The Tucson Roadrunners haven’t played in Manitoba in nearly a decade, but that doesn’t mean the Canadian province is uncharted territory.
The Roadrunners (27-23-9-0) travel to face the Manitoba Moose (29-22-5-1) for a two-game series on Saturday and Monday in what will be a homecoming for a couple of Tucson players.
The Moose are the AHL affiliate of the Winnipeg Jets and share ownership and their arena with the Jets.
Tucson defenseman Montana Onyebuchi is from nearby Dugald, Manitoba, about 30 minutes away from Winnipeg.
“It'll be my first time flying there, so I've got a lot of family and friends coming out,” Onyebuchi said. “Super excited about it.”
Montana Onyebuchi has nine points in 35 games, a point away from his career high that he had last year and 2022-23.
The Manitoba Moose played in the International Hockey League from 1996 to 2001 and then when the AHL absorbed some of the IHL teams, the Moose were among those. They played in the AHL for 10 years before moving to St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador and then came back to Winnipeg in 2015.
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Onyebuchi was a Jets fan and went to Moose games. The future blue liner was partial to former Winnipeg defenseman Dustin Byfuglien.
“I grew up a Jets fan, I was a Byfuglien fan, so got to see him throw his weight around some big hits, some bombs, so I was always love the Jets,” Onyebuchi said.
The original Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996. In 2011, the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Manitoba and the Jets were revived.
“It was exciting and the thing is, the Moose were the big ticket there for a while there, I remember going to those games, too,” Onyebuchi said. “So yeah, pretty nostalgic for me going back and playing in that arena, too, and just seeing, playing on the same ice as the Jets and the Moose.”
Tucson forward Ben McCartney, out since February, could return for the series with the Moose. Tucson’s leading scorer with 47 points in 49 games is from Macdonald, Manitoba, just southwest of Winnipeg.
“We're hoping, we're hoping, it all depends on if you can be athletic and if you can deal with the pain and be able to skate laterally,” Tucson head coach Steve Potvin said about McCartney potentially returning on Tuesday. “Like right now he's able to skate well in straight lines, we’re hoping that he's be able to be himself, we’re not going to put him in a position where he's not himself and we'll see; I think he's day to day right now.”
The Moose swept a series in Tucson in October, winning 2-0 and then 4-3. The Roadrunners’ first trip to Manitoba was April 2017, a series the Moose swept 5-4 and 4-3 in the Roadrunners’ inaugural season in the Old Pueblo.
Tucson forward Sam Lipkin is from Pennsylvania and went to Quinnipiac, but his father’s family is from Manitoba.
“My dad's from there, so yeah it'll be a special time and anytime you can kind of reset against a different team, see a different system and type I think it would be good for the group to go and explore that,” Lipkin said. “I think he gets both sides of the stick there and for him and his family, they'll be able to watch me play; yeah, pretty special for me.”
After playing 26 games in a row against Pacific Division teams, Tucson plays the Moose, from the Central Division. The other non-Pacific team the Roadrunners played this year was the Iowa Wild, who they went 3-0-1-0 against.
“It is nice, it’s nice to see different arenas, too," Onyebuchi said. "For other guys, it's a big weather change but I think I'll be used to that. Yeah, it's gonna be nice, it’s gonna be fun, everybody’s really excited to go.”
The Roadrunners have 14 Canadians and their cheering section could dwarf the home sides like on road trips to Calgary or Abbotsford, at least in terms of sound.
“I think it'll be a lot like when the Coyotes played the Blackhawks — most of the times, you got fans from Chicago, not fans from Arizona watching the team," Potvin said. "I think we have like 200 tickets already reserved for friends and family. So I think we'll have obviously a cheering section at least and somebody to give us support, so it'll be it'll be good, it’ll be fun.”
Onyebuchi, who won the Roadrunners’ most recent Hardest Working Player award, has 9 points in 35 games, a point away from his career high that he had last year and 2022-23. He is in his third season in Tucson after two with the San Jose Barracuda.
Potvin said his game has grown, and his hard work and attention to detail have earned Onyebuchi more trust with the puck.
“I think he took some time to just take responsibility and what was necessary for him to take the next step," Potvin said. "His first option passing has improved. I think he's surfing a little bit more. He's often the guy that's getting pucks into areas where we can get second opportunities and allowing our forwards to work, so he's definitely improved his game, and we look forward to seeing what's next if we can keep refining bit by bit.
Tucson Roadrunners coach Steve Potvin said Montana Onyebuchi's (79) game has grown and his hard work and attention to detail has earned him more trust with the puck.
“I think he's a player that obviously you can't really count or see what his presence does because there's no analytics for time and space but I think he's one of those guys that when he's in the lineup you've got to be very mindful of your time and space because when he gets you, it's a hard check and guys are obviously mindful of their sticks and a lot of times that creates a little more time and space for us.”
Slapshots
– On Wednesday, the Roadrunners recalled forward Maxim Barbashev from the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL. Barbashev played three times for Tucson in late January to early February and last season, and the year before played seven games for the Hartford Wolfpack.
This season for the Grizzlies, the Russian has 17 points (seven goals) in 36 games.
