State champ, NCAA champ and esteemed member of the 2019 Eastern Conference champion Boston Bruins — those are cherished memories for Johnston, R.I., native Noel Acciari. But these days — once NHL action resumes — the gritty forward is a hard-charging, high-scoring member of the Florida Panthers. With 20 goals at the coronavirus-invoked hiatus, Acciari is enjoying his best offensive season as a pro, including back-to-back hat tricks in December.
As a freshman at Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick, R.I., Acciari won a state title. He was named Hockey East’s Best Defensive Forward for the 2014-15 season that culminated with his Providence College Friars winning the national title. After four stellar seasons as mostly a fourth-line two-way stalwart with the Bruins, he’s enjoying life as a leader for a Panthers team on the rise. NEHJ caught up with Acciari recently.
New England Hockey Journal: Can you remember your feeling at that time of how you felt knowing you were going someplace new after leaving a place that you loved?
Noel Acciari: Yeah, I was definitely nervous leaving a team that I knew so well and a city that I knew so well. It was tough — the friendships, all the extended family that lived very close. It was tough to leave those guys, But I thought it was best for my family and my career that I start somewhere new, and I liked where Florida’s organization was headed. It was a younger team, and I felt like I could have a bigger voice there, maybe be considered an older guy, have some input, maybe teach what I had learned from the guys in Boston, like ‘Z’ (Zdeno Chara), Bergie (Patrice Bergeron), Marchy (Brad Marchand) and bring it to a younger team that’s got potential but isn’t there yet. I remember after signing with Florida I sent texts out to a bunch of (Bruins) guys, thanking them for my time there and what I learned from them, how fortunate I was to have been able to play with those guys. I appreciate everything they did for me.
NEHJ: What did you learn from those guys, and how have you been able to try to bring that to the Florida team?
Acciari: Just being a good pro on and off the ice. Being a winning team, a lot more goes into it than just skills. You’ve got to be disciplined in the right areas, know when to eat something healthy or make it an early night. You’re not going to win every game. If you go into a little slide, you have to try to stop it as quickly as possible, but sometimes the puck’s not going in the net for you. I learned from the guys back in Boston to control what you can control and take one shift at a time. With Florida early on, we kind of hit some slumps, couldn’t dig out way out of it. I would try and talk or mention something that we could do differently, that Boston does to help us get out of that funk, or mentally clear our mind and start fresh. “It’s a new game, new day, let’s focus on that.” Little things like that, you don’t realize until you leave there, those types of things have an impact on a guy or a teammate. You definitely want to try to share that with the new guys, especially with a young team.
NEHJ: What has it been like for you changing environments, from a hockey city, and a Northeast city, to a different type of population density, different type of environment, climate?
Acciari: Playing in New England, it’s a hockey area. Going to South Florida, where it’s not the same — you have your fans there, but it’s not like Boston fans. You’ve got to bring a lot more energy on the bench, the guys have to bring a little more something to give us that extra boost, but I think from previous years, since I’ve been around, South Florida has grown, and we have been a contender for a playoff spot. People are starting to see that. As a team in South Florida, bringing our own energy was big. That’s something you didn’t necessarily need back in Boston every night, but you need that every night on the bench in Florida. The climate … I think I’ve benefitted being in the warm weather here. My body, the way I play, has actually held up very well this year. My body just feels good going outside every day, being in the sun, getting that vitamin D. In New England, you have those cold winter months, where you’re stuck inside, or you don’t want to be outside, and you kind of stiffen up, or if you have a nagging injury, rather than being cooped up in the cold, you can kind of keep it warm outside or just kind of walk around and not feel too tight. For me, I have been able to play in 99 percent of the games this year.
NEHJ: You were damn good here in Boston, but you’ve been adding more offense than ever before. Twenty of your 38 career goals have come this season. You see that number — 20 — which we use as a barometer for a very successful season. How does that feel?
