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👋 GOOD MORNING
Happy Monday! I hope you had a nice weekend, and if you were celebrating Easter, I also hope you had an amazing time with your family and friends! I’ll get to the Roadrunners below, but first, it’s certainly one of the best times of the year, as both the NBA and NHL Playoffs are kicking off! That does beg the question, though, with no local NHL team and the Suns out of the postseason, will you be watching either?
I also just wanted to call out the poll results from Friday (email version only), as a commanding 88 percent of you voted in favor of ousting Suns GM James Jones on Friday. It was one of the most participated-in polls in the history of this newsletter — we’ll see if anything happens this offseason. One thing’s for sure: Suns fans are on the same page!
I’d love it if you started taking our poll! To get the email version of this newsletter delivered to you every morning, you can sign up right here, and I’ll keep you in the loop with everything going on this summer! Don’t miss a beat!
On to the show!
Roadrunners Clinch Playoff Spot in Dramatic Fashion
It took until the final game of the regular season, but the Tucson Roadrunners are heading to the AHL Playoffs.
Again.
The Roadrunners topped the first place Colorado Eagles 7-4 on Saturday to earn the seventh seed in the Pacific Division, besting Bakersfield in tie-breaking scenarios despite finishing with the same number of points (74). The 2024-25 season marks the third consecutive season the Roadrunners have qualified for the postseason, though they have not made it out of the first round in the current format. They’re also looking for their first series win since 2017-18, when they fell 4-1 to the Texas Stars in the Division Semifinals.
Had to get there, first, but now the really hard work begins.
Roadrunners’ Road to the SemiFinals Runs Through Abbotsford
The Roadrunners are looking to avoid a repeat of the previous two seasons, which were both overshadowed by first-round exits. Tucson was in an identical situation in 2022-23 — when it fell in three games as the seventh seed to Coachella Valley — and last year’s stunning exit came against Calgary, falling two games to nothing despite entering the playoffs as the No. 2 seed.
This year, the Roadrunners hope to play spoiler, matched up against second-seeded Abbotsford in a best-of-three series that will be hosted by the Canucks.
- Tucson won five of the eight games between the two this season.
- The Canucks finished with 92 points, two behind top-seeded Colorado.
- They finished 8-1-1 over their last 10 games; Tucson was 4-5-1.
- Forward Arshdeep Bains led the team with 43 points, while Danila Klimovich’s 25 goals were tops.
- Abbotsford has made it out of the first round in each of the last two seasons, but has not made it out of the division semifinals.
- The Canucks host all three games; Game 1 is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 pm, while Game 2 is on Thursday at 7 pm. Game 3, if needed, would be played at 7 pm on Saturday.
My take: It was an up-and-down season for the Roadrunners, but faced with a do-or-die game on Saturday night, coach Steve Potvin’s group got it done with a 7-4 win over the Eagles. The team got a boost from the return of points leader Kailer Yamamoto, who was re-assigned to Tucson after the team’s parent club failed to qualify for the NHL playoffs, but is also led by Cameron Hebig’s 26 goals, which included two in the postseason-clinching win on Saturday. Hebig has played his last five seasons in Tucson, and has shattered his previous personal bests in goals, assists and points, establishing himself as a clear leader on the group.
Musings From Around (and Sometimes Beyond) The Valley
Back on Track: The D-backs got off to a rough start against the Cubs, dropping the first two games of their weekend series in Chicago before salvaging yesterday with a 3-2 win in 11 innings. The 13-9 Diamondbacks now open a six-game home stand on Tuesday, first against Tampa Bay before the Braves come to town. Arizona remains in fourth place, three games behind the 16-6 Padres.
Winning Wildcats: The Arizona Wildcats had quite a weekend, capturing Big 12 titles in both men’s tennis and women’s golf. The men’s tennis team topped No. 18 UCF to capture the conference crown, while the women’s golf team bested both Arizona State and Oklahoma State in a three-team playoff to win the Big 12. Congrats to the Wildcats!
Guess Who’s Back: New Wildcats women’s basketball head coach Becky Burke continues to round out her coaching staff, naming Tucson native and three-time WNBA champion Julie Hairgrove an assistant coach over the weekend. Hairgrove spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach with the Phoenix Mercury from 2005 to 2022 helping guide the team to WNBA titles in 2007, 2009, and 2014. The Tucson native also coached in the WNBA All-Star Game in both 2018 and 2024.
🧢 Tip of the Hat by Branded Bills
A call to action from Gerald!
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