October 13, 2025 • 16 mins
On this week’s episode of The Breakdown, we take a deep dive into the Tucson Roadrunners’ season-opening series against the Ontario Reign. James Mackey and David Mooradain recaps all the key moments from the weekend, including standout performances, special teams impact, and early impressions of the team’s new faces. We’ll look at what went right, what needs tightening up, and how Tucson’s start sets the tone for the season ahead. It’s all right here on Roadrunners Weekly: The Breakdown — your recap home for Tucson hockey.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
When you want more Roadrunners, We've got more road Runners.
This is the Breakdown edition of Roadrunners Weekly with James
mackint and your new best friend plan best friend, David Mradi. Again,
the guys are already talking, so let's join them right
here on the Breakdown.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello and welcome to the first episode of the Tucson
Roadrunners Weekly. Roadrunns Breakdown. James McKie and David Moradian here
with you. Two games this weekend on tap for the
Tucson Roaderunners Friday Night of five to four overtime victory
over the Ontario Rain and Sunday Night a four to
two regulation victory for the Ontario Rain. Let's start with it,
(00:40):
break it down on Friday night, the story of the
weekend for us David, The Tale of two halves. Game
number one. Tucson strikes first. Ben McCartney gets him on
the board in thirty five seconds. Two quick responses from
the Ontario Rain in the first period. Sammy Walker would
answer that call on the power play in the second period,
but not to Yanson could get it right back on
(01:02):
a power play of their own in the final ninth
the final seconds of the second period. Then in the
third period, Owen Allard and Kevin Rooney Sandwich Daquille Thomas's goal,
Kevin Rooney's power play goal, the first of the year
for him as a two so on Roadrunner, sent the
game to overtime, where Sammy Walker ended it fifty one
seconds later. The story of the night on the Friday
(01:26):
Night opener, penalty in minutes was a big shot in
the foot if you will.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, yeah, The road Runners and Ontario really were both
hovering around fifteen minutes. The key for the Roadrunners, and
that's a difference between Game one and two, which we'll
get to, was the Roadrunners were heavily penalized in Game
one on Friday, but not in the crucial moments, not
at the end of the game. The team that committed
the big penalty at the end of the game, that
was the Ontario Rain. It allowed the Roadrunners to go
six on four and ultimately that was what changed the
(01:53):
entire complexion of the game. The Roadrunner score on six
on four to twenty two seconds, so le've get it
to go to overtime and then get it done and
over time, so the penalties loomed large more so for
Ontario than Tucson, even though it was even in the
statistical category. Not the same story on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Kim he Big, Sammy Walker, Ben McCartney, the three players
that escaped Friday Night's victory with two points each. Big
night on the board for guys like Scott Pernovich and
Ardham due to guys who are role players on this
team Austin Paganski, the captain, Kevin Connaught and the assistant
Mac Zuber and Miko Matika all recording assists only on
(02:31):
the night as their points. But really Sammy Walker's two
goals the reason Tucson obviously won that game on Friday Night.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yeah, Sammy Walker was a key player, no question about that.
And I thought he had a very active preseason. It
was no surprise that he went out there and performed
at a high level on Friday. And you mentioned it.
He got them going, you know in the second period,
tied the game up on the power play, but more
so in overtime, very opportunistic broke away and look, you
have to give credit to Matti v huge save in overtime.
(03:02):
It was you know, the rain came out very nicely
after giving up that game time goal four to four.
They peppered Volalta early in the overtime period. He stood
tall and then Walker eventually was the beneficiary of those
saves on the opposite end and finish it up, you know,
scoring the go ahead goal there in overtime.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, Matthew Lolta's season debut went his way, four goals
against in the entire sixty call it one minutes of hockey.
He stood on his head for most of that. Last season,
these two teams split the season series at Toyota Arena
two and two. This season, they split it one in
one to start it. What does Tucson have to do
(03:43):
to build on this win? Move to build on this
series split? Really moving into that home opener.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So it's simple, right, you're building steps, you're stacking performances.
