WHERE ARE THEY NOW? – Mac Carruth

After a couple of seasons playing in Chicago at the 16U and 18U level, goalie Mac Carruth was drawn to the northwest to play for the expansion Wenatchee Wild.  At that stage in his young career, the Salt Lake City native was ready to make the jump. “To be honest I was very young, one of the youngest in the league and was just excited for the opportunity to play juniors.”

He played a year and a half in Wenatchee and had a verbal commitment to play Div I college hockey at University of Minnesota – Duluth when he realized a dream of nearly every player to ever strap on skates, drafted by the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks in the 7th round of the 2010 Entry Draft. He recalls the emotions of that moment. “Extremely relieved and happy. I had made so many sacrifices to make hockey my career and getting drafted was a big step in that direction, but going so late towards the end helped me to keep that chip on my shoulder to help push me.”

Being drafted played a role in his next career move, and that was moving to the WHL. “Going to Portland was a tough decision for me, considering it required me to go back on my verbal commitment to UMD. Was a crazy time in my life but I feel I made the right decision looking back.” He played with the Portland Winterhawks for three and half seasons with stellar numbers.

From 2013 to 2017, Carruth played with the Rockford Ice Hogs, the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. He would also appear with the ECHL affiliates in Toledo, Florida, and Indianapolis. It was then another opportunity arose that felt like a good fit.

“After playing in Chicago’s organization for 5-6 years I felt I needed a change. Was some poor timing for spots filling up for goalies around the AHL, so I went overseas to continue my career and have never looked back. I love Europe, it took some growing pains to settle in with how they run the organizations over there but I’ve learned a lot and seen some awesome places.”

He’s played the last five seasons in Europe with stops in Hungary and Germany, then last season won a championship in the British Elite Ice Hockey League with the Cardiff Devils. For the upcoming 2022-23 season, he’ll play in Denmark. He’s spending this summer at home in the states, but that’s not always the case. “My wife and I try to stay for the summer wherever we play just to see more of the area, as it’s tough to do in season but we are back this summer.”

Speaking of family, “I’m married to my beautiful wife Keara, we have an 8-year-old husky named Bella and that’s the crew so far.” When his playing days are over, he looks forward to pursuing a career behind the bench as a coach.