How a Go-Kart Race Helped Spark the Roadrunners' Hot Start

After the first weekend of the American Hockey League season, the Tucson Roadrunners found themselves with a 0-2-0 record after being swept by the Colorado Eagles. Carrying some of the Utah Mammoth’s most hyped prospects, the team was expected to be a high-scoring super team. Instead, they were outscored 7-3 by the Eagles, including getting shut out in the first game of the season.

Heading onto the road for their next two games marked a critical point in starting the Roadrunners' season. Chemistry needed to be built, and the Roadrunners ultimately needed to decide if they were a team or a club. 

What was the result? A two-game sweep over the San Jose Barracuda with a 7-4 win and a 4-1 win. The weekend in San Jose kicked off a nine-game stretch of games where the Roadrunners accumulated at least one point in each match, a streak that is still alive. The Roadrunners secured wins in five of those games while losing in overtime in the other four.

Funny enough, the thing that might’ve kicked off one of the hottest starts in Roadrunners franchise history was a go-kart race.

Between their series loss to the Eagles and their sweep over the Barracuda, the Roadrunners traveled to the Scottsdale area before spending time in San Jose. It created a week's worth of opportunity to get to know each other better, bonding over dinners and games.

“It's a good reset,” head coach Steve Potvin said. “I think it's about being able to get into some meaningful conversations, and they get to know each other, poke fun at each other, and build that chemistry through card games and a couple of team-building events. We'll have a strong bond in the room.”

One of those team events that was chosen was go-karting at the Octane Speedway. It ended up being a big hit among the team. In what ended up being a highly competitive couple of hours, it was a great bonding experience for the entire team, even for some of the newest drivers on the team.

“It was fun,” Michael Hrabal said. “Some guys were really hitting it off. For me, as a pretty new driver, it wasn't very comfortable with other guys shouting at me, but I made the top 10 somehow, and it was fun. I don't know who was best. There are some guys who can drive.”

While Hrabal ended up in the top 10, other players weren’t so lucky.

“I was not really good,” Tomas Lavoie said. “I ended up in the midsection. But that was fun. It’s been a long time since I went go-karting, but it was a great experience.”

For many, like Lavoie, it was their first time go-karting in a very long time. It was an event well received even by some of the veterans on the Roadrunners.

“It was fun,” Cameron Hebig said. “It's been a long time since I did that, and those cars go pretty fast. I enjoyed it. It was fun. I might have to do it again.”

As for who won the whole thing, you have to look at the French guys. Most of the team say it was Joshua Roy, who has also quickly been pegged as one of the best golfers on the team. However, assistant coach Max Markowitz was ranked pretty high as well.

It was a great group event that was well received by the entire team, including the coaches who joined in on the fun. That didn’t stop the players from trying their best to finish first.

“I'll just say I wasn't last,” Potvin said. “I got caught behind some slower drivers. But it was a lot of fun. It was one of the best events that we've had over the last 10 years of doing this. It was one of the most fun events. I think the guys all appreciated it. You could see smiles and the competitiveness come out of them.”

As Potvin mentioned, the go-karting experience was a great activity and group outing for the Roadrunners. With the high expectations placed on the team to perform, especially the rookies like Tij Iginla and Caleb Desnoyers, it’s fun to get out and relieve some of the pressure.

These types of outings are also great to help the team get to know each other. Heading into this season, 11 of the players on the roster had never played a game for the Roadrunners. Eight of those players had never played a pro game in North America prior to the start of the season. Group events like their go-karting experience in Scottsdale help establish and build the chemistry that’s needed to win games.

“We bonded together at that go-kart experience in Scottsdale," Lavoie said. "It was good to chat with a lot of guys I didn't chat with much since the start of the season, so it was good to talk with a lot of them and create a connection as soon as possible. I think along the way during the season, it's going to go the right way for us to create a great connection early.”

You can see the chemistry and relationships between the Roadrunners players improving every day after every game and practice. It’s a big reason why the team has been on a hot streak as of late. 

Potvin has said that once this team starts to mesh well with each other and find chemistry, the rest of the league will need to watch out. While it’s still early, if the Roadrunners go off and do something special, you can point back to an afternoon go-karting experience as the catalyst for helping really bring this team closer together.