The Tucson Roadrunners dropped the puck for the first time in 2016-2017, and this jersey was worn by Adin Hill in the inaugural home game at Tucson Convention Center on October 26th, 2016.
Hill has been one of the constants of the Roadrunners franchise since it’s inception, with the beginning of his professional career coinciding with the Arizona Coyotes relocation of their AHL affiliate from Springfield to Tucson.
Matches to multiple spots of wear in a photo of Adin Hill from the 2016-2017 season.
Hill’s jersey is littered with puck and stick marks, particularly on the right side of the chest. There is also a great deal of marking on the right sleeve. The jersey shows a nice amount of post paint transfer on both sleeves as they both sport solid red staining.
Another match to Adin Hill’s inaugural game worn jersey. This one from a game against the Stockton Heat.
The jerseys all have a unique tag sewn into the hem to identify them as authentic, inaugural season game worn jerseys. This is one of the neatest touches of this collaboration between Detroit Hockey Company and the Tucson Roadrunners/Arizona Coyotes organization. I’d love to see something like this replicated in the Coyotes gamers instead of the two versions of set tagging we have gotten.
Adin Hill has been the primary starter in Tucson for most of his four seasons as a professional. He was on track to be the starter again in 2019-2020, but had an extended call-up to the NHL due to Darcy Kuemper’s injury.
In 2016-2017, Hill was in net for 40 of the team’s 68 games and had a .906 save percentage.
According to information received from Detroit Hockey Company, who has an affiliation with the Roadrunners and distributes their jerseys, the team only wore one set of reds and whites. That makes this jersey a special part of my collection, given that it was worn throughout the inaugural season and in the inaugural home game.
The Roadrunners have become an integral part of the growth of hockey here in the desert. Hill’s gamer is a small piece of the earliest days of that story, and that’s pretty dang cool.