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ROADRUNNERS PREPARE FOR FIRST TRYOUT CAMP OF SUMMER
The Topeka RoadRunners, playing in their first season in their new home in Kansas, set the bar extremely high for future clubs. They did it by winning the NAHL South Division Regular Season AND Playoff titles, achieving a franchise high winning percentage of .741 while posting a 39-11-8 record, and also posting the highest winning percentage of any team in Topeka’s organized hockey history. With a season long attendance mark of over 53,000 fans and a home ice winning percentage of .794, the RoadRunners treated crowds to an exciting brand of hockey that earned new fans while thrilling those who had supported Topeka’s previous teams. So successful was the inaugural campaign, that the oft asked question of head coach Scott Langer is, “What are you going to do for an encore?”
The encore process begins this weekend when the RoadRunners hold the first of two open summer tryout camps with this one in Somerset, WI and the next one in Woodridge, IL, a suburb of Chicago. The Somerset camp is typically the one where all veterans, tenders, and draft picks are required to attend. “We have a lot of guys from last years team eligible to return, and a pretty stout group of tenders, and a draft pick we feel very good about, so this camp should be extremely competitive”, said Langer. Being a veteran does not guarantee a player a spot on the 25-man roster. “The fact is, every spot on my roster will go to the player who earns it above the others”.
Competition should indeed be stiff. In addition to the cast of veterans, the RoadRunners have acquired the services of two former Texas Tornado players in Gustav Bengston and Andrew Blazek. The Tornado were granted dormancy by the NAHL and their players declared free agents. Bengston and Blazek are both expected to make immediate contributions.
The camp begins Thursday for goalies and wraps up with an All-Star Game on Sunday. Watch the teams website, www.topekaroadrunners.com for details as the camp progresses.
