. It was fun to see that. And obviously
beating Arizona Arizona State at the end of the year
is always it's kind of you know, if you do that,
it feels like nothing else that happens during the season
really matters, even though it's not true.
Speaker 3 (13:45):
So yeah, that was awesome.
Speaker 5 (13:47):
Good to see the Cats to get back in the
win column and take the take the territorial cut back
back to Tucson.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
And for the road Runners here, my partner, I'm the
color broadcaster, pregame host in a mission type of deal,
but my partner the play by play broadcaster for US James.
He went to er he currently is an ASU Sun Devil,
and then our boss, Chase, our communications director, he is
also from ASU. So it was a little bit testy
leading up to the matchup, and certainly I was pleased
(14:16):
with the outcome and Nick, you have to be pleased
with the outcome for San Jose this year as we
transition to the Barracudah again. The Roadrunner is playing the
Barracuda a two game set that gets underway tomorrow eight
o'clock here in Arizona seven o'clock local time, two game set.
San Jose is playing exquisitely well, especially recently, I think
a five game winning streak before they split with the
(14:38):
Colorado Eagles, which, if you know about the Colorado Eagles
is split there as almost a win. So take us
through what's been going well? The team seems to be gelling.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
How's it going.
Speaker 5 (14:48):
It's been a lot of fun. This is my tenth
season with the team, so my first year was back
in twenty sixteen seventeen. I'm aging and dating myself a
little bit, but that team was the best team we've
ever had. We made it to the conference finals. We
had the best regular season record in the American Hockey League.
Our coach won the Coach of the Year. We had
the Rookie of the Year in the league, we had
the goalie of the Year in the league, and we
had a lot of top prospects that year. We had
some first round draft picks. I think we had it.
(15:09):
We ended up having eleven guys. I believe we played
the NHL off of that team, So that is certainly,
you know, I can look back at my time pretty
easily and go back to that first year. Is the
best team. I don't know if I can say this
team is better yet, but it's it's pretty close. I
mean in terms of talent, in terms of the mix
of veteran players and young players coming in. From a
prospect standpoint, you know, the Shark's top prospects in the
(15:31):
NHL already. Macklin celebrating their second top prospects, Will Smith.
He too is in the NHL. Sam Dickinson probably their
maybe third best prospect. He's in the NHL. Michael Mesa
just got reassigned to the Barracuda. He'll be with the
team this weekend on a conditioning loan. He may be
in that top three discussion as well. He was the
second overall pick this this last summer. So you know,
when you're as bad as the Sharks have been, and
(15:53):
it's been a tough grind for the last four or
five six years, you know, the franchise which was so
successful for almost two decades where it was pushing for
Stanley Cup every year. Eventually some of those pillars are
going to age out and retire and you have to
start over. And when Mike Greer came in, I think
it was three years ago, you know, it went from
(16:13):
a retool to we got to rebuild this thing. We
got to rip it down to the studs. We got
to start over. And if you do that, there is
some risk involved, and you know, Coyote fans can it
attest When the team is still in Arizona. You know,
they decided let's try to rebuild and retool. I guess too,
and it doesn't always work because you don't always hit
a home run. Now the Sharks seem to have hit
(16:33):
a home run in Maclin Celebrini. He looks like a
player who, over the next fifteen years is going to
be one of the best players in the NHL. That
isn't a guarantee, but because they hit on Celebrinia, it
seemed to kind of put everything else in place, and
some of the other picks maybe don't have as much pressure.
So a very long witted answer is they have been
bad for a few years and they picked very high.
