The Utah Hockey Club’s season ended on Tuesday with a 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. For Utah fans, Game 82 in St. Louis marks the end of the team’s inaugural season with lots to look forward to. However, while Utah’s season might be over, the organization’s season is not.
Utah fans who want to see the organization play one last time this season can look 787 miles south in Tucson, AZ. The Tucson Roadrunners are set to play what could be the biggest game of the season for the whole Utah organization. Game 71 starts the final regular season series for the team, but more importantly, it could be a game that sees the Roadrunners clinch the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
Utah fans might be wondering why they should care or tune into Friday and Saturday’s games against the Colorado Eagles. It’s because, despite the Roadrunners maybe feeling like a leftover scar from the Arizona Coyotes, they are a critical part of the Utah organization, and their success could impact the NHL team forever.
Tucson’s Success Is a Bright Spot for Utah
This season, Utah finished outside of the playoffs. While their 38-31-13 record is impressive for their inaugural season, it ended up placing them seven points back of the Blues for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
If you look all the way down at the ECHL, the Allen Americans, who are affiliated with Utah, finished at the bottom of the whole league with a 16-45-8-3 record. This leaves the Roadrunners as the only team within Utah’s organization to potentially make the playoffs.
However, they must win Game 71 vs the Eagles, who are the best team in the Pacific Division. With 72 points, the Roadrunners do have control of the final playoff spot, but the Bakersfield Condors are right behind them with 70 points. The Condors also play the Henderson Silver Knights in their final two games of the season. The Silver Knights are one of the worst teams in the division.
As mentioned, though, they have complete control. The clinching scenario is easy. If the Roadrunners win on Friday, they’re automatically in. If they lose and the Condors lose, they’re in. Even if the Condors manage to pull into a tie with them, the Roadrunners still make it in because they win the tiebreaker with 29 regulation wins.
Related: Cameron Hebig’s Journey to Game 280 With AHL Roadrunners Was One Full of Hard Work & Perseverance
The only possible scenario where the Roadrunners don’t make it is if they lose out and the Condors win out. So, a win is necessary. However, it won’t be easy. The Eagles are 42-20-5 and have been playing some good hockey as of late. They’re also looking to clinch the Pacific Division, so they’re not going to let the Roadrunners walk all over them.
The fact that the Roadrunners are playing these meaningful games is great for Utah. It provides a bright spot in the organization and shows that Utah’s farm system is one that’s well-coached and managed despite the ownership issues the Roadrunners have had.
If the Roadrunners make the playoffs, it would be the third straight season they’ve played playoff hockey. Continued American Hockey League (AHL) success creates a good image for prospects coming over from juniors or Russia. Players don’t want to join a minor league team that is being run poorly. They want to join a system that allows an eventual pathway to the NHL and an AHL team that will help them improve to get them there.
The Roadrunners have done that. Last season, the team had the most amount of players called up to the NHL in the whole league. Graduates from the Roadrunners who are now on Utah include Dylan Guenther, Josh Doan, Michael Kesselring, Michael Carcone, Barrett Hayton, and Matias Maccelli.
If Utah fans decide to tune into Friday and Saturday’s games, they’ll be watching many future NHL players play in meaningful games, which helps their development by creating a chance to play at their highest level of hockey. They’ll also learn how to have the mentality of playing like it’s their last game. It’s an important thing to learn, especially because Utah is trying to play those games as well.
Future and Present Utah Players Are Getting Playoff-Like Games
The continued success of the Roadrunners shows that the prospects that general manager Bill Armstrong has brought in are playing well. It also creates an opportunity for future and present NHLers to come up in big moments with hopes of landing an NHL roster spot in the future.
Maveric Lamoureux is the biggest name on the roster for the Roadrunners. After a great start in Tucson that led to a call-up to the NHL, he has had a mixed season back down south, but the injury he sustained could still be nagging him. However, he’s had Artem Duda on the blue line to help him out, who is another defensive prospect that is high in Utah’s prospect pipeline.
Forward-wise, Kailer Yamamoto has spent most of the past couple of weeks with Utah. However, before that, he was thriving in the AHL, becoming nearly a point-per-game player. After the conclusion of Utah’s season, he was sent down to help the Roadrunners win Friday and Saturday’s games with hopes of a deep playoff run. Yamamoto is a player many fans in Salt Lake City will be keeping an eye on, especially because of their familiarity with him. The Roadrunners will hope that he can bring his A game to help them clinch a playoff spot.
Sammy Walker has taken over as the main scorer ever since Yamamoto was called up by Utah. After being traded from the Minnesota Wild, Walker has scored 21 points in 29 games, thriving under head coach Steve Potvin. Egor Sokolov, who is also doing well in his first season with the Roadrunners, has 21 goals this season. Finally, Cameron Hebig, despite being one of the older guys on the team, is in the middle of a breakout season with 44 points, earning a contract with Utah earlier this season.
The Roadrunners also got reinforcements before their most recent series. Noel Nordh and Owen Allard were recalled from their junior teams. It’ll be interesting to see how they play in the AHL after having good seasons with the Soo Greyhounds. Miko Matikka was also recalled from the Americans after struggling earlier this season in the AHL. The Roadrunners are hoping his stint in the ECHL revived his game and that he can be a huge part of a potential playoff run.
Finally, in net, Utah fans are well acquainted with both goaltenders. After winning his first NHL game against the Nashville Predators and finishing out the season with Utah, Matt Villalta was sent back down to help finish what he started in Tucson. Before his call-up, Villalta was a massive part of the Roadrunners’ success, winning 17 games with the team. He credits the playoff intensity as part of the reason why he got the win vs the Nashville Predators earlier this week.
“Down there in Tucson, the boys are in a playoff race,” Villalta said. “We’re in a points race with them (Bakersfield) right now down there. I think every game was a playoff game mentality there. You got to bring your A game every game. The goal is to make the playoffs. That got me in the mindset of let’s get on the saddle and let’s go. It set me up well for coming up here.”
Jaxson Stauber is the other goaltender in Tucson who has played games in the NHL this season. He’s been having a fun time playing meaningful games in Tucson this season and has helped them down the stretch recently with Villalta in the NHL.
“It’s a fun time of year,” Stauber said. “I think every point is huge right now. We’re playing a lot of the teams that we’re trying to catch or stay in front of. Those are huge swings of points. It can be four-point swings in one game, one way or another. It’s a lot of fun. This is the time of the year that you want to be playing in.”
Utah fans have a lot of players to root for in the AHL at this time of year. The continued success of the Roadrunners will mean a lot for the future of Utah, as making the postseason allows for the continued development of guys like Lamoureux and Walker, who will be playing in the biggest games of their career so far. The Roadrunners are a critical part of Utah’s present and future success, and it’s a big reason why fans of the team should care and keep an eye on the team’s playoff push this weekend and potentially their playoff run in the coming weeks.