The split is somewhere between an accomplishment and a moral victory. Right,
victory would be if they had a good showing, but
they weren't able to win anything. Now, a split, you're
kind of even. So it's above a moral victory, but
it's not really an accomplishment because you won a game,
you lost the game. So now you have to trend
(04:11):
in the right direction. Right, you're kind of in that
middle ground. Now you have to go out and I
think win this series, win both games against Calgary. You're
at home, you have the momentum, should have the high
of the home opener against the team that I don't
think is as impressive as Ontario. So I think you
have to go out there and try to be the
better team. Should be the better team and cash in
for some victories.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Tucson starts the season one one and oh. Meanwhile Calgary
starts the season two in Oh, so on paper it
looks like it should be all two.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
So, yeah, it's early in the season. Obviously, there have
been great teams in any sport to go oh and
two and finish not that way. But yes, I think
that the road Runners do have a roster that's capable
of sweeping on excuse me, sweeping Calgary, especially at home.
I think the crowd is going to be hopeful that
they can do. So. I think the going to be
excited to have the Roadrunners back. Disappointing loss for the
(05:03):
Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, so maybe there's a pivot in
the city of Tucson towards the road Runners. So certainly
not something to gloss over. So Yeah, it's a big
opportunity for the road Runners and possibly to get to
three and one have a winning record would be very
exciting start for the team.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
We called them the early Birds after Friday's game, and
Sunday was really the story of the early Birds again.
Tucson scores in the first ten minutes of the first
period and then came he Big scores in the first
two minutes of the second period. They really controlled again
the first half of this game. In Game two was
really all Tucson. They were really well, you know, really
well was the disciplined when it came to taking penalties.
(05:43):
Nord and Lipkin the only two penalties for Tucson in
the first period, and then in that first half of
the second period the only penalty really spent for Tucson
was came he Big sending two minutes for interference. So
at the end of the day, Tucson comes away with
six minutes in total in the box in the first
half of Game two. Meanwhile, you know, Ontario puts up
what is it combined ten plus six all for Joe Hicketts.
(06:05):
So at the end of the day, what do you
think was the transition between Game one and Game two.
That really constitutes on the most when it came down to.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Game two, well, I think Steve Podvin would tell you that,
you know, not checking the right way, not checking with
their skates. That's something he likes to say a lot,
maybe a little late on the movement, so that's one
of his favorites. I think you'd have to say. But anyway,
just being a little bit out of position, a few
technical things, I'm sure, And then you were calling them
the early birds. I kind of want to call them
(06:32):
the angry birds because at times it seems like they
get a little bit too frustrated, maybe you know, overly aggressive,
and that's something certainly that's going to happen earlier in
the year. But if you're leading the division in penalties
like they did last season, it's not all technical. Some
of it is mindset, and like I said, the angry birds.
So I do think that that is definitely a factor
the shift. The one thing that was a constant was
(06:55):
late getting back to the defensive zone, and that was
something Steve Podven mentioned pregame. It was very obvious in
Game one one didn't really get cleaned up. If anything,
it was worse. To be perfectly honest with you here
in Game two, too many opportunities where they're leaving the
goalie alone on an island. And you know, when you
couple that with the power plays that Ontario had, it's
not a good combination. And that's why the Rain scored
(07:15):
four goals in both games.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
You and I talked about it between intermission one and two,
if I remember correctly or really at the start of
intermission two. The story of it, unfortunately became your backcheck
doesn't support you. You're going to be hung out to
dry between the pipes. Whether it was Manny v or
Jackson Stauber, it didn't matter. One of the two of
them was getting hung out to dry when it came
to to backcheck. That transition game seemed to really bite
(07:38):
the Roadrunners.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, it absolutely did, and too many times. James, just
to put it in really simple terms, they you know,
if you're thinking going back to this is it. It
applies to both basketball and hockey, but it's it's more
clear cut with basketball. But if you're ever if you
ever played basketball, even at the most basic level, they
teach you, if you're playing man to man defense, you
know you have to stay between the ball and the hoop, right,
where's your man, where's the basket? Stay in between the
(08:02):
two ball and who right? Too many times there would
be a rain player and there's no road runner between
the puck and the net, and that's just inexcusable, especially
in the transition. So the point I'm trying to make
is way too often you had one or sometimes even
two rain players coming down and there is absolutely no
buffer between them and the goaltender and that is just
(08:24):
not where you want to be. And often that was
how Ontario scored their goals.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, the biggest thing being, you know, the transition game again,
the big one, but also time in the penalty boxes. Again,
they served twelve minutes in total of penalties, allowed one
goal in that twelve minutes if I remember correctly. Yeah,
so that was the penalty kill.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Was the penalty kill is not the issue. But that's
twelve minutes, James, where you can't score yep, right, I mean,
shorthanded goals are highly unlikely. The puck is going to
be populated in the offensive zone. You're just trying to
burn the clock. And when you're making these mistakes in
the transition, you know you don't want to you don't
want to be just giving away time. And that's the
position that that Tucson was in in this game, is
(09:04):
they're playing from behind and they're watching the clock go away.
