Rarely does an NCAA signing by an AHL team at the end of the collegiate year catch the eye.

However, Tom Aubrun putting pen to paper for the Rockford IceHogs on April 6, 2020, is the beginning of one journey and the end of an interesting voyage to this point.

Born in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc on the French border with Switzerland, Tom Aubrun would play his junior hockey in Rouen, north-west of Paris.

His path in the French leagues was rapid, winning two U22 championships in 2012-13 and 2014-15 respectively and made his professional debut for Rouen II in the third tier of men’s hockey in 2012 at the age of 17.

After four seasons playing junior mixed with some professional outings, Aubrun took the step of moving overseas to compete in the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL).
Despite posting a losing record for the Rochester Jr. Americans, Aubrun’s .911 save percentage was impressive and through three post-season outings, he registered a .942 Sv% though his team would fall at the quarter-finals stages of the playoffs.

The goaltender remained in the USA and headed for Norwich University in the state of Vermont.

Aubrun had to wait his chance to play NCAA III hockey, icing just once in 2016-17.

In nine starts the following season he began to show his worth with a 1.58GAA and .934 Sv% whilst backing up Braeden Ostepchuk.

Through twenty-eight starts in 2018-19, Aubrun put up impressive numbers (1.70GAA and .929Sv%) in posting a 20-4-3 record with six shutouts and was named Goaltender of the Year, Player of the Year and Tournament MVP as Norwich were crowned champions.

To say Aubrun performed phenomenally in the most recent campaign would be an understatement.
A 23-2-2 record with a .077 GAA, .967 Sv% and 13 shutouts, including nine in a row from January 25 to March 7 before the season was cancelled.

The 24-year-old set new NCAA Division III all-time records for consecutive shutouts (nine), shutout minutes (572:31) and most shutouts in a single season (13). His consecutive shutouts and consecutive shutout minute streak are NCAA ice hockey records at every level and gender.

His awards for the 2019-20 season read as follows:
NCAA III (AHCA) First Team All-American (East)
NCAA III (All-USCHO) First Team
NCAA III (NEHC) First Team All-Conference
NCAA III (NEHC) Goaltender of the Year
NCAA III (NEHC) Player of the Year
NCAA III (USCHO) Player of the Year (NCAA III)
NCAA III Player of the Year (Sid Watson Award)

Aubrun concluded his collegiate career as the NCAA Division III all-time career save percentage (.946) and goals-against average (1.27) leader. For those keeping counts, the goaltender set five new NCAA Division III records in 2019-20.

He posted a 50-8-5 career record after only seeing game action in 2.5 seasons. His .833 all-time winning percentage ranks 14th in NCAA Division III history. His 50 career wins, rank third all-time in Norwich history behind Randy Hevey and Braeden Ostepchuk, and twenty career shutouts rank tied for second in NCAA Division III history.

As per thepuckauthority.com,

It wasn’t until Christmas that the Norwich goalie knew he was being looked at. “I hired an agent around Christmas and knew that there were a few teams looking at me, but I wasn’t sure which ones,” said Aubrun.
The French native is currently staying with a team-mate up in Buffalo, New York for the time being and said: “It’s nice having a guarantee that I’ll be here playing hockey next season.”

Aubrun still doesn’t know where he’ll be playing next season, but he’s just looking to get action anywhere he can. “I just wanna play as much as I can. I just wanna get some more experience anywhere I can. It would be nice to be in the AHL, but with guys having NHL deals, it’s likely I’ll be in Indy (ECHL).”

It’s a fair assessment that the French goaltender will begin his North American professional career in the ECHL but that’s no bad thing as many have shown before him and playing for the Indy Fuel hasn’t harmed the aspirations or careers of Kevin Laskinen, Anton Forsberg or Colin Delia.

I’ll leave the last words to Aubrun’s head coach who was quoted as saying the following in Rockford’s official press release.

“Tom had one of the best seasons I have ever seen a goaltender have at any level,” said Norwich University Head Coach Cam Ellsworth. “His play was strong and consistent all year and deserving of this opportunity. Rockford took an interest in Tom very early and put forth a development path that he is very excited about. Tom is a first-class person and athlete and I look forward to watching him grow in professional hockey.”