(16:55):
So despite having three or four of their top prospects
already in the NHL. We have several first round and
second round draft picks on this Baracuti team. Igor Ternishov
was the player of the Month in the AHL in
the month of November. He's nineteen years old, just turned
twenty actually on the thirtieth of November. He lit it
up this past month. He's big six' three. He can
absolutely rip the puck. He's pretty defensively sound for a
(17:19):
guy with as much skill as he has, and for
his age, He's played in the KHL, so he has
some pro experience. He's been outstanding. Quinn Musty as a
first round draft pick from a couple of years ago,
he's been lighting it up on a line with Turnershof
Cam London, the second round draft pick Quintin or choosing
Casper Halton in the second round draft pick. But he'savlet
a second round draft pick. I go down and list
(17:39):
of guys. These are very high picks, and then you
couple out with some veteran players who have won, and
that's going to be a good recipe at the HL level.
So sorry for my very long answer. That's the reason
why this team's off to the start they are, and
that's why they had points in all but one game
in the month of November and why they're now pushing
for the top spot in the division.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Well, I just had two things to say, Nick, when
you were going on there. One is, you took out
eighty percent of my research. I was going to ask
you some of these questions and boom, boom boom, you're
you're one step ahead of me. The other thing I
was going to say is we have now reached the
point I'm still, you know, pretty young, not only in
my broadcasting career but just generally. But turnershof right, he is,
(18:17):
he was, He's actually younger than me. So it's like
the first time that there's a notable athlete that I'm
kind of following here that I can say is actually younger.
Speaker 5 (18:25):
Than I am.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
And I had in my notes that on the thirtieth
he had turned twenty. So it's pretty remarkable the success
he's having in professional hockey at such a young age.
But that's really the case for San Jose, like you said,
it's not one of those teams sometimes in the American
Hockey League, a couple of vets get sent down right
there they're in the later stages of their career, they're
still very good. Not necessarily cutting it at the NHL level.
(18:46):
That HL team has success, that's not the case for
San Jose. Like you said, young talent across the board,
and they're really the key contributors right now.
Speaker 5 (18:55):
Yeah, without a doubt, that's I think been the big
key too. You do have some good veteran player. Jimmy
Honey was a guy they brought in this summer, signed
a one year, two way NHL contract you want to
call their cup A couple of years ago, I think
four years ago, he was in a conference final with Milwaukee.
So he has a winning resume and he's been outstanding
the locker room. So you do need those kind of vocal,
experienced guys who want to get to the NHL, want
(19:17):
to continue to push for that opportunity. They're trying to
fulfill their dreams and lifelong goals as well, but also
understanding where they are, where their feet are, and what
their role is in the American League, and that's to
help these young players be productive, but help the young players,
and that's what they've done. We have a really good,
good mix of guys who understand where they are, to
understand the situation, what their job is with the Baracudain.
(19:38):
That's to be productive and be good pros. Show these
young guys what it takes to be professional. Don't sulk
and complain and be kind of a nuisance if you
will in the locker room, because that's not going to
help them get to the NHL and it's not going
to help the young players. So it really is a
balance of kind of those young prospects, the veteran players,
and even some in between guys too who are maybe
(20:01):
in their their third or fourth season who aren't really
really young in terms of HL standards. They have some experience,
but they're not in their late twenties too. So it's
kind of a cyclical thing in the HL because these
rosters turn over so quickly year to year, it's totally different.
So you do have to, you know, take every year
with a great assault and see what you have. But
(20:22):
right now, for the barrel Kuda where the Sharks are,
this is just an extremely talented group and you know,
the sky is only the limit for what they could
do this year.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
Now, nick I wanted to go on about the point
of the veterans, someone that kind of stuck out to
me as as someone who've been from southern California and
the Ducks fan Pavlo Rigenda. He had some time with
the Anahem Ducks and also the Santiecua Goals. Also Colin
White had some Angel experience. So what if you notice
from them helping out these young guys, as you say,
you know, not you know, being down yourself as obviously
being in the AHL, But what if you noticed so
(20:53):
far in this into the first you know, twenty games
of the season between those two guys.
