Rocco Grimaldi
| |||
Born |
Anaheim, California, U.S.[1] | February 8, 1993||
---|---|---|---|
Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) | ||
Weight | 180 lb (82 kg; 12 st 12 lb) | ||
Position | Center | ||
Shoots | Right | ||
NHL team (P) Cur. team Former teams |
Nashville Predators Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) Florida Panthers Colorado Avalanche | ||
NHL Draft |
33rd overall, 2011 Florida Panthers | ||
Playing career | 2014–present |
Rocco Niccolas Grimaldi (born February 8, 1993) is an American professional ice hockey forward who currently plays for the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Nashville Predators organization of the National Hockey League (NHL). Grimaldi was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the second round (33rd overall) of the 2011 National Hockey League Entry Draft.[2] At the age of five, Grimaldi started to play roller hockey in California. In 2005, Grimaldi and some of his family relocated to Michigan so that he could play against a better level of competition.
Playing career
Grimaldi played AAA Hockey for Detroit Little Caesars during the 2008–2009 season, collecting 43 points with 17 goals and 26 assists in 31 games.[3] He then played two seasons with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program against junior teams in the United States Hockey League. During the 2009–10 season, Grimaldi led the United States Under 17 national team in scoring with 40 points in 36 games.[4]
During the 2010–11 season, he led Team USA in scoring with 34 goals and 28 assists in 50 games.[5][6] Grimaldi was eligible to be drafted into the National Hockey League (NHL) in 2011. Prior to the draft, there were concerns about his size. At 5'6", he is smaller than most NHL players.[5] Grimaldi is not concerned about his size, and takes the questions about it in stride, "I think it’s fun."[7] The 2011–12 Hockey Prospectus ranked Grimaldi as its #36 best hockey prospect noting that he "overcomes his diminutive size with off the chart intangibles and physical ability."[8]
Grimaldi committed to the University of North Dakota and entered his freshman season for UND in the 2011–12 season.[9]
On May 7, 2014, Grimaldi signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Florida Panthers.[10] In the 2014–15 season, Grimaldi made his professional debut with the Panthers AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage. On November 1, 2014, he received his first NHL recall and made his NHL debut with the Panthers in a 2–1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers the following day.[11] He was again called up to the Panthers on November 18, achieving the rare feat of playing two games in one day—a morning matinee with the Rampage, and another with the Panthers that evening (the morning game, coupled with the Panthers playing on the West Coast that evening and thus played three hours later than usual, allowed Grimaldi the time to travel to the second game).[12]
On June 23, 2016, Grimaldi was traded by the Panthers to the Colorado Avalanche for goaltender Reto Berra.[13] After attending his first training camp with the Avalanche, Grimaldi was re-assigned to affiliate and former AHL club, the San Antonio Rampage, on September 30, 2016, to begin the 2016–17 season.[14] After 19 games, Grimaldi was leading the Rampage in scoring with 15 points, when he received his first recall to Colorado on December 2, 2016.[15] He made his Avalanche debut the following night in a 3–0 defeat to the Dallas Stars and was returned to the Rampage at the conclusion of the game.[16]
On July 26, 2017, the Avalanche re-signed Grimaldi to a one-year, two-way contract.[17] In the 2017–18 season, Grimaldi spent the majority of the campaign with the Rampage, where he recorded 31 points in 49 games. He played in a further 6 games in the NHL with the Avalanche, posting a goal and two assists and recording his second-career two-point game on October 28, 2017, against the Chicago Blackhawks.
