Rockford, Ill. - The American Hockey League announced on Monday that Rockford IceHogs goaltender Carter Hutton has been named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Week for Week 17 and the period ending on Jan. 22, 2012.
Rockford’s netminder was perfect in Week 17, picking up wins in all four of his starts (4-0-0) and allowing just five goals in the four contests to backstop the IceHogs their longest winning streak of the season.
The 26 year old stopped 121 of the 126 shots he faced giving him a 1.25 goals against average and .960 save percentage for the week.
Hutton got off to a hot start on Monday, blanking the league’s 10th best offense and stopping all 31 shots he faced to earn his first shutout of the season and a 2-0 victory over the Texas Stars. The shutout was the first for the IceHogs since Hannu Toivonen held the Milwaukee Admirals off the board on Feb. 11, 2011 at the Bradley Center.
The Thunder Bay, Ontario native then stopped 20-of-22 shots on Friday to lift the IceHogs over Chicago 3-2 on home ice. The second year pro came right back the following night and made 37 saves to help Rockford pick up their first win of the season at the Allstate Arena over the Wolves. In his third start in as many days, Hutton turned away 33 shots and allowed just one goal to give the IceHogs a 2-1 win over the Milwaukee Admirals at the BMO Harris Bank Center on Sunday, his third win in less than 48 hours.
Despite getting only 2.50 goals per contest of offensive support during the week, Hutton backstopped the IceHogs to their first winning streak of the season of more than two games. Hutton has now made six consecutive starts for Rockford and allowed just eight goals, helping the IceHogs to within six points of a playoff spot in the Western Conference standings.
In his second professional season, Hutton has made 17 appearances for Rockford this season and posted a record of 9-5-1 with a 2.69 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. The native of Thunder Bay, Ont., made his pro debut with Adirondack (AHL) after completing his senior season at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell in 2009-10, and spent his rookie campaign with Worcester last year. He shows a career mark of 21-14-4 with three shutouts in 43 AHL contests.
In recognition of his achievement, Hutton will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming IceHogs home game.
Rockford’s puckstopper is the fourth IceHogs player to earn the award during the team’s AHL era. Goaltender Corey Crawford last won the award for his performance during Week 14 of the 2008-09 season.