The break-in period for 蜜柚直播 Roadrunners rookie sensation Matias Maccelli is over.
Of course, maybe he didn鈥檛 need one in the first place.
On Wednesday, the American Hockey League named Maccelli as the league鈥檚 Rookie of the Month for November. The honor came after the first-year forward scored 14 points across eight games while 蜜柚直播 posted a 4-3-1-0 record 鈥 including wins in their last three outings.
Maccelli leads the Roadrunners, who travel to the Colorado Eagles this weekend, in all three major offensive categories with six goals, nine assists and 17 points. The latter number is a top-10 mark across the entirety of American Hockey League 鈥 a group that includes 31 teams and more than 750 players.
鈥淗e鈥檚 such a talented player. Really smart. Sees the ice well,鈥 said 蜜柚直播 alternate captain Mike Carcone. 鈥淗e seems to be adjusting well.鈥
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Carcone has seen it up close of late. He is part of a line with Maccelli and fellow forward Cameron Hebig. The trio combined to score five goals and record six assists in the team鈥檚 two-game weekend sweep of Abbotsford.
鈥淗e鈥檚 doing all the right things,鈥 Carcone added of the 5-foot-11, 165-pound Maccelli, a 2019 fourth-round NHL draft pick of 蜜柚直播 Coyotes who hails from Turku, Finland.
Of the 101 players to skate in at least 10 games for the Roadrunners over the club鈥檚 five-plus seasons in Southern 蜜柚直播, Maccelli鈥檚 1.21 points per game is second-best in team history.
Yet if Maccelli wasn鈥檛 the league鈥檚 pick for the November award, it very well could have been his fellow rookie teammate, defenseman JJ Moser.
At 6-foot-1, 172 pounds and originally from Zuchwil, Switzerland, Moser is tied for fifth among all AHL defensemen with four goals, and his 11 points are third among all first-year AHL blueliners. Nine of those points came in November for the Coyotes鈥 second-round draft pick this past summer, including the game winner Saturday on a blast from the point with 蜜柚直播 nearing the end of a power play opportunity. The goal came with less than a minute to go in regulation.
Moser credited much of his own success transitioning to the North American pro game to his experience the past three-plus seasons skating in the top professional league in his homeland of Switzerland.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 it. That鈥檚 the that鈥檚 the biggest part,鈥 he said of his time with EHC Biel-Bienne of the Swiss National League, including last season when he was the club鈥檚 captain. 鈥淭hat really helped me a lot. It also helped develop my character, my personality.
鈥淲hen one day you鈥檙e with your 18-year-old friends who you always have been with in school, it鈥檚 just different when you have a 40-year-old father of several kids (as a teammate),鈥 he added. 鈥淚t allows you to just look at things very differently than what your perspective was (previously).鈥
Moser, Maccelli and a number of the team鈥檚 other international imports may be AHL 鈥渞ookies鈥 in age, but not necessarily in experience.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e playing pro hockey, you have mentors. You have older people around,鈥 he said, using Maccelli as an example. 鈥淢atias is in a locker room (in Europe), maybe the youngest guy.
鈥淏ut guys all the way up to 36, 38 years old are playing pro in Finland,鈥 Varady said. 鈥淪o those older players are instructing him on the bench. They鈥檙e instructing them in the locker room. They鈥檙e instructing him on the ice and they鈥檙e helping him grow. He doesn鈥檛 even quite know that鈥檚 happening.鈥
Maccelli who carded 28 goals and 69 points in 84 games over two seasons with Ilves of Finland鈥檚 top hockey circuit, Liiga, agreed that being in a locker room of older players helped his maturity.
Carcone said it鈥檚 still a telling sign how quickly Maccelli and Moser have acclimated to the speed of the AHL.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen I鈥檝e seen it go either way,鈥 Carcone said. 鈥淚鈥檝e seen guys come over and the North American game鈥檚 a little bit tougher on them.鈥
In a season that鈥檚 already seen a number of Roadrunners players given their first NHL shots via call-ups with the Coyotes, there鈥檚 little doubt the numbers put up by Maccelli and Moser to date have caught the attention of the NHL team鈥檚 Glendale front office.
Maccelli admitted he thinks about when that day might come.
鈥淚 would lie if I said I never think about it,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t obviously comes to my mind. But I鈥檓 just trying to not think about it as much as I can and just come to work every day and just keep working hard and keep doing things the coaches say and I hope eventually it will happen.鈥