As a group IV free agent, Grimaldi opted to leave the Avalanche and agreed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Nashville Predators on July 1, 2018.[18]
International play
Medal record | ||
---|---|---|
Representing | ||
Men's ice hockey | ||
World Junior Championships | ||
2013 Ufa | ||
IIHF World U18 Championships | ||
2010 Belarus | ||
2011 Germany | ||
World U-17 Hockey Challenge | ||
2010 Ontario |
Grimaldi was selected to the United States Under 18 team and helped the team win their second straight World Championship on April 10, 2010.[4] In the gold medal game versus Sweden, Grimaldi had one goal and one assist as the United States triumphed by a 3–1 mark. Rocco Grimaldi scored twice vs. Finland on Friday, November 12 at the 2010 Men's Under-18 Four Nations Cup.[19]
He was a member of Team USA's Gold Medal team at the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, scoring two goals, including the game winner, in the championship game vs. Sweden.[20]
Personal life
Grimaldi was born in Anaheim, California. He started playing organized hockey when he was five. When he was first exposed to the game, he thought it looked more exciting than baseball. Grimaldi is a devout born again Christian.[2] His father was a police officer in California. His mother was the Little Caesars AAA Hockey club team manager.[21]
In July 2016, Grimaldi married to Abigail (Abby) Mattson.[22]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
2009–10 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 32 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2009–10 | U.S. National Under-18 Team | USDP | 26 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2010–11 | U.S. National Development Team | USHL | 23 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2011–12 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2012–13 | University of North Dakota | WCHA | 40 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 18 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2013–14 | University of North Dakota | NCHC | 42 | 17 | 22 | 39 | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2014–15 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 64 | 14 | 28 | 42 | 22 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | ||
2014–15 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2015–16 | Portland Pirates | AHL | 52 | 16 | 17 | 33 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | ||
2015–16 | Florida Panthers | NHL | 20 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
2016–17 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 72 | 31 | 24 | 55 | 39 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2016–17 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2017–18 | San Antonio Rampage | AHL | 49 | 15 | 16 | 31 | 32 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
2017–18 | Colorado Avalanche | NHL | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
NHL totals | 37 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
International
Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2010 | United States | U17 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 8 | ||
2010 | United States | WJC18 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 6 | ||
2011 | United States | WJC18 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 6 | ||
2013 | United States | WJC | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | ||
Junior totals | 26 | 10 | 26 | 36 | 24 |
Awards and honors
Award | Year | |
---|---|---|
USHL | ||
All-Star Game | 2011 | |
College | ||
NCAA Champions | 2012 | |
All-WCHA Rookie Team | 2013 | [23] |
WCHA All-Academic Team | 2013 | |
International | ||
U17 WHC All-Star Team | 2010 | |
U17 WHC Most Assists | 2010 | |
U17 WHC Most Points | 2010 |
References
- ↑ "A homecoming for Panthers' Rocco Grimaldi". Sun-Sentinel. 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
- 1 2 Greg Wyshynski. "Panthers pick Rocco Grimaldi's leap of faith at NHL Entry Draft". Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ "Rocco Grimaldi". NHL. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- 1 2 "Where Will They Be?". Sports Illustrated. August 2, 2010: 126. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- 1 2 "Grimaldi refuses to allow size to become an issue". Fox News. 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ↑ Kennedy, R. (May 3, 2011). "The Hot List: Growing up Grimaldi". The Hockey News. Retrieved 2011-06-28.
- ↑ Schlossman, Brad Elliott (2011-06-22). "Taking center stage". Grand Forks Herald. Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
- ↑ Pronman, C. (2011). "Top 100 NHL Prospects". In Seppa, T. Hockey Prospectus 2011–12. pp. 416–417. ISBN 978-1-4663-4452-5.
- ↑ Switaj, Caryn (January 2011). "Rocco Grimaldi". USA Hockey Magazine. Retrieved October 9, 2011.
- ↑ "Rocco Grimaldi agree to entry-level contract with Panthers". Florida Panthers. 2014-05-07. Retrieved 2014-05-07.
- ↑ "Team USA alum makes NHL debut". United States Hockey League. 2011-11-03. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
- ↑ Beacham, Greg (2014-11-19). "Rocco Grimaldi plays AHL, NHL games on same day". Associated Press. Retrieved 2014-11-19.
- ↑ "Panthers deal Grimaldi to Avs for Berra". The Sports Network. 2016-06-23. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
- ↑ "Avalanche make roster moves". Colorado Avalanche. 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-09-30.
- ↑ "Grimaldi gets his chance". Colorado Avalanche. 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2016-12-03.
- ↑ "Kari Lehtonen, Stars shutout Avalanche". National Hockey League. 2016-12-02. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
- ↑ "Avalanche signs Rocco Grimaldi, Jesse Graham". Denver Post. 2017-07-26. Retrieved 2017-07-26.
- ↑ "Predators sign forward Rocco Grimaldi to one-year contract". Nashville Predators. 2018-07-01. Retrieved 2018-07-01.
- ↑ "U.S. National Under-18 Team Tops Finland, 3–2, at 2010 Under-18 Four Nations Cup". USA Hockey. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Lucas Aykroyd. "U.S. golden in Ufa!". International Ice Hockey Federation. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Archuleta, Nadia (July 26, 2017). "Colorado Avalanche: All About Center Rocco Grimaldi". milehighsticking.com. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ↑ "Grimaldi-Mattson". Grand Forks Herald. July 2, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
- ↑ "WCHA All-Rookie Teams". College Hockey Historical Archives. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
External links
- Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or The Internet Hockey Database