The Chicago Blackhawks are battling an illness that is running rampant throughout their locker room. At puck drop on Friday night against the Washington Capitals, the Blackhawks were without their top two NHL goalies, Spencer Knight and Arvid Soderblom.<\/p>\n
With the two backstops ailing, the Blackhawks recalled Drew Commesso from the AHL\u2019s Rockford IceHogs to make his third career NHL start. However, that left the backup netminder position vacant, so in stepped Dave Nozzolillo, a beer-league goalie for a local men\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
Nozzolillo took the ice wearing Soderblom\u2019s number 40, but with 100 fewer NHL games under his belt. As an emergency backup, Nozzolillo won\u2019t be paid for his services but will get to take home the jersey off his back.<\/p>\n
Well\u2026Drew Commesso leads the Blackhawks onto the ice for warmups <\/p>\n
Connor Bedard is here \u2014 CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) January 10, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Nozzolillo\u2019s last beer league stats come from 2021, when he played for both the Titos Chargers and the South Water Signs<\/a>. With the Chargers, he went 7-1-1 with a 3.80 goals-against average. The team plays its games at Johnny\u2019s Icehouse, which has two rinks on W Madison St, less than 5 minutes from the United Center.<\/p>\n The NHL\u2019s newest EBUG also has an EliteProspects page<\/a> that credits him with one year of NCAA DIII hockey (2000-01) with Lake Forest College in Lake Forest, Illinois.<\/p>\n According to his public LinkedIn profile<\/a>, Nozzolillo currently serves as a Senior Vice President at Wintrust Commercial Banking and as a board member of the Healthy Schools Campaign. He also has a brother, Nick Nozzolillo, who is also a hockey goalie<\/a>.<\/p>\n In the first period, the Capitals fired just six shots on Commesso, but the 23-year-old goaltender allowed three goals. Despite the youngster\u2019s early struggles, Blackhawks head coach Jeff Blashill did not turn to Nozzolillo.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t
Nick Foligno is here
Kevin Korchinski is on the ice
Arvid S\u00f6derblom is not here but the EBUG Dave Nozzolillo is wearing his jersey and will be the backup
Spencer Knight is not here
Louis\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/B8sPTJ40Ru<\/a><\/p>\n