Speaker 5 (20:57):
Well, starting with again the interesting player because he's twenty
six years old, undrafted, originally signed by Anaheim, as you mentioned,
started his career with the Ducks and the goals, got
some games I think it was like nineteen games, but
was still trying to get a stranglehold of an opportunity
in the NHL. And last year he came over to
the Barracuda in a trade from Anaheim and he just
(21:18):
fit in seamlessly and he kind of got a fresh start,
if you will. He had a slow offensive start to
a season, wasn't really producing. The San Diego comes to
the Barracuda on a pretty good team and really found
a niche in particular on the power play. He gets
called up earlier this week, I think it was Monday.
He scored on Monday night in the Sharks win over Utah.
He had the only goal last night in the Sharks
(21:40):
blowout loss to Washington. So he plays two games, scores
two goals, and then they reassigned it back to the
American hockeyger And that just kind of shows where the
Sharks are from a depth standpoint. They're getting a little
healthier too, but there's a lot of internal competition, and
you know, Pabo has been a really good piece to
the room. He's a really positive guy. He's a good
player at the American League level. He's big, he's physical,
he's really fit, a nice niche in terms of providing
(22:02):
a little more heaviness for the team. He's productive too,
and I think he can go up to the NHL
and be a player who can fit in too. So
those are the type of guys that are really important
in my mind to have it in your organization where
you can go up and fit in pretty quickly in
the NHL, but in the American Hockey League year you're
a go to player and a very productive player. So
you know, Pavel has been great. On the other side,
(22:23):
you know, Colin White was one time a top prospect himself.
He was the first round pick of Ottawa. He's played
a lot in the NHL. You know, three years ago
when Florida made it to the Stanley Cup Final, the
year they lost to Vegas, he played almost every game
during that playoff run. So he has a lot of
experience in the NHL. He's played in the Stanley Cup
playoffs and then for whatever reason, he just didn't quite
get his footing back in the NHL. And last year
(22:45):
he came to San Jose on an American League deal,
started with the Barracuda, then they signed him to an
NHL deal halfway through the year, got a couple of
games up top of the Sharks, but he liked it
so much he decided to resign. And he was open
to being in the American Hockey League and being with
his team because he enjoyed the group in or the
you know, the environment. We've got a beautiful, brand new arena,
you know, Sant Jose. It's it's not cheap to live,
(23:06):
but it's a great place to live. From a weather
standpoint and a lifestyle standpoint. So sometimes it's hard to
convince these guys to come to the barrier because of
the price of living. But if you enjoy where you're at,
you know guys find there to be value there too.
So yeah, call a White Pavo Rigaenda, two great guys
in terms of what they provide on the ice but
also off the ice.
Speaker 4 (23:27):
And then someone who has played state like youth hockey
playoff games in San Jose at the Cellar for ice
practice facility. It is, trust me, it is one of
the best probably brings I've ever played in. I wanted
to ask you again just about the success that they've
had the Baracoud in November, I mean nine to one
oh one in the last eleven games. I think obviously
the goaltending has been something about that. So if you
(23:49):
want to go into a little bit more of the
goaltending situation for San Jose and what can they do
and what roadrunners can Roadbunner fans can see this weekend.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
Well, we kind of have a two headed monster right
now in Yakub Scarek, who they signed to a one year,
two way NHL contract. He's a veteran guy. I think
he's in his seventh season pro for six years, spent
all within the Islanders organization. And then Gabe Carrier, an
undrafted guy out of Vermont who I thought it really
solid year. Last year he started in the ECHL with Wichita,
got his chance in the back half of the season.
(24:20):
He kind of ran with it. It's a lot different
than what we saw last year. Last year, the Barracoot
had Yardislav Ashcroff, the number one probably goalie prospect in
the NHL as the eleventh overall pick by Nashville a
couple of years ago, came over and traded to the Sharks,
so they had the guy in the AHL, and he
knew who was going to get the Lion's share of
the starts. You knew who the guy was, if you
will in the room. This year, it's different because you
(24:41):
have a player in Scarik who's been around the block,
has a lot of HL experience, played two games last
year in the NHL, but those are the only two
of his career. Gabe Carrier has not played in the
NHL at this point. But I thought, again was solid
last year, so you didn't know what to expect and
for the Barracouter. They were two and five in the
month of October, and I think it ties into the
fact he have such a youthful t tea and the
young players trying to get their footing under him. But
(25:02):
you go into November and they had an eleven game
point streak, a five game winning streak at one point.
