Spencer Abbott (ice hockey) explained

Spencer Abbott
Birth Date:30 April 1988
Birth Place:Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Height Ft:5
Height In:9
Weight Lb:170
Position:Left wing / Right wing
Shoots:Right
Played For:Toronto Maple Leafs
Frölunda HC
Chicago Blackhawks
EHC Kloten
Mora IK
Leksands IF
Augsburger Panther
Draft:Undrafted
Career Start:2012
Career End:2021

Spencer Abbott (born April 30, 1988) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. He played in the National Hockey League (NHL) with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks.

Playing career

Abbott spent his collegiate career playing for the Maine Black Bears in the NCAA Men's Division I Hockey East conference. In his senior year, Abbott's outstanding play was rewarded with a unanimous selection to the 2011–12 Hockey East First-Team All-Stars, as well as being named the 2011–12 Athletic Republic Player of the Year.[1] He led the league in scoring that season, collecting 21 goals and 62 points in 39 games.[2] He finished his four-year stint with the Black Bears having registered 146 points in 151 games.[3]

He signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs franchise in March 2012 and joined them at the end of the 2011–12 season[4] as an undrafted free agent.[5] He played in three games with the Maple Leafs' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, that season.[4] The following year he attended the Leafs training camp, but was assigned to the Marlies on September 15, 2012, to participate in the upcoming AHL training camp.[6] In the 2013–14 season, Abbott was again part of the Maple Leafs training camp, but was assigned to the Marlies on September 20.[7] He was recalled by the Maple Leafs after Nikolai Kulemin was injured in practice. He made his NHL debut on October 5, 2013, in the Maple Leafs home opener against the Ottawa Senators.[8] Abbott spent most of the 2013–14 season with the Marlies, collecting 17 goals and 69 points in 63 games. He was named an AHL Second Team All-Star and was selected to participate in the AHL's 2014 All-Star Classic but missed the game due to injury.[2] On September 14, 2015, Abbott signed a one-year contract with the Maple Leafs.[3]

In the 2014–15 season, Abbott struggled with the Marlies, collecting 24 points in 46 games.[9] On February 26, 2015, Abbott was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenceman T. J. Brennan.[10] He was reassigned to the Blackhawks' AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, where he remained for the duration of the season, recapturing his offence to produce 21 points in 19 games and a further 6 points in 8 playoff games.[11] [12]

As an impending free agent, Abbott signed his first contract abroad in agreeing to a one-year contract with Swedish club Frölunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) on June 16, 2015.[12] He had a very successful season in Sweden, including winning the Swedish national championship[13] and the Champions Hockey League (CHL).[14] In 51 SHL contests, Abbott tallied 14 goals and 22 assists.[11]

On July 1, 2016, he returned to the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent on a one-year, two-way deal.[15] He attended Blackhawks training camp, but was reassigned to Rockford after passing through waivers.[16] Abbott began the 2016–17 season, in his second stint with the Rockford IceHogs. Amongst the IceHogs scoring leaders, Abbott was recalled to replace Tyler Motte who had been assigned to Rockford.[17] [18] He made his debut for Chicago, his second NHL appearance, in a 4–3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on January 5, 2017.[19] He was returned to Rockford following the game and proceeded to collect 35 points in 53 games. At the NHL trade deadline, Abbott was dealt by the Blackhawks, along with Sam Carrick to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Kenton Helgesen and a 7th round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft on March 1, 2017.[20]

As a free agent from the Ducks, Abbott opted to extend his tenure with affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, signing a one-year AHL contract on September 25, 2017.[21] In the 2017–18 season, while leading the Gulls in scoring with 20 points in 17 games, Abbott was traded to the Binghamton Devils in exchange for future considerations on December 8, 2017.[22] He initially refused to report to Binghamton and was suspended without pay by the team.[23] On December 22, he signed for the remainder of the season with Swiss-based club, EHC Kloten in the National League.[24]

Helping Kloten avoid relegation, Abbott left as a free agent and returned for a second tenure in the SHL, agreeing to terms with Mora IK on September 17, 2018.[25] In the 2018–19 season, Abbott led Mora's offense, registering 29 assists and 36 points in 42 regular season games. He also had 3 points in 5 games against rivals Leksands IF. On June 26, 2019, Abbott left Mora to continue in the SHL, agreeing to a one-year contract with the newly promoted Leksands IF.[26]

On December 29, 2020, Abbott signed with the Augsburger Panther of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL).[27]

Career statistics

Regular seasonPlayoffs
SeasonTeamLeagueGPGAPtsPIMGPGAPtsPIM
2005–06Hamilton Red WingsOPJHL11101010000
2006–07Hamilton Red WingsOPJHL49324375221945912
2007–08Hamilton Red WingsOPJHL484241834252462
2008–09University of MaineHE3879168
2009–10University of MaineHE38919286
2010–11University of MaineHE3617234016
2011–12University of MaineHE3921416234
2011–12Toronto MarliesAHL3011050000
2012–13Toronto MarliesAHL551320331052352
2013–14Toronto MarliesAHL64175269161147112
2013–14Toronto Maple LeafsNHL10000
2014–15Toronto MarliesAHL467172410
2014–15Rockford IceHogsAHL1912921683362
2015–16Frölunda HCSHL42142135490110
2016–17Rockford IceHogsAHL5315203514
2016–17Chicago BlackhawksNHL10000
2016–17San Diego GullsAHL1631114281560
2017–18San Diego GullsAHL17614202
2017–18EHC KlotenNL1355102
2018–19Mora IKSHL42729368
2019–20Leksands IFSHL33714216
2020–21Augsburger PantherDEL329182712
NHL totals2 0 0 0 0
AHL totals2737314421760461018286
SHL totals117 28 64 92 189 0 1 1 0