They're willing volunteers with the clock burning because they're shorthanded,
and so that is certainly not helpful for their cause.
And the penalties, you know that they hurt in many
different ways. There's never a good time to commit a penalty,
but especially not when you're playing from behind in the
(09:24):
third period.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I want to just put something on your paper. Tucson
one for four on the power play Sunday night, Ontario
one for six. Yeah, eighteen minutes of penalties.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Yeah. And I thought the power plays there wasn't a
lot of cross ice movement. There was reasonable general movement,
but not often James. Did you see a lot of
times power plays are all about the passing right and
the movement, but the passing as well, whether it's a
cross ice passer or catching defenders out of position. And
it seemed like some of Tucson's passes were to very
congested areas. And I just didn't think Ontario was very
(09:55):
aggressive on the power play. A few of that was
the nature of the situation, but even earlier in the game,
their power plays were a little bit more of vanilla.
There weren't a lot of passes where the crowd would
kind of go ooh, right, I didn't see those, And
that's kind of why you have that one for six number.
You know you're only gonna a shot can only be
so good. I mean, these career highlight shots, you're only
(10:17):
gonna have so many of them throughout a season. A
lot of times you have to have beautiful passes they're
gonna set up those power play goals, and generally they
weren't there, at least I didn't see them.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Friday Night, Tucson out shot Ontario twenty seven to eighteen
five in the first, eleven in the second, nine in
the third. Sunday Night, Ontario outshot Tucson seven or twenty
seven to twenty one, seven in the first for Tucson,
ten in the second, four shots on goal in the
third the third period their most penalized period of Sunday
Nights affair. It's not all bad, though.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
No, it isn't all bad at all, And I hate
to get overly negative. I noticed kind of we were
going over but I think some of that is the
nature of recency bias. Right, we're human. We get very
compelled by what we just saw. And what we just
saw was the worst thirty minutes that they've played in
the whole series. Right, the last thirty minutes of Game
two was by far the worst that they played. I
(11:08):
know I just said that, but it's worth repeating. There
was a lot of good in there. They showed terrific fight.
The effort was great. On Friday, they got off to
a hot start here again on Sunday. I thought a
lot of players contribute. I'll I'll give three shout outs
for you, James, and you tell me if you disagree
or if there's anybody you need to add. All right,
Scott Paronovich, Yeah, I thought he was you know, I
used this word last time and you enjoyed it. I
(11:29):
thought he was ubiquitous. He was everywhere, right, he was
all over the ice. He was tough to miss it.
If you were just casually going to the game, you
would have to leave the arena. Say, man, I saw
number seven all over the place, and I was impressed
by him. I thought Ausin paganskis as the captain, you know,
generated a lot of offense and Kevin Rooney a nice
veteran presence. They used Rooney. Now, the thing that we
(11:50):
mentioned in game one is not only are they using
Rooney on the top line with Daniel boot who's twenty
years old and alongside Sammy Walker as well, but they're
also using him on the penalty kill and he's all
over their specials. That tells you how valuable he is.
