The Tucson Roadrunners are an American Hockey League (AHL) franchise based in Tucson, Arizona, that began play in the 2016-17 season. The team’s name and logo were revealed on June 17, 2016, by Arizona Coyotes’ President and CEO Anthony LeBlanc at an open house event at the Tucson Convention Center, after the Coyotes purchased the Springfield, Massachusetts, franchise and relocated it to Tucson.[1][2]
Design and History
The Roadrunners name carries a long tradition in Arizona hockey, dating back to 1967 when the Phoenix Roadrunners of the Western Hockey League became Arizona’s first professional sports team. The moniker was later used by Phoenix teams in the World Hockey Association, International Hockey League, and ECHL.[1] The name was selected through a two-week “Name the Team” contest that drew nearly 5,000 fan entries.[1]
The original primary logo, designed by the Arizona Coyotes’ Creative Services department, featured a fierce roadrunner bird in full hockey gear, wearing a uniform, skates, and carrying a hockey stick.[1] The design was a revised take on the classic Phoenix Roadrunners cartoon bird mark, updated with Coyotes colors.[3] This cartoon roadrunner logo later became known as “Dusty,” a name shared with the team’s mascot unveiled in October 2016.[4]
For the 2025-26 season, the club’s 10th anniversary, the Roadrunners made a significant branding change. The kachina-style roadrunner logo, first adopted in 2019 for an alternate jersey, became the team’s primary logo.[5] The original cartoon Dusty logo was relegated to secondary status, appearing on the shoulders of the new uniforms.[5] The kachina design, inspired by the supernatural beings in the traditions of the Pueblo peoples, first came to hockey in 1996 when the Arizona Coyotes debuted their own kachina identity.[5]
The Roadrunners first added a kachina logo in 2019 on a black alternate jersey with dark red shoulders and purple as a secondary color. For the 2022-23 season, they introduced a white kachina jersey with purple accents. The popularity of these jerseys with fans and players led to the kachina becoming the full-time primary identity in 2025.[5]
Meaning and Symbolism
The original 2016 logo incorporated several documented symbolic elements. The hockey sweater worn by the roadrunner included the flag of Arizona rendered in Coyotes colors, an emblem also used by the Coyotes as a shoulder patch on their NHL jerseys.[1] The roadrunner’s head, tail, gloves, and the striping on his jersey, pants, and socks were all copper, referencing Arizona’s nickname “Copper State” and the mineral wealth historically mined in the Tucson Mountains.[1]
The official team colors were Brick Red, Desert Sand, and black, drawn from the Coyotes palette, with copper added. These colors were described as reflecting the symmetry between the Coyotes and Roadrunners organizations.[1]
The 2025 kachina primary logo introduced a new color direction. The new primary uniform color became dark green, a departure from the red and white uniforms the team had worn since its inaugural season.[5] The 10th anniversary design also incorporated the team’s traditional Dusty logo, four mountain ranges surrounding Tucson, and a diamond representing 10 years in the desert.[6]
Typography and Design
Commentary on the original 2016 wordmark noted that it combined the Bank Gothic font with custom type designed for the Arizona Coyotes’ nameplates, which had been introduced the previous year.[3] The original logo drew mixed reactions, with some design observers criticizing the hand-drawn style of the bird as a lesser version of the classic Phoenix Roadrunners mark.[3]
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