Acciari: My previous four seasons with Boston I had 18 goals. My role with Boston was more defensively, throw the body around, be more responsible defensively on that fourth line. I think we did a great job with the tasks we were given. The offense came sporadically. It wasn’t game in and game out. We had a job there and we executed it really well. I think my offense didn’t show up as well just because I had a defensive mind more so, and keeping pucks out of the net, but down here in South Florida, I’ve had a little more opportunity to play up and down the lineup and play with some different guys, some very skilled guys. Some of those goals were tap-ins, being in the right spot at the right moment, tips … still getting to the front of the net. I don’t know if it was coming to a new team, having a little more responsibility as an older guy, having a little more voice as I have become more confident down here. I’ve been able to try some things I wouldn’t have tried because I was trying to be more defensive in Boston, whereas here, I have a little more leeway to try something different, hold onto the puck a little more. The confidence of being down here has helped my game immensely. You ask any player in the NHL, however they got here, they were always the best, highest-scoring person on your team, and everyone knows you can score goals. But when you get to this point in your career, playing in the NHL, it’s 10 times harder and you might not score those goals that you used to. But in the back of your head, you’re like, “I used to be able to do this” or score this many goals. It’s a nice feeling that this year I was able to kind of get to this point and maybe run with it, see if I can keep that up.
NEHJ: On December 16, you recorded a hat trick against the Ottawa Senators. Do you remember that third goal from that game? What was that like?
Acciari: It was a bit of a relief. It was a shot off a faceoff. I was playing with (Jonathan) Huberdeau and (Vincent) Trocheck at the time. The second goal was a tap-in, the first one was a little bit of a scrum in front of the net. The third one, “Weegs” (MacKenzie Weegar) took a shot from the point, I was going to the net, rebound, and I was able to put it to my backhand, go over the pad. It was a sigh of relief, “Did I actually just score a hat trick in the National Hockey League?” Never thinking I would ever do that, and it happened, it was just kind of a surreal moment.
NEHJ: The next game, you’re back at home against Dallas, and the same type of things start to happen. What was that thought process like?
Acciari: My wife was in early stages of being pregnant and she wasn’t feeling good. She was thinking, “No way he scores another hat trick. I’m not feeling well tonight, I’ll watch it from home.” She’s in the second period saying, “He’s going to do it. I have to go to the game.” She actually didn’t because she wasn’t feeling well. For me, on the ice, the first one was kind of a fluke goal, the second one was a nice pass from Trocheck, and it was only the second period. Next thing you know, we’re on a penalty kill, I’m going down on a breakaway. I’m like, “Is this going to happen?” I get hooked, and it was like, too good to be true. But I get a penalty shot, and I’m going against a familiar face in (former Bruins goalie) Anton Khudobin. I tried to go back to when we played together and was like, “How did I score on him?” Everything kind I blacked out, once I heard the whistle to go on the penalty shot. The next thing I know I’m looking and the puck’s squeezing through his legs and it’s sliding over the goal line and I’m just out of my mind at that point. Two hat tricks in a row, couldn’t believe it.
NEHJ: Anybody who knows Anton Khudobin knows, A, he’s a fantastic person, and B, he talks to everything and anybody. Did he chirp you at all or say anything at all?
Acciari: (Ben) Bishop had just gotten pulled so he had just gotten put in. He didn’t see too many shots leading up to that. I tried to talk to him between whistles, but maybe he was so focused. I know he is a talker. I was going to say something when we played them in Dallas, but the game got canceled. So I haven’t had a chance to talk to him about it.
NEHJ: What was it like, as you reminisce about the run with the Bruins, playing through a cracked sternum? How significant was that pain and how were you able to handle it, even for a little bit.
