ROOKIE GOALTENDER RE-ASSIGNED TO THE RUSH

(RAPID CITY, SD) – The Rapid City Rush is pleased to announce the acquisition of rookie goaltender Etienne Marcoux. Marcoux comes to the Rush organization by virtue of a series of movements initiated by the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, first involving a recall from the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies, followed by a re-assignment to the Rapid City Rush.

“We are very excited to send Etienne to the Rush organization as he progresses in his first year as a professional,” said Bob Ferguson, Assistant GM for the Anaheim Ducks AHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals. “Both of our goaltenders in Norfolk suffered injuries, causing both Utah goaltenders to earn recalls to the AHL level. When the Admirals goalies came back from their injuries, we thought it would be in the best interest of Etienne to send him to a different club to gain more experience and grow as a player. I have a prior relationship with Joe [Ferras], and thought it would be a great opportunity to send him to Rapid City.”

“When the opportunity arose to acquire a contracted goaltender in the Anaheim Ducks system, we took it,” said Rush Head coach and GM Joe Ferras. “Etienne had a tremendous junior career in the QMJHL, is a young goaltender that is starting his professional career, and is a talented prospect in the Ducks organization. We’re very excited to have him join the Rush organization, and very excited to see the depth he can add to our goaltending.”

Ferguson continued: “Etienne is a young goaltender that we targeted during his time in the QMJHL. He attended many rookie camps and conditioning camps in Anaheim with the Ducks, and we saw that he was a very impressive player. Anaheim already had five goalies under NHL contract, so when we saw him become a free-agent this summer, we decided to extend an AHL contract to him and get him in the Ducks system.”

A native of La Plaine, Quebec, Marcoux, 21, enters his rookie season of professional hockey. Before coming to the Black Hills, he backstopped for the Utah Grizzlies in the ECHL 5 times, posting a 1-3-1 record along with a 3.43 GAA and a 0.901 SV%. A product of the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, the 6’0”, 166-pound rookie spent five seasons in the junior ranks of the QMJHL, playing for the Montreal Juniors and the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada. While with the Armada in the 2012-13 season, Marcoux was the recipient of the Jacque Plante Award for recording the highest-ranked GAA in the entire QMJHL (2.14), and also recorded a league-best SV% of 0.913.

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