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Wranglers Series Preview: Hosting the Roadrunners for redemption
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Photo credit: Kate Dibildox/Tucson Roadrunners
Paige Siewert
Dec 6, 2024, 12:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 6, 2024, 02:03 EST
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The Tucson Roadrunners come to town this weekend and the Calgary Wranglers would like some redemption against this divisional rival. Tucson is the only team to deliver a sweep against Calgary this season and this is their first chance to even up the season series. The Wranglers have home-ice advantage going into this one and are fresh off a sweep over the Manitoba Moose to derive some momentum from.

Projected lineups

Calgary 
William Stromgren – Rory Kerins – Dryden Hunt
Sam Honzek – Clark Bishop – Martin Frk
Parker Bell – Sam Morton – Adam Klapka
Lucas Ciona – David Silye – Alex Gallant 
Ilya Solovyov – Jonathan Aspirot
Yan Kuznetsov – Hunter Brzustewicz
Artem Grushnikov – Jeremie Poirier
Devin Cooley
Waltteri Ignatjew 
Tucson 
Forwards: Egor Sokolov, Ryan McGregor, Ben McCartney, Travis Barron, Austin Poganski, Curtis Douglas, Andrew Agozzino, Hunter Drew, Aku Raty, Cameron Hebig, Julian Lutz, Miko Matikka, Kailer Yamamoto, Sam Lipkin, Josh Doan
Defencemen: Peter DiLiberatore, Robbie Russo, Lleyton Moore, Kevin Connauton, Max Szuber, Artem Duda, Montana Onyebuchi
Goaltenders: Matthew Villalta, Dylan Wells

Leaders

Calgary 
Rory Kerins – 21GP, 15G, 7A
Walker Duehr – 20GP, 11G, 8A (inactive on NHL call-up)
Jakob Pelletier – 20GP, 3G, 16A (inactive on NHL call-up)
Tucson 
Egor Sokolov – 18GP, 8G, 9A
Andrew Agozzino – 16GP, 6G, 8A
Kailer Yamamoto – 10GP, 5G, 7A

Notes and expectations

Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier were out of the lineup in last Sunday’s Wranglers game and Monday morning confirmed some transactions between the teams. Justin Kirkland was placed on the IR and underwent successful ACL surgery this week so some bodies were needed. Adam Klapka was reassigned to the Wranglers and that evened out the switches between forwards. The top line for the Wranglers generated some chemistry last game so it’s likely Adam Klapka finds himself slotting on a line with Sam Morton.
Another skater that may be slotted on that line with Morton and Klapka is Parker Bell. Him and Hunter Brzustewicz were two players that have had a lengthy streak of quiet production but flipped that script in Manitoba last weekend. Bell scored his second and third goals of the year in their series opener against the Moose and Bruzustewicz had assists in both games. Prior to that series, Brzustewicz hadn’t found the scoresheet since Oct. 31 and Bell just had a lone goal recorded on Oct. 22..
The call-up’s this week have also trickled down into some transactions with the Rapid City Rush, the ECHL affiliate of the Wranglers. Forward Trevor Janicke and defenceman Charles Martin have been added to the roster as options and neither have played a game with the Wranglers in their career. Janicke will wear number 28 and Martin will wear number 39. Martin was alternate captain of the Rush this season and has seven assists in 18 games. Janicke has six goals and four assists in 18 games played so far.
The last time these teams met, the Wranglers were greatly outscored. Their first game ended in a 5-3 decision with Tucson ahead 4-1 by the end of the second period and Calgary unable to crawl their way back into the game by the end of the third period. Their second game ended in a 6-2 decision that really got away from them in the second half of the game. They’ll need solid 60-minute efforts so they don’t get pounced on by the Utah Hockey Club’s affiliate again.
This series kicks off on Friday at the Saddledome with a game time of 7:00 p.m. MT. It’ll continue into Saturday with game two starting an hour earlier. Tickets are available and the Fan960 will have the radio call for these match-ups. Streaming options are available on Flo Hockey and multiple FlamesNation contributors will have updates on X (formerly Twitter).

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