Our Tucson hockey team, the Tucson Roadrunners, played their second to last game on the 28th of April. They played a playoff-secured team – the San Diego Eagles. The Roadrunners are ranked 8th in the division… out of nine teams. So it’s possibly safe to say that they aren’t the best. They did however beat a team ranked 7th, in a 6-2 blowout game.

Personally, my favorite part of hockey is the fighting. Unfortunately, the refs were soft and did not let even one good fight happen. I have heard that the Roadrunners are good fighters, thanks to the refs however, I didn’t get to witness this. The one “fight” (I would say more of a cuddle maybe) resulted in two competitors laying on the floor punching each other. Who knows if they actually got a punch in, but the scuffle earned both of them a trip to the penalty box for several minutes.

Another aspect that made the game worth the trip to the other side of town was the crowd. The few die-hard Roadrunner fans put on quite the show. (Yes, I was on the big screen once, no I did not participate in whatever they had going on). “He shoots, he scores, hey goalie: you suck,” was my personal favorite. The group in front of us seemed the most passionate about this cheer, especially after several alcoholic beverages… My other favorite from this group was, “I would be so embarrassed to be on your team right now.” My advice to them would’ve been to remember how we are ranked in this division.

Overall, I had a great experience at the game. The mini-games during the intermissions were quite entertaining, the crowd put on a great show, and there were a couple of significantly memorable wall slams. The arena wasn’t super full so it was not overwhelming or too loud. The announcer did a great job involving the crowd, especially the younger children and those decked out in gear. I would recommend to all Tucsonians to try out a Roadrunner’s game!