Those aren't empty words for Abbott.
Abbott is the latest call-up for the Hawks from their AHL affiliate in Rockford, but he is not a young prospect by NHL standards. His path to the United Center ice against the Sabres on Thursday night was not a typical one.
He is a 28-year-old who began his career in the Maple Leafs system but played in just one NHL game. The Hawks traded for him in 2015 before Abbott, frustrated by floundering in the AHL, went to the Swedish Hockey League.
He came back to the AHL this season for one more crack at the NHL. It paid off.
On Monday, Abbott was just another name filling out an AHL roster. On Wednesday, he was skating at practice on the Hawks' top line alongside three-time Stanley Cup winners Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa.
It's an opportunity Abbott said he thought might never come again. All he could do was keep producing points like he has done throughout his career and hope someone noticed enough to give him a shot. That shot comes Thursday.
Abbott had eight goals and 13 assists in 30 games with Rockford. He has been a playmaker at every stop in his career, including a season in which he posted 17 goals and 52 assists with the Toronto Marlies, the Leafs' AHL team.
But Wayne Abbott, Spencer's father, said Abbott could never crack the NHL rotation. The Leafs fired Brian Burke, the general manager who signed Abbott, in January 2013, the first full season Abbott was in the organization. That left Abbott without an ambassador on the Leafs, according to his dad.
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