Tony DeAngelo wore this red set game worn jersey during the Roadrunners’ inaugural season in the desert.
The defender played just one season with the Arizona Coyotes organization.
He split time between the NHL club (5 goals and 9 assists in 39 games) and Tucson (3 goals and 13 assists in 25 games) before being shipped to the New York Rangers as part of the Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta trade.
He likely could have slotted in as Keith Yandle’s actual heir apparent, but the red flags surrounding DeAngelo have been present even before he was drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning 19th overall in 2014.
Tony DeAngelo takes the ice on February 4th, 2017 at Gila River Arena with the Tucson Roadrunners. (photo credit: Tucson Roadrunners)
Trouble, accusations of bigotry, and locker room strife seem to follow DeAngelo at every stop.
From demeaning and butting heads with teammates, to regular admonishments for abuse of officials, Tony D has run the gamut and seen a very promising skillset be on the move to what will be his fourth NHL team since being drafted.
I suspect that’s part of how this sweater found it’s way into my collection.
For all his talent, Tony DeAngelo is not a very popular player. Were this not the rarest of all year/style combinations for Tucson Roadrunners game worn jerseys (red inaugurals are even rarer than the kachina alternates), I would have passed on it myself.
For now, I will keep it in hand until another comes along as I like to keep two of every red/white style from each season.
Anthony DeAngelo’s game worn jersey was worn in 12 games in 2016-2017.
Tucson (and the AHL at large) split the season for home and away jerseys so that light jerseys are worn at home in the first half of the season, and darks at worn at home in the second half. DeAngelo wore this jersey in three away games and nine home games, including the games played at Gila River Arena.
The sweater has very light wear in the sleeves with a puck mark in the elbow band on the right sleeve and a few picks and pulls in both sleeves. There’s a long loose thread at the right collarbone.
The crest has a stick mark through the ROADRUNNERS lettering that led to the photomatch above and two other matches.
There are a few other picks and pulls near the hem but the majority of the rest of the sweater is clean beyond showing some wash wear on the numbers.