IceHogs sign former Rockford youth player
Staff Report
ROCKFORD – The Rockford IceHogs on Thursday announced they have agreed to terms with defenseman Josh McArdle on a one-year AHL contract through the 2018-19 season. He is the first alumnus of Rockford’s youth hockey program to sign with the IceHogs.
McArdle, 24, recently completed his senior season at Brown University, where he served as captain and skated in all 31 games during the 2017-18 campaign. He logged two goals, four assists and 28 penalty minutes.
The 6-1, 194-pound defenseman McArdle began his hockey career in Rockford through the “Learn to Skate” program at the Rockford Park District. He worked his way up through the Junior IceHogs program, skating under current coaches Scott Burfoot, Tim Mattila and Don Walker.
He was a four-time honor roll student at Hononegah High School (2009-12), and skated for the Madison Capitals (2009-10) and Team Illinois (2010-11) in the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League (Minor Midget). He also played for two seasons in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Tri-City Storm, totaling eight points (1g, 7a) and 52 penalty minutes in 64 games from 2011-13. McArdle spent his final season of junior hockey with the Nanaimo Clippers in the British Columbia Hockey League before enrolling at Brown.
The Roscoe, Illinois native also served as an alternate captain during his junior year at Brown and earned Honorable Mention All-Ivy honors after tallying five assists with a career-high 32 penalty minutes in 29 contests. McArdle has skated in 29 or more games in each of his four collegiate seasons and concluded his tenure ranked tied for eighth all-time among Browns defensemen with his 120 career games played. He tallied 25 points (4g, 21a) with 96 penalty minutes during his collegiate career.