The 20-year old phenom Spencer Knight will get his first BEARD Hockey action tonight after a stellar season of development on the farm in Rockford.
October 24th, 2021. Pittsburgh, PA. PPG Paints Arena.
Blue Paint.
Spencer Knight will make his BEARD NHL Debut for the Chicago Blackhawks tonight versus the Pittsburgh Penguins.
After being drafted in the first round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft at 13th overall, GM Dan Bacon of the Chicago Blackhawks used his 11th round pick of the BEARD Dispersal Draft on the Prospect Package headlined by Knight. Bacon was overheard saying after that pick that he had no idea nor did he care who else was part of that prospect package. One player was all he was focused on - goaltender Spencer Knight.
Knight flew through the AHL ranks, performing admirably for the Rockford Ice Hogs in the inaugural BEARD Hockey season and earned his way onto the big club this year as the backup goaltender. Many analysts around the league feel Knight will overtake the starting gig in Chicago before the season is up, but Bacon nor head coach Craig Berube are ready to jump on that stance yet.
Organizational indications are that the plan is for Knight to start 30-35 games in his rookie year.
Hopes are high in Chicago with the team that has been put together, and no one is a greater reason for the long term optimism of the team than the man between the pipes. Tonight will be the start of something special in Chicago and we can only hope Knight is ready to shoulder the load.
TEAM NOTES: Early word is that Berube is putting in work tonight to change team strategies after seeing the team start off with an unimpressive 2 losses while scoring only 2 goals.