Acciari: Yeah, when it happened in Columbus, I knew something was wrong. I didn’t know what it was. I would take a breath after it happened and my chest started to hurt. My arms just got very heavy. I assumed it was just an ACL joint separation in my shoulder. I’ve had those before. … I had a fractured sternum. There’s really not much rehab you can do for it. It has to heal itself. Obviously you want to be on the ice with the guys. I missed games 5 and 6 of Columbus and the first three of Carolina. Obviously everyone wants to be out there for playoffs, but I couldn’t move my arm for a period of time. After Game 3, seeing Wags (Chris Wagner) blocking the shot and breaking his wrist, I was like, “It’s good enough, let’s go. Whatever pain there is, I’ll deal with it.” It’s the conference finals, and you want to play. Wags would play with a broken wrist if he could. You take medicine to numb it. It was pretty painful, but you’re playing for a Stanley Cup at that point. Nothing’s going to stop you from playing. … It was tough to play with, but Stanley Cup playoffs, Stanley Cup Final, you’re going to block every bit of pain out and gut through it.”
NEHJ: Game 5 at home vs. St. Louis, you were tripped and no penalty was called. Are you still a bit shocked that wasn’t called?
Acciari: If you go through my career, I don’t think I have ever embellished a penalty. I’m not one to fake something. People are going to say what they’re going to say. I hit the ice very hard. I was skating back to try to clear the puck and he just kind of caught the back of my leg and I went down. They score a goal off it. If they don’t score that goal, it’s 1-0. We score toward the end of the game. That ties the game 1-1 and we have the momentum going into overtime. . .. Things change drastically. It’s a 1-1 game and who knows what happens in overtime. It is what it is, it happened, you can’t go back. I definitely still think about it, but try to move on.
NEHJ: How are you handling this unforeseen, unprecedented, almost unbelievable situation with the league being on shutdown?
Acciari: It’s tough. It’s been tough for probably every guy in the league. Trying to stay in shape, because you don’t know when you’re going to start up again. Especially if you’re in an apartment, or you don’t have a home gym, trying to find ways to stay in shape, eating healthy. It’s tough … you’re hearing you’re not going to play for another four weeks, five weeks. That’s a long five weeks to try and stay in shape without skating. You can ride the bike as much as you want, but there’s no such thing as being in hockey shape if you’re not skating. It’s a tough thing. No one could have seen this happening. Every guy is going to try to get through. It’s been tough. Trying to have a positive attitude through it and be ready for whenever we resume play.
NEHJ: Is there any routine you’ve been trying to do to stay in shape so far?
Acciari: I’m lucky enough to have a bike in the house and been doing Peloton classes on the bike, trying to stay in shape that way. We have a couple of free weights and we’re in touch with our trainers and strength coaches, trying to get body workouts to simulate something, just to make sure that we stay in shape and we’re ready for anything at any point, and that I’m eating healthy and not letting myself go like it’s summer, because it’s not. Right now, we’re usually finishing up the regular season and getting into playoff mode, and you’re at your peak, ready for playoffs. Starting to stay mentally ready is tough in its own way, too.
NEHJ: You’ve seen the rise of David Pastrnak. When you see what he’s doing now, what are your thoughts?
Acciari: Yeah, it’s incredible. I’d been with him for the past four years, seen him grow as a player, a person, a teammate. It’s been awesome to see. I always knew he was a talented player. Seeing him come into his own is incredible — leading goal scorer this year. He’s always a threat on the ice. It’s fun to see his success and the accomplishments he’s had the past year. Being a penalty-killing guy, knowing that you’ve got to get in front of his shot and how shifty he is, it’s tough. He’s one of the top players in the league for a reason. I’m so happy for him that he’s succeeding. It’s fun to watch and call him a friend. I congratulated him on being a captain for the All-Star Game — that’s a great accomplishment. I’m happy for him — awesome guy and awesome player.
NEHJ: And what about his wardrobe?
Acciari: He’s always had a very, very good wardrobe, but I think he’s stepped up his suit game this year. And I think he’s playing like he’s dressing, which is phenomenal.
