The Blackhawks Make Major Roster Cuts Ahead of the St. Louis Blues game tonight
Photo credit: Bleacher Nations
The Chicago Blackhawks have made a huge roster cut ahead of the game tonight against the St. Louis Blues.
They have sent several players packing to their junior clubs, and the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL.
Nick Lardis was assigned back to Brantford, his junior club.
The following players were sent to Rockford (either released from a PTO or just assigned): fForwards
Gavin Hayes,
Paul Ludwinski,
Jalen Luypen and Marcel Marcel, defensemen DJ King and Austin Strand and goaltender Ben Gaudreau.
Have you noticed who is missing from the list?
And that means
AJ Spellacy is still in camp.
Spellacy has survived the latest round of cuts, as the forward is known to be a physical presence on the ice and it seems has caught the eye of Luke Richardson.
Spellacy played 67 games in the OHL, scoring 38 points( 21 G, 17 A), and was seen on the Blackhawks 2nd line against the Detroit Red Wings, with
Landon Slaggert and
Craig Smith.
Spellacy made a physical impact on the game on Wednesday night, and he'll get a chance to run it back again tonight in Detroit with the Blackhawks in the second preseason game. He mixed it up, played with speed and did a nice job of continuing to show what he can do. When asked about his physical play on Thursday, he had a pretty simple answer:
«It's something that I like to do. It gets players to back off my teammates. If I'm able to sustain playing that way then I think it's big for myself and for the team.»
The player who modeled his game after
Tom Wilson offers, a kind of physicality that the Blackhawks are missing with only
Nick Foligno able to offer any kind of muscle on ice, until Pat Maroon's arrival.
2 weeks ago during the Blackhawks prospect camp, he contributed a goal in the team's 4-3 OT loss to the Blues prospects.
Will Spellacy be able to deliver tonight against the Blues once again? This time he'll be facing NHLers, on the ice and in the net.
He'll need more of his physicality and speed, to contribute on both ends of the ice.
Let's hope he can find his scoring touch tonight.
Previously on HawksInsider
POLL |
SEPTEMBRE 28 | 43 ANSWERS The Blackhawks Make Major Roster Cuts Ahead of the St. Louis Blues game tonight Is AJ Spellacy, the new Tom Wilson? |
Yes | 25 | 58.1 % |
No | 18 | 41.9 % |
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