ANTIGONISH, NS – StFX X-Men hockey goaltender Chase Marchand has signed a professional contract for the 2019-20 season with the American Hockey League's Rockford IceHogs. Based out of Rockford, Illinois, they are the affiliate team to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Marchand had previously signed with the Indy Fuel of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), also a Blackhawks affiliate. He made his professional debut with the Fuel on March 31st and had two starts to close out the regular season, going 1-1-0 with a 4.33 GAA and .873 save percentage.
X-Men head coach Brad Peddle commented, "We are very happy to see Chase sign his AHL contract. He played an integral part of our programs success the last few years and worked extremely hard to be one of the top goaltenders in the country. Chicago has followed his development closely the last few years and it is great to see him sign with their AHL team in Rockford."
A native of Halifax, NS, Marchand posted a record of 34-23-0 in 60 regular season games over the past three years with the X-Men, including a career 2.67 goals against average and .916 save percentage. He was a key part of the 2017 AUS champion X-Men squad and earned AUS all-rookie team honours in that his first season.
Marchand was a two-time AUS first team all-star in 2017 and 2018, enjoying his most successful season in 2018 when he was named AUS most valuable player, U SPORTS first team All-Canadian, and was honoured as the U SPORTS goaltender of the year. AUS finalists the past two seasons, Marchand helped backstop the X-Men to a U SPORTS silver medal in 2018 and a bronze medal this past March at the University Cup championship.
Marchand previously garnered attention when he attended the Chicago Blackhawks development camp in July, 2018.
The complete release from the Ice Hogs can be found here: http://www.icehogs.com/news/?article_id=6710
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