Series Preview: Calgary Wranglers and Tucson Roadrunners reacquainted for the weekend
1 year ago
The Calgary Wranglers and Tucson Roadrunners kick off a two-game series this weekend for just their second series of the 2022-23 season. They haven’t played each other since November and the season record sits at a win and a loss on each side. The Wranglers are the favourites this weekend sitting at the top spot in the Pacific. The Roadrunners sit at seventh in the Pacific. This series continues the Wranglers’ road trip before they return home next weekend.
Projected lineups
Calgary
Dryden Hunt – Ben Jones – Matthew Phillips
Emilio Pettersen – Connor Zary – Cole Schwindt
Brett Sutter – Kevin Rooney – Clark Bishop
Mitch McLain – Adam Klapka – Alex Gallant
Emilio Pettersen – Connor Zary – Cole Schwindt
Brett Sutter – Kevin Rooney – Clark Bishop
Mitch McLain – Adam Klapka – Alex Gallant
Ilya Solovyov – Nick DeSimone
Jeremie Poirier – Colton Poolman
Yan Kuznetsov – Josh Brook
Jeremie Poirier – Colton Poolman
Yan Kuznetsov – Josh Brook
Dustin Wolf
Oscar Dansk
Oscar Dansk
Tucson
Michael Carcone – Adam Cracknell – Hudson Elynuik
Colin Theisen – Ryan McGregor – Nathan Smith
Milos Kelemen – Curtis Douglas – Cameron Hebig
Reece Vitelli – Josh Doan
Colin Theisen – Ryan McGregor – Nathan Smith
Milos Kelemen – Curtis Douglas – Cameron Hebig
Reece Vitelli – Josh Doan
Vladislav Kolyachonok – Will Reilly
Steven Kampfer – Cameron Crotty
Devante Stephens – Ronald Knot
Steven Kampfer – Cameron Crotty
Devante Stephens – Ronald Knot
Tyler Parks
David Tendeck
David Tendeck
Leaders
Calgary
Matthew Phillips – 54GP, 28G, 31A
Connor Zary – 60GP, 18G, 35A
Ben Jones – 59GP, 14G, 31A
Tucson
Michael Carcone – 51GP, 26G, 42A
Jean-Sebastien Dea – 54GP, 19G, 24A
Laurent Dauphin – 48GP, 16G, 25A (Inactive on NHL call-up)
Notes and expectations
The Wranglers had a break from the midweek games this week and will play their first games since Sunday. They’ll look to keep things rolling as they are currently on a five-game winning streak. Their opponents have not been as fortunate as the Roadrunners have dropped their last four out of five games. There have been some players that have been standing out for the Wranglers in recent games.
Cole Schwindt has been hot and cold over the course of the season but has recently been making some large contributions for the Wranglers. He has a goal in his last three games, including the game-winner in two out of three of those games. With the Wranglers in the playoffs and just about a month away from postseason play, now is as good of a time as any to heat up on the production side of things.
Connor Zary is also on another good point run. He’s put up five points in the last four games and further solidifies his spot as one of the top scorers on the team. Another obvious contributor has been Dustin Wolf. If you haven’t heard already, Wolf is astoundingly good this season and currently leads the league in all the major goaltending categories including wins, save percentage, GAA and shutouts.
On the other side of the rink, big news came out of the Coyotes organization as they announced on Mar. 16 that they have signed Josh Doan to a three-year entry-level control. Doan was drafted in 2021 and has played for Arizona State University for the last two years. He will make his professional debut against the Calgary Wranglers on Friday, as confirmed by the team.
It’ll be an interesting match-up between teams who really aren’t overly familiar with each other despite it being the final stretch of the season. This series kicks off on Friday night in Tucson, Arizona and continues into Saturday to wrap up the Wranglers’ road trip. Both games are set to start at 8:00 p.m. MT. FlamesNation contributors Mike Gould and myself will have updates on Twitter.
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