Five #TPHTrained Named to U.S. Youth Olympic Games Roster

BLOOMINGFIELD HILLS, MI – The 2020 Youth Olympic Games are set to take place in Lausanne, Switzerland from Jan. 9-22 and five TPH Trained players have been named to the Team USA roster. Rutger McGroarty, Hunter Brzustewicz, Cutter Gauthier, Lane Hutson, and Tyler Duke will be representing the red, white, and blue in Switzerland.

McGroarty and Brzustewicz are currently TPH Center of Excellence students in Detroit. Gauthier, Hutson and Duke all attended the Center of Excellence and have since moved on.

“It’s an honor to be selected to play for the Red, White, & Blue. I feel like we have the team that’ll bring home the gold!” says McGroarty.

“It’s an honor to be selected to play for my country and wear their colors.” Brzustewicz added. “I look forward to get started with my new teammates and competing against the best players around the world.”

2020 Youth Olympic Games rosters constructed of 17 hockey players (15 skaters and 1 goalie) consisting of the best 2004 birth years representing U.S., Canada, Denmark, Finland, Russia, and Switzerland will compete in the tournament. Team USA captured gold at the 2016 tournament in Lillehammer, Norway.

“This one is a MAJOR deal,” said Jimmy McGroarty, newly named Head Coach of the Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) and father of Rutger. “This event only happens every 4 years. The opportunity these kids have can lead to so much more whether it is a tryout for US National team or an opportunity to build on their NHL draft opportunity. ”

Rutger McGroarty

Hunter Brzustewicz

Cutter Gauthier

Lane Hutson

Tyler Duke

Josh Blackburn hired as new goaltending coach at Detroit CoE

Total Package Hockey is proud to welcome Josh Blackburn to our coaching family.

Blackburn is joining the TPH Center of Excellence staff in Detroit as the program’s new goaltending coach.

Blackburn brings a wealth of playing and coaching experience to the TPH Detroit team. The native of Choctaw, Okla., spent four seasons as the starting goaltender for the University of Michigan before playing professionally for three seasons. From there, he worked as the goaltending coach of his alma mater for eight seasons.

“We are very excited to have Josh Blackburn join our TPH Detroit Center of Excellence staff,” said Dwayne Norris, director of hockey for TPH CoE Detroit. “He is very knowledgeable in his craft, from both playing and coaching at some of the highest levels of hockey. Josh is going to be a great asset to our staff, and he’s already establishing a close connection with our young goaltenders at the CoE.”

Blackburn played three seasons in the USHL with the Dubuque Fighting Saints and the Lincoln Stars before joining the college ranks. He was named the USHL’s goaltender of the year in 1998.

At Michigan, he backstopped the Wolverines to consecutive Frozen Four appearances in 2001 and 2002. Blackburn helped Michigan win two CCHA regular-season titles and two CCHA playoff titles, and he was named to the CCHA All-Rookie Team in 1999.

He finished with 92 wins, a 2.29 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage over four seasons under Red Berenson.

After graduating, he spent the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons in the ECHL with the Augusta Lynx and the Columbus Inferno. In 2004-05, he suited up for the CHL’s Corpus Christi Rayz.

Blackburn returned to Ann Arbor following his playing career to serve as Michigan’s volunteer goaltending coach while operating his own goaltending school in southeast Michigan.

ABOUT TPH: Founded in 2001, Total Package Hockey is a hockey service provider with the vision to become the world leader in positively impacting the lives of student-athletes through the game of hockey.  TPH prides itself on operating at a standard that exceeds expectations of players, families, coaches, advisors and all other entities of the hockey world, one choice at a time. Our staff is committed to providing positive, energetic, hands-on instruction and mentorship, in an effort to develop each individual on and off the ice.  If each individual develops as a player, athlete and person, he or she will be better prepared to advance to the highest levels of junior, collegiate and professional hockey, while learning the skills necessary for success in the ultimate game: the game of life.

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