Tuesday's Winterhawk's News and Notes: Carruth Signed by Rockford

Carruth

Mac Carruth Receives 1 Year AHL Deal:
-The Chicago Blackhawk's AHL affiliate: the Rockford Icehogs signed former Winterhawk Mac Carruth (2009-13) to a 1 year AHL deal. Carruth was steady for the ECHL's Indy Fuel last season, posting a 17-13 record with a 2.55 GAA and 0.914 Save %. After the Fuel's season ended, he joined Rockford as a back up, making 1 appearance in the Calder Cup playoffs in relief during Game 5 of their Western Conference Semi-final vs. Detroit's AHL affiliate: the Garand Rapids Griffins. He gave up 2 goals on 15 shots and Rockford lost the game 5-3 and the series 4 games to 1. Carruth figures to be in a good spot with Rockford, as Chicago traded away Antti Raanta in the off-season, meaning that Michael Leighton and Carruth are the only Goalies under contract for the Icehogs currently. Chicagos' NHL duo of goalies is seemingly set as well with Corey Crawford and Scott Darling. This is a big season for Carruth, who is 11 years younger than the journeyman Leighton and is in a position to learn a lot from the veteran back-stopper.

McManus and U.S. U-17s Win 5 Nations Cup:
-2014 Portland Bantam Draft pick: Brannon McManus and the team USA U-17 team won the 5 Nations Tournament on Sunday, with a 8-1 win over Germany. Team USA went 4-0 overall and out-scored their opponents 29-8. McManus had 4 goals and 1 assist for 5 points in the 4 games and continues to excel at scoring in tournaments. He had 11 points in 5 games at the USA Select 16 camp recently and had 10 points in 5 games at the USA Select 15 camp last season. McManus should be playing in the USHL as a 16 year old this season with the Omaha Lancers. He's committed to play for the University of Minnesota, starting in 2017.

Rossini and Wait Help Lock Up 5th Place at Ivan Hlinka Cup:
-Winterhawk's prospects: Sam Rossini and Garrett Wait helped lead the Team USA U18 squad to a 5th place finish at the Ivan Hlinka Cup, after they beat the Czech Republic 5-4 last Friday. Spokane Chief's forward: Kailer Yamamoto had two goals in the game, including the game winner in the 3rd period.
-Canada won their 8th Ivan Hlinka Gold Medal in a row with a 7-3 victory over Sweden on Sunday. Vancouver Giant Tyler Benson and Calgary Hitman Brock Malenstyn had goals for Canada. The younger brother of former Winterhawk Anton Cederholm: Jacob Cederholm was a top pairing D-man for Sweden in the tournament.

Spencer

T-birds Trade Calvin Spencer:
-19 year old forward Calvin Spencer was traded by Seattle to Swift Current for a conditional 6th round Bantam pick in the 2017 draft.  The 6'1" 216 lb power forward from Brooklyn Park, Minnesota had 6 points and 17 penalty minutes in 32 games in 2013/14 and 13 points and 76 PIMs in 67 games last year. Spencer in the vein of a lot of power forwards has struggled with consistent play but should fit in well with the Broncos where they always seem to have a ton of big forwards and play a very physical game.

Two Winterhawk's Teams Make Top 25 WHL Teams List:
-The Hawks' squad that fell just short in the Memorial Cup Final in 2013, came in at #16 on Sportnet's: top 25 WHL Teams of all time. That squad set a franchise record with 57 wins and had one of the best top 4 D-man pairings in Troy Rutkowski, Seth Jones, Tyler Wotherspooon and Derrick Pouliot, that I've ever seen at the WHL level. Jones, Wotherspoon and Pouliot had all played NHL games by 2014.

-The 1982/83 Winter Hawk's team that lost the WHL final, but won the Memorial Cup, behind "acquired" Goalie Mike Vernon came in at #13 on the list. That squad was led by Randy Heath, Ken Yaremchuk, Grant Sasser, Cam Neely, Richard Kromm and Brad Duggan, who all had 100 points or more.