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Series Preview: Wranglers look for redemption against the Roadrunners
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Photo credit: David Moll/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Jan 2, 2026, 12:30 ESTUpdated: Jan 2, 2026, 00:16 EST
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The Calgary Wranglers continue their busy stretch of hockey to host the Tucson Roadrunners this weekend. They’ve already played a two game series against the Colorado Eagles this week and have had games every other day at home. Tucson just swept Calgary in their road series last weekend and after getting their payback against the Eagles, the Wranglers are going to be playing for some redemption against the Roadrunners as well.

Projected lineups

Calgary
Dryden Hunt – Rory Kerins – William Stromgren
Carter King – Sam Morton – Martin Frk
Lucas Ciona – Clark Bishop – Parker Bell
Alex Gallant – David Silye – Carter Wilkie
Etienne Morin – Nick Cicek
Artem Grushnikov – Daniil Miromanov 
Turner Ottenbreit – Jeremie Poirier
Owen Say 
Tucson
Forwards: Owen Allard, Ryan McGregor, Ty Tullio, Kevin Rooney, Ben McCartney, Michal Lunc, Sammy Walker, Austin Poganski, Andrew Agozzino, Cameron Hebig, Julian Lutz, Noel Nordh, Sam Lipkin, Miko Matikka 
Defencemen: Juuso Valimaki, Robbie Russo, Scott Perunovich, Artem Duda, Maveric Lamoureux, Terell Goldsmith, Lleyton Moore, Kevin Connauton, Max Szuber, Montana Onyebuchi
Goaltenders: Jaxson Stauber, Matthew Villalta, Dylan Wells

Leaders

Calgary
Rory Kerins – 31GP, 12G, 20A
Martin Frk – 34GP, 14G, 17A
William Stromgren – 31GP, 6G, 22A
Tucson 
Ben McCartney – 29GP, 12G, 16A
Cameron Hebig – 28GP, 13G, 14A
Austin Poganski – 29GP, 7G, 13A

Notes and expectations

These teams just saw each other on Dec. 27 and 28, where the Roadrunners swept the Wranglers. Calgary picked up a point in their 3-2 overtime loss on the 28th but the Roadrunners had their number the night before and secured a 5-2 win. This series brought out some frustrations between these teams. In the 5-2 game, 148 penalty minutes were given out and at one point, every skater on the ice was dealt a 10 minute misconduct. The next game was more tame but with these games coming so close together, there might still be some bad blood that shows itself in this series. 
The Wranglers top scorers are the ones to eye in this series. The top line of William Stromgren, Rory Kerins and Dryden Hunt are on absolute heaters right now. Stromgren has eight points in his last three games evenly split between goals and assists, Rory Kerins is on a 10 game, 13 point streak and Dryden Hunt is on a four game point streak with three points in his last two games. They’ve been connecting very well and their streaks include points in their last meeting with Tucson. Dryden Hunt scored in both games against Tucson, and William Stromgren scored in their overtime loss. 
Tucson has only played one game since they last saw Calgary and lost 4-3 to the San Diego Gulls on New Year’s Eve. There is a familiar face on the other side of the ice that wasn’t there last weekend. That is former-Flame Jusso Valimaki. Valimaki has been out for nearly a year recovering from ACL surgery and ready now to get back into game action. He’s been with the Utah Mammath organization since leaving Calgary and was waived on Dec. 28 and got into his first game of the 2025-26 season in the Roadrunners’ loss against the Gulls on Wednesday. 
This series starts on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. MT and continues into Sunday for a 1:00 p.m. MT puck drop. Tickets are available for both games if you’d like to catch them in person or you can stream them for a fee on Flo Hockey. FlamesNation contributors Ryan Pike and I will also have updates on X (formerly Twitter).

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