And how about the fight today scores the opening goal
of the game, gets injured on the same play and
then is right back out there a few minutes later
(12:11):
after tons of blood was pouring out of his face.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, let's take a second. Now, we'll look around the
Pacific Division only two teams. Two teams finished the weekend
two and oh that Colorado and that Abbots for Colorado
bested Calgary in two consecutive games. Abbotsford wins the first
of two games on Friday night in overtime fashion against
(12:36):
Henderson two to one. Then they won game two on
Saturday four to two. So they took two really good games.
Ontario again with the split with Tucson one oh one
on the season. San Diego San Jose each play one.
Tucson again the split one in one, Henderson OH one
in one on the season, Bakersfield OH one in OH,
Calgary OH two, and oh and Coachella OH one and oh.
(12:57):
Tucson sitting sixth in the Pacific Division as of right
now with Coachella or with Calgary on the horizon. So
what does Tucson have to do to bounce back to
get to the top of that Pacific Division. Who do
you think, other than the obvious answer of Colorado is
your team to watch in the Pacific Division this year?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah, Colorado is the obvious answer. Look, I mean I
thought Ontario, I thought they looked pretty good. I know
the road Runners outplayed them at times, but just again
recent seabuys. But I want to keep my eye on
the rain, no question about that. I think that Eric
Portilla will get better and better. You have to remember
James injured on February seventeenth. That matters, right. Say you
(13:36):
were taking a class and you're studying, You're studying in
February and then you stop and then you know, you
start studying again in like August, and you have an
examine October. YEP, It's like, all right, I need a
little bit more time on this. I know that I've
been working on it over the summer, but now this
is real again. We're back in the classroom. So I
do think there's a little bit of rust. I think
they're going to get better. That's a team that I
(13:56):
trust in. It's a team that showed me in the
past that they can be a so here in the AHL.
So keep an eye Ontario, not just because we just
saw them, but there's evidence to suggest that there'll be
a top team in the Pacific. How about you.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
My answer to that question is the Abbots for Canucks.
Tucson took them to the brink in Round one of
the playoffs last season. Abbots for coming off of a
great playoff run last year, they I believe, went seven
games in the Calder Cup Finals. If I'm not mistaken,
they played fantastic hockey.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
They ended up beating Charlotte in Game seven of the
Calder Cup Finals to win the Calder Cups. That's defending
Calder Cup champion. Abbots for Canucks, I would say, is
the who to watch when it comes to the Pacific
Division other than the obvious Tucson Roadrunners, who will be
watching all season long.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Yeah, No, question about that, And just one more thing,
The road Runner now another team to keep an eye on,
and the Roadrunners will see all of these teams. Like
you mentioned, that's kind of the intimacy of the AHL, Right,
you play so much indivision play. We played them in
the preseason, the Tucson Roadrunners played Henderson. This is a
team that I think not to watch at the top,
but let's say in the most improved category, right, I
(15:05):
want to keep an eye on if Henderson what they're buying,
if what they're selling is really worth buying. Right, They're
very confident that they improved dramatically. They have another young
goaltender who they're very confident in, so keep an eye
on Henderson. I think that those matchups against Tucson will
be compelling. I believe the Silver Knights had a loss
and an overtime loss, so not a great start, but
(15:25):
they were competitive out of the gate, and I think
they will get better as the season progresses.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
That's one point on the air. Yeah, Tucson picks up
two in the win on Friday, none in the loss
on Sunday. A couple news and notes before we let
you depart for the rest of your week. Activities. October sixteenth,
the Twucson Roadrunners Fan Gala will occur at the Tucson
Convention Center. Get your tickets at Tucson Roadrunners dot com.
(15:50):
It's fifty dollars for season ticket holders, sixty dollars for
general mission, and free for Dusty's Force members. Also sure
to visit twoon Rumers dot com for tickets to the
home opener October eighteenth and then the follow up game
October nineteenth. Puck drop for Saturday nights home opener. Seven
o'clock four pm is the tailgate. Four thirty is the
(16:12):
red carpet for David Meridian, our guy in the chair,
Michael Goodrich, and myself James mackew. We thank you very
much for tuning in. We will see you Tuesday night
for a regular Tuesday night get together
When you want more Roadrunners, We've got more road Runners.
