In April, I wrote about a French goaltender who played junior hockey in his native country before upping sticks to play NCCA in Vermont.
He impressed so much that the Rockford IceHogs offered the Norwich University graduate an AHL deal.

I wrote about that journey here ‘From Rouen to Rockford’ https://wp.me/p2gDti-Up

It’s been a long road and wait for Tom Auburn but he finally made his professional debut on Monday, December 28, 2020.

Reassigned to Indy Fuel, the ECHL affiliate of Rockford, the rookie goaltender had to be patient and wait for his opportunity as four games passed with him sitting on the bench as back-up.

A road game in Wheeling against the Nailers would be the setting for Aubrun’s debut.

It turned into something of a baptism of fire for the 25-year-old.

The hosts were afforded three power-play opportunities inside the opening ten minutes and heaped pressure straight onto the visiting Indy Fuel.
Although Aubrun turned aside the first eight shots he faced, there was little he could do to prevent Felix Robert from banging in a one-timer on the left side.

Far from being downhearted about the poor start, Aubrun proceeded to stop a further five shots before the period end, thus enabling his team-mates to reward his strong showing between the pipes.

Peter Krieger tied the game at one and Matt Marcinew put the visitors ahead after twenty minutes.

The home team came flying out of the gate in the middle frame with Aubrun pressed into action four times inside the opening two minutes of play. He would go on to make a further seven saves before Tyler Drevitch tied the game with less than five minutes remaining in the frame.

Aubrun would only face one shot in the first eight minutes of the third period and the momentum swung toward the visitor’s thanks to a brilliantly executed short-handed tally by Nic Pierog.
The Fuel doubled their lead to 4-2 with a little over nine minutes remaining as Krieger netted his second of the game.

As to be expected, Wheeling threw the proverbial kitchen sink at the Indy net and scored with their 13th shot of the period after pulling the goaltender for an extra attacker.

There was still 1:41 left in regulation for the home team to seek a tying marker. However, a combination of Wheeling taking a penalty and sensible play by Indy, secured a final 4-3 victory for the rookie on debut.

Tom Aubrun made 36 saves on his debut for the victory, posting a 0.923 save percentage.
Not only did Aubrun ensure Indy’s perfect start to the season remained intact (5-0-0) but his performance should result in more starts in the new year.

Not a bad beginning for a French goaltender who has taken a rather unusual route to the third tier of North American hockey.

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