On Sunday September 20th, the Jacksonville Icemen announced the signing of Canadian left-winger Cameron Critchlow. The two sides agreed to terms on a standard player contract for the upcoming season. This will be his third season with the Icemen after a short stint with the Manchester Storm. That was in the EIHL, the elite ice hockey league in the UK. during the 2019-20 season, Crithlow recorded 29 points in 45 games while playing abroad.
Critchlow spent the previous two seasons with the Icemen hockey club where he started his career. The 5’10, 190-pound left-winger played 139 games in his first stint with Jacksonville. This is second only to three-year defensemen, Dajon Mingo.
Before his pro career took off, the Summerside, PEI native spent five seasons playing at the University of New Brunswick. Critch, as his teammates call him, began playing junior hockey in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). There, he played six seasons, three with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan and two with the Lewiston MAINEiacs. He wrapped up his days in junior spending one season with the Halifax Mooseheads.
During an interview with Brent Martineau of Action Sports Jax on Sunday evening, Critchlow, 28-years-old, expressed his excitement to return to Jacksonville. “There was nowhere else in the world I’d rather be than back in Jax,” he said.
Critchlow went on to say, “It’s going to be an exciting year; we’re going to have a really good team and that was another big part of it. Our goal ultimately is to win the Kelly Cup and that’s the bottom line.”
The forward brings leadership back to the Icemen that they desperately need to get back into the playoffs next year. Critchlow took on a leadership role when called upon and thrived at it, becoming the go-to player during Jacksonville’s first playoff run in 2018-19.
The Icemen have also brought on forwards Abbott Girduckis, Adam Dauda, Brendan Warren, Ian McKinnon and Nathan Perkovich. This also includes Wacey Rabbit. Defensively, they have signed Jacob Cederholm, Jarod Hilderman and Kevin McKernan. As per the ECHL, the 2020-21 season is set to begin on the fourth of December.