This is the Breakdown edition of Roadrunners Weekly with James
mackint and your new best friend plan best friend, David Mradi. Again,
the guys are already talking, so let's join them right
here on the Breakdown.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Hello and welcome to the first episode of the Tucson
Roadrunners Weekly. Roadrunns Breakdown. James McKie and David Moradian here
with you. Two games this weekend on tap for the
Tucson Roaderunners Friday Night of five to four overtime victory
over the Ontario Rain and Sunday Night a four to
two regulation victory for the Ontario Rain. Let's start with it,
(00:40):
break it down on Friday night, the story of the
weekend for us David, The Tale of two halves. Game
number one. Tucson strikes first. Ben McCartney gets him on
the board in thirty five seconds. Two quick responses from
the Ontario Rain in the first period. Sammy Walker would
answer that call on the power play in the second period,
but not to Yanson could get it right back on
(01:02):
a power play of their own in the final ninth
the final seconds of the second period. Then in the
third period, Owen Allard and Kevin Rooney Sandwich Daquille Thomas's goal,
Kevin Rooney's power play goal, the first of the year
for him as a two so on Roadrunner, sent the
game to overtime, where Sammy Walker ended it fifty one
seconds later. The story of the night on the Friday
(01:26):
Night opener, penalty in minutes was a big shot in
the foot if you will.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, yeah, The road Runners and Ontario really were both
hovering around fifteen minutes. The key for the Roadrunners, and
that's a difference between Game one and two, which we'll
get to, was the Roadrunners were heavily penalized in Game
one on Friday, but not in the crucial moments, not
at the end of the game. The team that committed
the big penalty at the end of the game, that
was the Ontario Rain. It allowed the Roadrunners to go
six on four and ultimately that was what changed the
(01:53):
entire complexion of the game. The Roadrunner score on six
on four to twenty two seconds, so le've get it
to go to overtime and then get it done and
over time, so the penalties loomed large more so for
Ontario than Tucson, even though it was even in the
statistical category. Not the same story on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (02:08):
Kim he Big, Sammy Walker, Ben McCartney, the three players
that escaped Friday Night's victory with two points each. Big
night on the board for guys like Scott Pernovich and
Ardham due to guys who are role players on this
team Austin Paganski, the captain, Kevin Connaught and the assistant
Mac Zuber and Miko Matika all recording assists only on
(02:31):
the night as their points. But really Sammy Walker's two
goals the reason Tucson obviously won that game on Friday Night.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yeah, Sammy Walker was a key player, no question about that.
And I thought he had a very active preseason. It
was no surprise that he went out there and performed
at a high level on Friday. And you mentioned it.
He got them going, you know in the second period,
tied the game up on the power play, but more
so in overtime, very opportunistic broke away and look, you
have to give credit to Matti v huge save in overtime.
(03:02):
It was you know, the rain came out very nicely
after giving up that game time goal four to four.
They peppered Volalta early in the overtime period. He stood
tall and then Walker eventually was the beneficiary of those
saves on the opposite end and finish it up, you know,
scoring the go ahead goal there in overtime.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
Yeah, Matthew Lolta's season debut went his way, four goals
against in the entire sixty call it one minutes of hockey.
He stood on his head for most of that. Last season,
these two teams split the season series at Toyota Arena
two and two. This season, they split it one in
one to start it. What does Tucson have to do
(03:43):
to build on this win? Move to build on this
series split? Really moving into that home opener.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
So it's simple, right, you're building steps, you're stacking performances.
