AJ Spellacy is no worse for wear after intense scrimmage

Day two of the Chicago Blackhawks’ rookie camp was more eventful, and not for the right reasons. As the group scrimmaged ahead of their pair of games at the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase in Minnesota this weekend, there were two scary plays. One youngster came out relatively unscathed, while the other looked far worse.

Spellacy & Thompson Ramp Up the Intensity

Early on in the scrimmage, AJ Spellacy and Aidan Thompson had a physical shift. After the two exchanged shoves, Spellacy got hit in the face by Taige Harding’s skate and immediately grabbed his face. While skating off the ice, he got into a heated exchange with Thompson and gave him a departing shot. WGN Radio’s Charlie Roumeliotis caught the exchange.

Spellacy came out for shooting drills at the end of today’s session. He and Thompson had a lengthy discussion, but it remained civil, and the temperature was turned down. Spellacy sported a small cut just to the left of his nose that did not require any stitches when he met the media.

“When I felt the skate to the face, I thought it was going to be worse,” he said. “But, I’m fine.

“Obviously, in a scrimmage like this with everyone watching, we’re all going to give it our best. Everyone is battling and playing hard. You need to have high intensity like this. It brings everyone together. When you’re battling with a guy, then you get off the ice and you’re best buddies with him.”

Rockford IceHogs head coach Jared Nightingale did not mind seeing a little extra spice during practice today.

“Hockey is an emotional sport, and I think it’s good,” he said. “Obviously, you’re going against your teammates. We saw a couple of players going at it, and that’s not a bad thing. We’ve got to keep at arm’s length and reel it in, but it was good to see the compete raise up.

“When you look at Aidan and AJ, that’s how their games are built. They are highly competitive, and they’re trying to showcase themselves to the staff what they bring. There’s a fine line between going too far, but I’d rather have those guys who are overly competitive and reel them in.”

Spellacy was one of the best storylines from last year’s camp and is a dark horse to make the roster this fall. At the very least, he could get a nine-game look with the Blackhawks or possibly be loaned to the IceHogs. There is a lot on the line for him over the next couple of weeks. He credits his extended stay last year for giving him the confidence to be even better this time around.

“Being here for that long last year, I learned so much, especially from the older guys,” he said. “There were a lot of guys I could learn from and model my game after. Playing in those games against so many talented players just made me so much better.”

Here’s Spellacy’s full interview:

Ty Jones Also Injured in Scrimmage

Moments before the fireworks between Spellacy and Thompson, defenseman Ty Henry was tripped up and went feet-first into the boards. Play was stopped for a couple of minutes while he was down on the ice in a lot of pain. The coaching staff helped him off the ice, but he didn’t put any weight on his left leg. Charlie, once again, had his camera rolling at the right time.

Nightingale said Henry suffered an ankle injury and the Blackhawks’ medical staff was still evaluating him. Without speculating too much, it’s easy to say he’ll miss the rest of the rookie camp and this weekend’s games. Hopefully, he won’t miss more time than that.

“As a coach, you never want two injuries in your first scrimmage, but that’s the type of sport hockey is,” Nightingale said.

Henry was a sixth-round pick at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. The 19-year-old had a goal and 17 points in 63 Ontario Hockey League games for the Erie Otters last season.