J.J. Piccinich was not one of John Snowden’s top six forwards on the Newfoundland Growlers this season. Nor was he among the team’s top half-dozen scorers.
But value is not always measured by goals and assists.
Hockey players like J.J. Piccinich — that stands for John Jr., by the way — are exactly what’s needed on the ice and in the room on winning teams.
After all, he’s proven that.
The Growlers’ hard-working, lead-by-example winger is the only player on the team to win a Memorial Cup, with the London Knights in 2016.
So valuable was Piccinich to the Knights that London made him the team captain the following season.
“You can’t stroll into a locker room and say, ‘I’m going to be a leader,’” said Piccinich. “We’ve got great leadership here. (James) Melindy’s wearing the ‘C,’ (Adam) Pardy’s a leader with all his NHL games, (Zach) O’Brien.
“We’re a team that’s all in it for each other. Everyone has to take a share of that role, and no one is afraid to do so.
“But there’s no question, I’ve drawn from my experience in London.”
Piccinich is an interesting study. First of all, he was born and raised across the Hudson River from New York City, in Paramus, N.J.
Now, if Piccinich was a football or baseball player, maybe that would make sense. But a hockey player from Paramus?
“Yeah,” he laughs. “All we really had was a high school program. Nothing to brag about.”
Nonetheless, Piccinich was good enough to attract the attention of Boston University, one of the most recognizable programs in U.S. college hockey.
That lasted only one year, however, before it was on to another system, a shining star in Canadian junior hockey — the London Knights.
London had Piccinich’s rights, having selected him in the sixth round of the 2012 Ontario Hockey League draft while he was toiling with Youngstown of the USHL.
He won’t really get into what happened at BU, although there’s a hint of some discord with head coach David Quinn, who just finished his first season piloting the New York Rangers.
But Piccinich is also quick to point out there are no hard feelings, that his lone year with the Terriers — where he was teammates with Buffalo Sabres star Jack Eichel and current Boston Bruins defenceman Matt Grzelcyk, who was knocked out of Wednesday’s game and sent to hospital after taking a hit to the head in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final against St. Louis — was a special one.
But he recognized the talent the Knights had collected in Ontario, and was intrigued with the notion of vying for a Memorial Cup championship in Canada.
Among those on that championship Knights squad was current young NHL stars Mitch Marner of the Leafs, the Calgary Flames’ Matthew Tkachuk, Robert Thomas, who is currently in the Cup final with the Blues, Christian Dvorak of the Arizona Coyotes, Victor Mete of the Montreal Canadiens, Max Jones of the Anaheim Ducks and first-round NHL picks Evan Bouchard (10th to Edmonton) and Olli Juolevi (fourth to Vancouver).
Marner wore the ‘C’ that championship season. The next year, after only one year in London, and an American kid to boot, Piccinich was given the captaincy over the likes of Thomas and Mete.
“I think,” he said, before the Growlers faced off against the Toledo Walleye in Game 4 of the ECHL’s Kelly Cup final Friday night in Ohio, “if there’s one thing I learned in London is that you’re part of a team. It’s about the team.
“Winning, no matter what level of hockey, is hard, so you have to trust each other on and off the ice. You have to appreciate each other. It’s a brotherhood.
“These are the same characteristics of any winning team.”
The Knights didn’t fare quite as well following their Memorial Cup year, losing to the Erie Otters in a seven-game, Round 2 OHL playoff series (Game 7 went to OT before the Otters pulled it out).
Right after his junior campaign ended, the Leafs signed Piccinich to an AHL contract.
Last year, his first as a pro, the player broadcaster Brian Rogers calls “Jersey Boy” played in Orlando of the ECHL (the Solar Bears and Leafs had an affiliation agree until the Growlers came along this season).
In training camp this year, Piccinich impressed enough to crack the Marlies roster, and appeared in a half-dozen games with Toronto’s AHL team.
He was reassigned to Newfoundland in late October and has been a fixture with the Growlers ever since, collecting nine goals and 31 points in 62 games.
But as we’ve said, it’s not all about the points.
“It’s about being a good teammate,” he said. “If you see a guy who’s dropping down and blocking shots, and he’s walking around after with a welt the size of a baseball, you tell him he’s doing a great job for the team.
“If you don’t do stuff like that, as the season wears on, he’ll stop doing it. You have to be a bit of a cheerleader, you have to be all in for the team.
“I know this sounds stupid, but it’s true.”
Piccinich has enjoyed his time so far with this Growlers squad, which is on the cusp of winning it all as an expansion team (Newfoundland was up 2-1 in the series entering Friday’s game).
He’s having the time of his life … again.
“This has been so much fun,” he said. “And the later you go into the season, the more you appreciate it.
“It’s been a real treat, No. 1 playing in a great city like St. John’s, and 2. being around a great bunch of guys and staff.
“It’s almost like you don’t want it to end.”
Robin Short is The Telegram’s Sports Editor. He can be reached by email [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TelyRobinShort