The split is somewhere between an accomplishment and a moral victory. Right,
victory would be if they had a good showing, but
they weren't able to win anything. Now, a split, you're
kind of even. So it's above a moral victory, but
it's not really an accomplishment because you won a game,
you lost the game. So now you have to trend
(04:11):
in the right direction. Right, you're kind of in that
middle ground. Now you have to go out and I
think win this series, win both games against Calgary. You're
at home, you have the momentum, should have the high
of the home opener against the team that I don't
think is as impressive as Ontario. So I think you
have to go out there and try to be the
better team. Should be the better team and cash in
for some victories.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
Tucson starts the season one one and oh. Meanwhile Calgary
starts the season two in Oh, so on paper it
looks like it should be all two.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
So, yeah, it's early in the season. Obviously, there have
been great teams in any sport to go oh and
two and finish not that way. But yes, I think
that the road Runners do have a roster that's capable
of sweeping on excuse me, sweeping Calgary, especially at home.
I think the crowd is going to be hopeful that
they can do. So. I think the going to be
excited to have the Roadrunners back. Disappointing loss for the
(05:03):
Arizona Wildcats on Saturday, so maybe there's a pivot in
the city of Tucson towards the road Runners. So certainly
not something to gloss over. So Yeah, it's a big
opportunity for the road Runners and possibly to get to
three and one have a winning record would be very
exciting start for the team.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
We called them the early Birds after Friday's game, and
Sunday was really the story of the early Birds again.
Tucson scores in the first ten minutes of the first
period and then came he Big scores in the first
two minutes of the second period. They really controlled again
the first half of this game. In Game two was
really all Tucson. They were really well, you know, really
well was the disciplined when it came to taking penalties.
(05:43):
Nord and Lipkin the only two penalties for Tucson in
the first period, and then in that first half of
the second period the only penalty really spent for Tucson
was came he Big sending two minutes for interference. So
at the end of the day, Tucson comes away with
six minutes in total in the box in the first
half of Game two. Meanwhile, you know, Ontario puts up
what is it combined ten plus six all for Joe Hicketts.
(06:05):
So at the end of the day, what do you
think was the transition between Game one and Game two.
That really constitutes on the most when it came down to.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Game two, well, I think Steve Podvin would tell you that,
you know, not checking the right way, not checking with
their skates. That's something he likes to say a lot,
maybe a little late on the movement, so that's one
of his favorites. I think you'd have to say. But anyway,
just being a little bit out of position, a few
technical things, I'm sure, And then you were calling them
the early birds. I kind of want to call them
(06:32):
the angry birds because at times it seems like they
get a little bit too frustrated, maybe you know, overly aggressive,
and that's something certainly that's going to happen earlier in
the year. But if you're leading the division in penalties
like they did last season, it's not all technical. Some
of it is mindset, and like I said, the angry birds.
So I do think that that is definitely a factor
the shift. The one thing that was a constant was
(06:55):
late getting back to the defensive zone, and that was
something Steve Podven mentioned pregame. It was very obvious in
Game one one didn't really get cleaned up. If anything,
it was worse. To be perfectly honest with you here
in Game two, too many opportunities where they're leaving the
goalie alone on an island. And you know, when you
couple that with the power plays that Ontario had, it's
not a good combination. And that's why the Rain scored
(07:15):
four goals in both games.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
You and I talked about it between intermission one and two,
if I remember correctly or really at the start of
intermission two. The story of it, unfortunately became your backcheck
doesn't support you. You're going to be hung out to
dry between the pipes. Whether it was Manny v or
Jackson Stauber, it didn't matter. One of the two of
them was getting hung out to dry when it came
to to backcheck. That transition game seemed to really bite
(07:38):
the Roadrunners.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Yeah, it absolutely did, and too many times. James, just
to put it in really simple terms, they you know,
if you're thinking going back to this is it. It
applies to both basketball and hockey, but it's it's more
clear cut with basketball. But if you're ever if you
ever played basketball, even at the most basic level, they
teach you, if you're playing man to man defense, you
know you have to stay between the ball and the hoop, right,
where's your man, where's the basket? Stay in between the
(08:02):
two ball and who right? Too many times there would
be a rain player and there's no road runner between
the puck and the net, and that's just inexcusable, especially
in the transition. So the point I'm trying to make
is way too often you had one or sometimes even
two rain players coming down and there is absolutely no
buffer between them and the goaltender and that is just
(08:24):
not where you want to be. And often that was
how Ontario scored their goals.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Yeah, the biggest thing being, you know, the transition game again,
the big one, but also time in the penalty boxes. Again,
they served twelve minutes in total of penalties, allowed one
goal in that twelve minutes if I remember correctly. Yeah,
so that was the penalty kill.
