Spencer Knight
Jared Waimon (left) and Spencer Knight in February 2019 at the USA Hockey Team Development Center in Michigan.
Like most young hockey players, Spencer Knight’s career began with a local youth organization which, in Knight’s case, was the Darien (CT) Youth Hockey Association. His Squirt coach, Patrick Mullin, said Knight quickly became a prodigy between the pipes. “Even at the young age of 9,” says Mullin, “we could all see he was going to be something special.” Now imagine eleven years later when former NHL goalie Roberto Luongo who oversees the Florida Panthers Goaltending Excellence Program saw Knight for the first time at a Boston College practice and said “Holy smokes, this kid is pretty good.”
Both Mullin and Luongo were absolutely right as Knight went on to have a stellar youth career both at the Avon Old Farms School as well as the USA National Team Development Program. Drafted No. 13 overall by the Florida Panthers in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft (which was the highest a goaltender had been selected in nearly a decade) Knight said of potentially being the highest goaltender selected in 10 years "If I said I didn't think about it I'd probably be lying," Knight said of possibly being a first-round pick. "You do think about all the different ways it could go, but the biggest thing is to worry about the every-day things.”
Spencer Knight (left) and Jared Waimon at a recent training session.
Knight joined the Panthers last March after foregoing his junior and senior seasons at Boston College following the draft. In April he debuted for the Panthers and won 5-1 stopping 33 of 34 shots to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets; he won the three remaining regular season games. Less than one month later Knight became the second-youngest goalie ever to win his postseason debut as the Panthers kept their season alive by stopping 33 shots and beating the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning 4-1 in Game 5 of their Central Division first-round series.
Throughout Knight’s 9-year amateur career, he’s had one exclusive constant by his side…Jared Waimon, owner/founder of Pro Crease Goaltending. Knight says “the only goaltending coach I’d ever had prior to turning professional was Jared.” “Without his guidance and input, I would have never reached this point in my career.” Knight’s father adds “Spencer consistently worked with Jared and the Pro Crease team since he was 9 years old. He always looked forward to his training sessions with Jared because it’s where he built on and refined his skills.”
According to Waimon, the combination of Knight’s size, athleticism and intelligence is unique. “Spencer is truly a once-in-a-lifetime talent. I am humbled that his family entrusted his amateur training and development exclusively to ProCrease.”