All the young guys are coming alive. They've gotten great goaltending.
But I think you can really pinpoint it to a
I think it was a five or six game road
trip that we had that spanned almost two weeks that
started in southern California. We played Ontario right at the
start of the month, then we flew up to Calgary,
(25:22):
played two games there, had a day off in between,
and then we were in Abbots for a couple of games.
So it was a very long trip. Guys had the
rookie Party. There was an opportunity for these guys at
bond and spend time off the ice, and that's really
really important for a young team, and that seemed to
be the point where things came together and this team
just kind of took off. So as you look at
the month of November, which was, you know, a month again,
I think they picked up points in twelve of thirteen games.
(25:44):
You can tie it back to that road trip and
a chance for bonding. But again, I think it has
to do with the young players figuring it out to
getting some games under their belt at the HL level
and then you know, letting their talent kind of go
from there.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Nick, let's talk play style.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
I see eight eight power play opportunities for San Jose
this year. That mark is second in the American Hockey League.
That tells me we've got a young team here. We've
got a fast team that's able to generate opportunities and
create power plays. Am I reading that right?
Speaker 3 (26:14):
And is this a quick team along with being a
young team.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
Yeah, definitely, it's a team that wants to, you know,
generate off the rush a little bit. They also want
to play a puck possession game where they hold on
to pucks. And I think when you have a talented
team and you've got possession, you're gonna draw more penalties.
You take penalties when you do off the puck, right,
It's pretty simple, and if you have the puck, you're
gonna draw more. Now we've got a couple of guys,
Anthony Vincent is the first guy that comes to mind
(26:36):
is he's twenty eight years old. Now, he's only in
his third season of pro, but he played five years
at coll of Hockey. He is one of those players
when you watch a hockey game, if he's not on
your team, he's gonna drive you absolutely nuts and you're
gonna hate him every every piece of his game, you're
gonna absolutely despise. But he's the type of guy that
when he's on your team, you abstract love. He has
a total knack for drawing penalties. He has a total
(26:57):
knack for getting under the opposition skin. So keep an
eye on for seventy six because he hits everything with
a pulse. He's a total energizer bunny out there. He
will mix it up after every single whistle and teams
know it too. They'll tell the referees like, watch out
for this guy. He's embellishing, he's trying to draw penalies,
but he just has a knack. He gets into the
(27:17):
dirty areas. So yeah, I think it's a combination of
a lot of skill and that's going to draw some penalties,
but also some guys who are pretty good at getting
under the skin of the opposition as well. So, yeah,
you're exactly right. And last year the team of the
number one power player in the league, they lost the MVP.
Andrew Poterowski was the best player in the league last
year signed in the KHL. But this team is still
a top five unit and it has to do a
(27:37):
lot with a young player in Luca Canyone who's in
his second season. He was an All Rookie member last year.
He's an undersized defenseman, but he's really slick, really offensive,
and on the power play in particular, he's as good
as it gets in the league. So that helps the
power play too.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
Certainly a good combination when you have a team that's
drawing a lot of penalties and also twenty eight point
four percent on the man advantage getting looks and scoring
on them. That's usually a good thing in any sport.
Last question for men, can we really appreciate the time
enjoyable conversation here. Can you speak to the relationship between
the Barracuda and the Sharks. Is there a nice synergy there,
(28:13):
the collaboration between the two just your observation on that relationship.
Speaker 5 (28:19):
Yeah, you know, it's when the team moved out to
San Jose back in twenty fifteen from Worcester, which is
a suburb of Boston. You got to think how big
of a drastic improvement that was for players. Because our
head coach was a long time prospect in the organization,
kind of spent most of his career in the minor leagues.