Speaker 3 (08:43):
Was the penalty kill is not the issue. But that's
twelve minutes, James, where you can't score yep, right, I mean,
shorthanded goals are highly unlikely. The puck is going to
be populated in the offensive zone. You're just trying to
burn the clock. And when you're making these mistakes in
the transition, you know you don't want to you don't
want to be just giving away time. And that's the
position that that Tucson was in in this game, is
(09:04):
they're playing from behind and they're watching the clock go away.
They're willing volunteers with the clock burning because they're shorthanded,
and so that is certainly not helpful for their cause.
And the penalties, you know that they hurt in many
different ways. There's never a good time to commit a penalty,
but especially not when you're playing from behind in the
(09:24):
third period.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
I want to just put something on your paper. Tucson
one for four on the power play Sunday night, Ontario
one for six. Yeah, eighteen minutes of penalties.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Yeah. And I thought the power plays there wasn't a
lot of cross ice movement. There was reasonable general movement,
but not often James. Did you see a lot of
times power plays are all about the passing right and
the movement, but the passing as well, whether it's a
cross ice passer or catching defenders out of position. And
it seemed like some of Tucson's passes were to very
congested areas. And I just didn't think Ontario was very
(09:55):
aggressive on the power play. A few of that was
the nature of the situation, but even earlier in the game,
their power plays were a little bit more of vanilla.
There weren't a lot of passes where the crowd would
kind of go ooh, right, I didn't see those, And
that's kind of why you have that one for six number.
You know you're only gonna a shot can only be
so good. I mean, these career highlight shots, you're only
(10:17):
gonna have so many of them throughout a season. A
lot of times you have to have beautiful passes they're
gonna set up those power play goals, and generally they
weren't there, at least I didn't see them.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Friday Night, Tucson out shot Ontario twenty seven to eighteen
five in the first, eleven in the second, nine in
the third. Sunday Night, Ontario outshot Tucson seven or twenty
seven to twenty one, seven in the first for Tucson,
ten in the second, four shots on goal in the
third the third period their most penalized period of Sunday
Nights affair. It's not all bad, though.
Speaker 3 (10:47):
No, it isn't all bad at all, And I hate
to get overly negative. I noticed kind of we were
going over but I think some of that is the
nature of recency bias. Right, we're human. We get very
compelled by what we just saw. And what we just
saw was the worst thirty minutes that they've played in
the whole series. Right, the last thirty minutes of Game
two was by far the worst that they played. I
(11:08):
know I just said that, but it's worth repeating. There
was a lot of good in there. They showed terrific fight.
The effort was great. On Friday, they got off to
a hot start here again on Sunday. I thought a
lot of players contribute. I'll I'll give three shout outs
for you, James, and you tell me if you disagree
or if there's anybody you need to add. All right,
Scott Paronovich, Yeah, I thought he was you know, I
used this word last time and you enjoyed it. I
(11:29):
thought he was ubiquitous. He was everywhere, right, he was
all over the ice. He was tough to miss it.
If you were just casually going to the game, you
would have to leave the arena. Say, man, I saw
number seven all over the place, and I was impressed
by him. I thought Ausin paganskis as the captain, you know,
generated a lot of offense and Kevin Rooney a nice
veteran presence. They used Rooney. Now, the thing that we
(11:50):
mentioned in game one is not only are they using
Rooney on the top line with Daniel boot who's twenty
years old and alongside Sammy Walker as well, but they're
also using him on the penalty kill and he's all
over their specials. That tells you how valuable he is.
