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Philadelphia’s Local Emergency Backup Goaltender is Now Full-Time with the Flyers
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The Flyers added to their hockey operations staff:
Kyle Blackstone: Massage Therapist
Blackstone brings seven years of massage therapy experience to the Flyers. He is the owner and operator of Blackstone Massage & Recovery, which he founded in 2021. Through his practice, Blackstone has served as a Massage Therapist for the University of Pennsylvania’s Track & Field, Cross Country, Basketball, Squash and Rowing teams, while also working with athletes ranging from high school to the professional level across a variety of sports.
In his role with the Flyers, Blackstone will support Melissa Rucker in providing therapeutic massage and soft-tissue treatments to promote player recovery, mobility and overall physical well-being.
Daniel Spencer, Emergency Backup Goalie
Spencer enters his first season as the Flyers’ Emergency Backup Goalie in a full time capacity after spending the last three years as the local Emergency Backup Goalie. In this expanded role, Spencer will travel and practice full-time with the club, strictly as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. Spencer earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Finlandia University in 2019, where he played four years of Division III hockey.
William Heim: Assistant Athletic Trainer, Lehigh Valley Phantoms
Heim joins the Phantoms after spending the last two seasons as an Athletic Trainer for the Tahoe Knight Monsters of the ECHL where he led communications surrounding players’ orthopedic injuries, rehabilitation, and return-to-play progressions. He also spent time at the University of Utah as a Clinical Athletic Trainer from 2023-24. Heim earned a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Lasell University and a Master of Science in Health and Human Performance from Oklahoma State University.
The emergency backup goaltender thing is always funny and interesting. Daniel Spencer has been involved with the NHL for a couple of seasons, but he was the local EBUG and wouldn’t travel with the Flyers. He’d essentially stay in the Philly region and would be available in a pinch, like if a team was wracked with injuries and then somebody got food poisoning from a bad batch of crab fries. The full-time emergency backup travels with the club on the road and takes part in regular practices and all of that.
According to LinkedIn, Spencer was recently an account executive for WWEX Group, which is some sort of transportation logistics company. He was assistant hockey coach for Gloucester Catholic from 2022 to 2025 and is a Gloucester Catholic alumnus. Finlandia University closed in 2023 but was located in Hancock, Michigan, in the state’s Upper Peninsula, so Spencer is an honorary Yooper. “The Google” says Finlandia competed in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, which includes D3 midwestern schools mostly in Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, and Meechigan.
Anyway, congratulations to Daniel Spencer on the promotion. If all goes well, we won’t have to see him out there this year, but it would be a fun story if he gets a game. Maybe when the Flyers clinch early they can find a way to get him out there.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com