Tomkins Loaned to Team Canada for Spengler Cup

ROCKFORD, Ill. – The American Hockey League’s Rockford IceHogs announced they have loaned goaltender Matt Tomkins to Team Canada for the 2019 Spengler Cup.

Tomkins, 25, has appeared in six games with the IceHogs this season, posting a 4-2-0 record with a 2.66 GAA and .912 save percentage. The netminder has limited opponents to two or fewer goals in four of his six outings and notched his first career AHL win streak by going unbeaten through each of his three appearances during the month of November. He also made a career-high 38 saves during the Hogs’ road trip to Cleveland on Oct. 26 at Quicken Loans Arena.

Tomkins joins a Team Canada roster which features former IceHogs captain, Kris Versteeg, and the Hogs’ leading point scorer from their 2018 postseason run, forward Chris DiDomenico. Versteeg has been skating with his brother, Mitch, in Slovakia (HK Nitra) prior to the tournament, while DiDomenico, who led Rockford with 18 points (7g, 11a) in 13 Calder Cup Playoff games in 2018, joins Canada from the SCL Tigers in Switzerland.

In addition, current Blakckhawks prospect, Ian Mitchell, is slated to bolster Team Canada’s blueline after opening the collegiate season with 12 points (3g, 9a) in 18 games as captain for the University of Denver. Chicago’s second-round pick (57th overall) from the 2017 NHL Draft has helped Denver climb to sixth place in the latest Men’s Division I National Poll.

Tomkins and Team Canada will open the Spengler Cup in Davos, Switzerland with a preliminary round matchup against the Czech Republic’s HC Ocelari Trinec on Thursday, Dec. 26 at 1:15 p.m. CST. The six-team tournament will culminate in the championship round on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 5:10 a.m. CST.

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