After a record-breaking 2022-23 season, the Tucson Roadrunners are preparing to take on the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night.
The best-of-three series will be played entirely in California with Game 1 at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Game 2 at 7 p.m. on Friday and Game 3 if needed on Sunday at 3 p.m.
All games will be streamed on AHL.tv or you can tune in to Fox Sports 1450AM and the iHeartRadio app to listen live.
The matchup
The Firebirds entered the league this year for the first time as the AHL’s affiliate of the Seattle Kraken. The Roadrunners actually handed Coachella Valley its first-ever loss on home ice in a 3-2 victory on December 20.
These teams met eight times in the regular season with Coachella Valley claiming dominance across the board. The Roadrunners took home two wins while the Firebirds won the other six matchups.
The Firebirds hit the net 27 times compared to Tucson’s 23 goals. Half of the games were decided by just one goal.
Tucson’s Michael Carcone led both teams in scoring throughout the season series, scoring 7 goals and 4 assists for 11 points in the eight games that includes his fourth hat trick in a Roadrunners jersey.
Re-writing the record books
In the team’s seventh year in the Old Pueblo, the Roadrunners made history in several categories.
Tucson set a new team record for most goals in a season, lighting the lamp 219 times in 72 games. That’s good for 3.04 goals per game the team’s third-highest average in its history.
The Roadrunners also had three players score at least 20 goals and at least 50 points, a feat never accomplished before in Tucson.
Carcone’s league-leading offense set new benchmarks for the Roadrunners franchise. The 26-year-old recorded the most goals (31), assists (54) and points (85) by any skater to don a Tucson jersey.
Big-league reinforcements
With the Arizona Coyotes’ season over, the Roadrunners receive the welcome addition of players with NHL experience.
Michael Kesselring is one of the five players joining the Roadrunners fresh out of Phoenix, making a splash right away with a goal in his first game back in the AHL.
Forward Milos Kelemen is returning to Tucson as well with helpers in each of his last 3 AHL contests.