And how about the fight today scores the opening goal
of the game, gets injured on the same play and
then is right back out there a few minutes later
(12:11):
after tons of blood was pouring out of his face.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah, let's take a second. Now, we'll look around the
Pacific Division only two teams. Two teams finished the weekend
two and oh that Colorado and that Abbots for Colorado
bested Calgary in two consecutive games. Abbotsford wins the first
of two games on Friday night in overtime fashion against
(12:36):
Henderson two to one. Then they won game two on
Saturday four to two. So they took two really good games.
Ontario again with the split with Tucson one oh one
on the season. San Diego San Jose each play one.
Tucson again the split one in one, Henderson OH one
in one on the season, Bakersfield OH one in OH,
Calgary OH two, and oh and Coachella OH one and oh.
(12:57):
Tucson sitting sixth in the Pacific Division as of right
now with Coachella or with Calgary on the horizon. So
what does Tucson have to do to bounce back to
get to the top of that Pacific Division. Who do
you think, other than the obvious answer of Colorado is
your team to watch in the Pacific Division this year?
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah, Colorado is the obvious answer. Look, I mean I
thought Ontario, I thought they looked pretty good. I know
the road Runners outplayed them at times, but just again
recent seabuys. But I want to keep my eye on
the rain, no question about that. I think that Eric
Portilla will get better and better. You have to remember
James injured on February seventeenth. That matters, right. Say you
(13:36):
were taking a class and you're studying, You're studying in
February and then you stop and then you know, you
start studying again in like August, and you have an
examine October. YEP, It's like, all right, I need a
little bit more time on this. I know that I've
been working on it over the summer, but now this
is real again. We're back in the classroom. So I
do think there's a little bit of rust. I think
they're going to get better. That's a team that I
(13:56):
trust in. It's a team that showed me in the
past that they can be a so here in the AHL.
So keep an eye Ontario, not just because we just
saw them, but there's evidence to suggest that there'll be
a top team in the Pacific. How about you.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
My answer to that question is the Abbots for Canucks.
Tucson took them to the brink in Round one of
the playoffs last season. Abbots for coming off of a
great playoff run last year, they I believe, went seven
games in the Calder Cup Finals. If I'm not mistaken,
they played fantastic hockey.
Speaker 3 (14:24):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
They ended up beating Charlotte in Game seven of the
Calder Cup Finals to win the Calder Cups. That's defending
Calder Cup champion. Abbots for Canucks, I would say, is
the who to watch when it comes to the Pacific
Division other than the obvious Tucson Roadrunners, who will be
watching all season long.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
Yeah, No, question about that, And just one more thing,
The road Runner now another team to keep an eye on,
and the Roadrunners will see all of these teams. Like
you mentioned, that's kind of the intimacy of the AHL, Right,
you play so much indivision play. We played them in
the preseason, the Tucson Roadrunners played Henderson. This is a
team that I think not to watch at the top,
but let's say in the most improved category, right, I
(15:05):
want to keep an eye on if Henderson what they're buying,
if what they're selling is really worth buying. Right, They're
very confident that they improved dramatically. They have another young
goaltender who they're very confident in, so keep an eye
on Henderson. I think that those matchups against Tucson will
be compelling. I believe the Silver Knights had a loss
and an overtime loss, so not a great start, but
(15:25):
they were competitive out of the gate, and I think
they will get better as the season progresses.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
That's one point on the air. Yeah, Tucson picks up
two in the win on Friday, none in the loss
on Sunday. A couple news and notes before we let
you depart for the rest of your week. Activities. October sixteenth,
the Twucson Roadrunners Fan Gala will occur at the Tucson
Convention Center. Get your tickets at Tucson Roadrunners dot com.
(15:50):
It's fifty dollars for season ticket holders, sixty dollars for
general mission, and free for Dusty's Force members. Also sure
to visit twoon Rumers dot com for tickets to the
home opener October eighteenth and then the follow up game
October nineteenth. Puck drop for Saturday nights home opener. Seven
o'clock four pm is the tailgate. Four thirty is the
(16:12):
red carpet for David Meridian, our guy in the chair,
Michael Goodrich, and myself James mackew. We thank you very
much for tuning in. We will see you Tuesday night
for a regular Tuesday night get together
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