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Wranglers series preview: A post-holiday visit to Tucson, Arizona
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Photo credit: Jenn Pierce/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Dec 27, 2025, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 26, 2025, 20:29 EST
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After a six game homestand and a little holiday break, the Calgary Wranglers are back in action on the road against the Tucson Roadrunners. Their last game was a memorable one with a 2-1 win in the annual Winter Wranglerfest game. Calgary looks to build off this win and put some more distance between them and the Roadrunners in the division. Tucson’s last game before the break was a 2-1 loss to the Abbotsford Canucks.

Last game’s lines

Calgary 
William Stromgren – Rory Kerins – Martin Frk 
Dryden Hunt – Sam Morton – Matvei Gridin 
Carter King – Clark Bishop – Parker Bell
Lucas Ciona – Davis Silte – Andrew Basha 
Artem Grushnikov – Daniil Miromanov
Etienne Morin – Nick Cicek 
Turner Ottenbreit – Jeremie Poirier 
Arsenii Sergeev (starter)
Owen Say
Tucson 
Forwards – Owen Allard, Ryan McGregor, Ty Tullio, Kevin Rooney, Ben McCartney, Michal Kunc, Sammy Walker, Austin Poganski, Andrew Agozzino, Cameron Hebig, Julian Lutz, Noel Nordh, Sam Lipkin, Miko Matikka
Defencemen – Robbie Russo, Scott Perunovich, Artem Duda, Maveric Lamoureux, Terell Goldsmith, Dmitri Simashev, Llyeton Moore, Kevin Connauton, Max Szuber, Montaa Onyebuchi
Goaltenders – Jaxson Stauber, Matthew Villalta

Leaders

Calgary 
Martin Frk – 30GP, 12G, 15A
Rory Kerins – 27GP, 11G, 14A
Matvei Gridin – 28GP, 10G, 15A
Tucson 
Ben McCartney – 26GP, 11G, 14A
Cameron Hebig – 25GP, 13G, 10A
Austin Poganski – 26GP, 7G, 11A 

Notes and expectations

The Wranglers and Roadrunners haven’t seen much of each other this season so far, with their last meeting being over two months ago. These were high scoring games that each side took a win in. Their first meeting on Oct. 18 finished in a 5-4 overtime win for the Roadrunners and the next game the following night ended in a 4-3 Wranglers overtime win. The Wranglers are the favourite in this series, being fourth in the division while the Roadrunners sit at ninth. However, the standings are quite fluid in the Pacific Division, so that doesn’t guarantee this will be an easy series. 
In their last game, Arsenii Sergeev had a historical debut with Calgary. He put up a franchise high 52 saves and was named the AHL’s first star of the night. He only allowed one goal against a San Diego team with a lot of offensive talent. After Owen Say faced over 50 shots in the game prior, Sergeev was aware he had his work cut out for him. 
He said post-game:
“You’re getting ready for a hard game then obviously it’s a tough opponent and you try to make sure you’re doing everything you can for it. It doesn’t matter how many shots will be in there.”
Sergeev remains with the team for now as Ivan Prosvetov recovers from a lower-body injury. If Prosvetov isn’t ready for game action this weekend, it’s likely him and Owen Say split this series as well. Also injured is Aydar Suniev with an upper-body injury. His timeline for return is also unknown, with his last status being announced as week to week. 
The Wranglers play their first post-holiday game on Saturday night with a 7:00 p.m. MT start time. This will be a back-to-back with Sunday’s game going at 4:00 p.m. MT. Streaming options are available for a fee on Flo Hockey and FlamesNation contributors Ryan Pike and I will have updates on X (formerly Twitter).

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