He had times where he would hop on a flight
(28:39):
from Boston, he'd fly cross country. This happened, and where
he flew cross country, his phone was off because he
was on the flight, turned on his phone as soon
as he landed. He had a text that said stay
in the airport, were sending you back. And he got
back on a flight and flew back. So it gives
an idea of how incredibly non productive it was to
have your team across the country. So you know the
team's owned by our hostile Platner is the owner of
(29:00):
the Sharks own z of Baracuti too. We're under the
same building. The practice facility for the Sharks is where
we play our games. They build us a brand new
arena three years ago, holl It's forty two hundred. It's
part of this Shark s ized facility that now has
six rinks. It's the largest of its kind in North America.
So five practice sheets plus an arena. So down the
hallway is where the Sharks are and where they are
(29:21):
ninety percent of the time. They play their games at
SAP Center, a couple of blocks down the street, but
predominantly they practice and basically live at Shark's Heyst and
so do we. So we've got our own area, our
designated area as well our own locker room and own arena.
So yeah, this synergy is great. Just today we had
Mike Wrow, our general manager, watching practice, probably because Michael
Misa was there, but he takes in I would say
(29:41):
ninety percent of our practices because it's down the hall.
Same with our assistant GM, Joe will and Tom Holey.
They're at almost every single practice. So yeah, there's communication
constantly between the HL coaches, John McCarthy's staff and Ryan Warsowski,
the head coach of the santals A Sharks. Those guys
are in constant communication. So they want to play the
(30:02):
same way most of the time, and they do. Sometimes
things will impact that and there will be some you know,
changes in terms of PK structure and powerplay structure, things
like that, but predominantly they want to play the same
way because when guys get called up, they want that
transition to be almost seamless. So yeah, the relationship is great.
You know, the communication is great, and it helps when
you're down the hall, you know. I think for the
(30:23):
road Runners, I'm sure they're happy with the situation because
Utah has been such a good partner over the last
two years. But it is a little different when you
do have to catch a flight compared to walking down
the hallway when you get recalled. So, you know, I
think there's pros and cons to everything and every situation.
But for the Sharks, it works out pretty well. And
it took a while because we played at SAP Center
(30:44):
with nobody in the building for seven years. But now
that we have our own arena on our own space,
it's kind of totally changed the entire dynamic of the team.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
That sounds great.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
And by the way, Nick, you'll be surprised to hear
second show in two days, and it's also the second
show in two days where wo's their mass made it
into the conversation.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
Alti, the broadcaster for Bakersfield.
Speaker 2 (31:04):
I believe he went to Holy Cross, which is a
college in Worcester and my grandmother went to Clark, which
is right across the street. So we were talking about
Wooster on Tuesday. Here we are again. It's not a
very big place, like you said, it's forty minutes outside
of Boston. But nonetheless, funny that came up. But I
think Kevin Rooney is listening to the operation in San Jose.
He's been going back and forth between Tucson and Utah.
I think he's made that flight six or seven times,
(31:27):
so he, I think, is hearing what you're describing and
he's a fan of it. But noneth it's not a
bad flight, I'm sure pretty su Yeah, No, I don't
think it's too bad, but it's not as it's not
as different.
Speaker 3 (31:35):
It's different than going down the hall. Right, there's a difference.
Speaker 5 (31:38):
There, right, exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:39):
But anyway, road Runners in Barracuda's going to be a
two game set up in Northern California. Coverage right here
or not right here, but coverage on Fox Sports fourteen
fifty am pregame at seven forty five Arizona time, and
then it'll be one hour earlier on Saturday. We'll catch
up with Nick when the Barracuda come to Tucson in January.
But that's our coverage, that's what's coming up. Thank you
so much for listening to between the benches. We will
(32:02):
see you next week.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.