‘There’s nothing to hide:’ Knight is back on the ice with Panthers after struggling with OCD
As Spencer Knight skated toward the bench midway through the Florida Panthers’ first preseason game against the Nashville Predators on Monday, he heard the round of applause intended for him. The moment wasn’t lost on the 22-year-old goaltender. “It’s great,” said Knight, who stopped all 13 shots he faced in about 30 minutes of action in Florida’s 5-0 win as part of a doubleheader sweep over Nashville (the Panthers won the second game 5-2).
“The fans have always been so supportive, so passionate. Every time I have an interaction with them, they’re just awesome. Coming back and hearing them was pretty nice.” It has been a long time coming. Monday marked Knight’s first live game action since Feb. 18, less than a week before he entered the NHL and NHL Players Association’s joint player assistance program for what he later revealed to be due to an ongoing case with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. He was away from the team during its run to the Stanley Cup Final and is now having to compete over the preseason to keep his job as Sergei Bobrovsky’s backup. But Knight is fine with that. For seven months, he has put in work behind the scenes to get himself in a good state mentally to be in this position. He knows he’s in a better place now than he was in February. He’s embracing his battle, and that was the first true step Knight needed to take to get his life — not just his hockey career — back on track.