Awards and honours

AwardYear
College
All-Hockey East First Team2011–12
AHCA East First-Team All-American2011–12[28]
Hobey Baker Award Finalist2011–12[29]
AHL
Second all-star team2013–14[30]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dumoulin, Almeida Highlight 2011–2012 Hockey East All-Star Teams . SB Nation – BC Interruption . March 15, 2012 . December 6, 2022.
  2. Web site: Leafs Sign Spencer Abbott . Toronto Maple Leafs . September 9, 2014 . December 6, 2022.
  3. Web site: Toronto Maple Leafs sign Hamilton's Spencer Abbott . CBC News . The Canadian Press . September 10, 2014 . December 6, 2022.
  4. Web site: Maple Leafs rookies Jamie Devane, Spencer Abbott beat odds . McGran . Kevin . Toronto Star . October 7, 2013 . December 6, 2022.
  5. Web site: NHL: Maple Leafs re-sign Hamilton's Abbott to one-year contract . The Hamilton Spectator . The Canadian Press . September 10, 2014 . December 6, 2022.
  6. Web site: Kadri, Gardiner among Leafs assigned to Marlies . The Globe and Mail . Calabrese . Darren . The Canadian Press . September 15, 2012 . December 6, 2022.
  7. Web site: Maple Leafs' Jonathan Bernier misses practice, new goalie equipment hurts knee . Toronto Star . McGran . Kevin . September 20, 2013 . December 6, 2022.
  8. Web site: NHL: Dream comes true for Hamilton's Abbott . The Hamilton Spectator . Radley . Scott . October 7, 2013 . December 6, 2022.
  9. Web site: Hamilton's Spencer Abbott traded by Leafs to Chicago . The Hamilton Spectator . February 27, 2015 . December 6, 2022.
  10. Web site: Brennan Acquired for Abbott . . February 26, 2015 . December 6, 2022.
  11. Web site: Blackhawks Agree to Terms with Spencer Abbott . Rockford IceHogs . July 1, 2016 . December 6, 2022.
  12. Web site: En Abbott till Frölunda . An Abbott to Frölunda . . 2015-06-16 . 2015-06-16 . Swedish.
  13. Web site: Spencer Abbott Wins Title In Sweden . 92.9 The Ticket . Stackpole . Brian . May 3, 2016 . 2016-07-03.
  14. Web site: Champion of the Champions. www.iihf.com. 2016-07-03. August 28, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160828185717/http://www.iihf.com/home-of-hockey/news/news-singleview/?tx_ttnews%255Btt_news%255D=10361&cHash=2d77b54fcffbf109a7ca1334c0000d8c. dead.
  15. Web site: Blackhawks agree to terms with forward Spencer Abbott . 2016-07-03 . 2016-07-04 . Chicago Blackhawks . NHL.com.
  16. Web site: Spencer Abbott keeps producing, but age counts against him . Lazerus . Mark . Chicago Sun-Times . October 3, 2016 . December 6, 2022.
  17. Web site: Spencer Abbott gets big call, even bigger opportunity with Blackhawks . NBC Sports . January 4, 2017 . December 6, 2022.
  18. Web site: Chicago Blackhawks Recall Forward Spencer Abbott . Fox Sports . Fitzgerald . Sean . June 30, 2017 . December 6, 2022.
  19. Web site: Kane, Blackhawks beat Sabres in overtime . . 2017-01-05 . 2017-01-06.
  20. Web site: Ducks acquire Abbott and Carrick from Chicago . . 2017-03-01 . 2017-03-01 . NHL.com.
  21. Web site: Gulls sign RW Spencer Abbott to one-year deal . . 2017-09-25 . 2017-09-25.
  22. Web site: Devils acquire Spencer Abbott from Gulls . . 2017-12-08 . 2017-12-08.
  23. Audio: Great talk with #BingDevils GM Tom Fitzgerald today. . 942138010669162496 . RobLippolis . Rob . Lippolis . 2017-12-16 . 2017-12-15.
  24. Web site: Spencer Abbott signs with EHC Kloten . . 2017-12-22 . 2018-01-03 . swisshockeynews.ch.
  25. Web site: Mora IK värvar poängstark forward . Mora IK recruits a strong scoring forward . . Swedish . 2018-09-17 . 2018-09-18.
  26. Web site: Spencer Abbott klar för Leksands IF . Spencer Abbott ready for Leksands IF . . Swedish . June 26, 2019 . June 26, 2019.
  27. Web site: December 29, 2020 . Spencer Abbott Verstärkt Die Offensive Der Panther . Spencer Abbott Reinforces the Panthers' Offensive . de . January 14, 2021 . Augsburger Panther.
  28. Web site: College Hockey All-Americans . USCHO.com . 2012-03-28 . 2012-03-28.
  29. Web site: Hobey Finalists . insidecollegehockey.com . 2012-04-05 . 2012-04-05.
  30. Web site: First and Second AHL All-Stars named . . 2014-04-15 . 2014-04-15 . April 13, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140413140528/http://theahl.com/first-second-team-ahl-all-stars-named-p191616 . dead .