The Tucson Roadrunners began in 1994 as the Springfield Falcons. The Falcons, located in Springfield Massachusetts, served as the minor league affiliate for the National Hockey Leagues’ (NHL) Hartford Whalers, Winnipeg Jets, Phoenix Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and Arizona Coyotes.
On April 19, 2016- just one year after the announcement of the Arizona Coyotes affiliation announcement- the Coyotes signed an agreement to purchase the Falcons. Negotiations were also ongoing that would see the team moving to Tucson, Arizona beginning in the 2016-17 season. That relocation would also move the team into the newly formed AHL Pacific Division.
On May 10, 2016, the AHL Board of Governors conditionally approved both the sale and relocation of the Springfield Falcons to Tucson. Then, on May 17, 2016, the Arizona Coyotes and Tucson City Council agreed on a lease agreement, successfully meeting the terms of the conditional approval.
Tucson Roadrunners Expand Hockey in the Desert
October 14, 2016, brought the first-ever game in Tucson Roadrunner history. Ultimately, it was a 5-3 loss against the San Diego Gulls at Pechanga Arena. The team’s first captain, Craig Cunningham, scored the first two goals in Roadrunners history in the match.
Fast forward two weeks and Tucson secured a 6-5 victory over the Stockton Heat in the Roadrunners’ first home game.
In their short history, the Roadrunners have found mixed success. They have finished at the top of the Pacific Division twice: in 2017-18 with a record of 42-20-5-1 and in the 2019-20 season. Tucson was awarded the Pacific Division championship in the 2019-20 season as they had the best record in the division when the season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since then, the Roadrunners have finished no higher than seventh in the Pacific Division standings. Fortunately for them (thanks to an expanded playoff format), the two seventh-place finishes were good enough to secure a berth in the 2020-21 and 2022-23 playoffs. In the 2021 Calder Cup Playoffs, they were eliminated in three games by the San Jose Barracuda. The Tucson Roadrunners were eliminated in the 2023 Calder Cup Playoffs in three games to the eventual Western Conference Champion Coachella Valley Firebirds.
In the 2022-23 season, the Roadrunners finished with a record of 30-33-8-1, seventh in the Pacific Division. They secured a Calder Cup Playoffs spot over the San Jose Barracuda thanks to a single regulation win during the regular season.
The current head coach for the Tucson Roadrunners is Steve Potvin, their current GM is John Ferguson, and they play out of Tucson Convention Center Arena.
Notable former Roadrunners include Michael Bunting, Michael Carcone, Adin Hill, Cam Dineen, and Laurent Dauphin.