Hawks goaltending prospect makes impressive debut at the Olympic Games
The Chicago Blackhawks may have a beauty on their hands in 19-year-old goaltending prospect Drew Commesso. The American netminder took to the ice for Team USA at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday, making him the youngest goalie in USA Hockey history to start a game at the Olympics.
While that stat is impressive in its own right, what Commesso was able to do with his opportunity was equally, if not more impressive. The young backstop posted a 29-save shutout, en route to an 8-0 win over the host country.
While China's certainly not known for their quantity of high end hockey players, we should not discount Commesso's pair of milestones, as he still faced nearly 30 shots in the contest and turned everything away.
Commesso was drafted by the Blackhawks in the 2nd round (46th overall) in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. It will be intriguing to see if Commesso can handle himself against tougher competition during the tournament - most notably, the Fins, Swedes, Russians and Canadians.
Commesso is in his 2nd year at Boston University. He has appeared in 24 games so far this season, posting a 12-8-3 record, with a 2.48 GAA and a .915 sv%.
