Monday AJ Spellacy was skating on the left wing on the fourth line with Andreas Athanasiou and Pat Maroon. The talk of camp has really done a terrific job is making a strong impression. The fact that a third-round pick is still in an NHL camp in his draft year is quite rare, especially when you understand Spellacy’s back story and appreciate that he’s doing this after really only being committed to hockey for a couple years.
A few of us spoke with Spellacy after practice and the guys at CHGO were kind enough to share the video:
#Blackhawks rookie AJ Spellacy is still with the big club. Here he talks about the feedback he’s getting and what he’s learned so far. pic.twitter.com/HqcV8XqKux— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) September 30, 2024
Lemme hit you with these two quotes so we can read them, too:
“After the first couple practices, the first scrimmages, I felt like I belonged in this speed and game.” …
“I expected that I was going to get sent back [to juniors. I wasn’t sure when. I just had the mindset of putting my best in and seeing where that takes me, and I think I’ve done that.”
Of course we then had to ask head coach Luke Richardson about Spellacy. He said the coaches and front office want to reward Spellacy for playing well with another game (at least) before he goes back to Windsor. It certainly sounds like the coaches
[insert evil grin emoji]
There is so much to love about this story so far. He’s going to go back to junior and, as Richardson said, “work on some things.” But he’s clearly not intimidated by the professional game and Richardson talked about him being a sponge, receiving information and making changes quickly. I’m excited to see where things go from here for Spellacy.