Acciari has suited up in every game this season for the Penguins, where he takes pride in doing the thankless jobs every single time he goes over the boards.
“I think a lot of his contributions don't always show up on the highlight reel, or they don't show up on the scoresheet,” Head Coach Mike Sullivan said. “Those are the thankless jobs that we're talking about. He's been a big part of our penalty kill. He can take faceoffs. He can play the wing. He's got an element of physicality to his game. He's willing to block shots. He pays a price. There's a cost of winning, and he's willing to pay it.”
Even on nights that don’t go Pittsburgh’s way, Acciari doesn’t change how he plays. Like on Feb. 22 against Washington, when Acciari recorded back-to-back blocked shots during a Capitals power play on none other than Alex Ovechkin, who’s four away from officially becoming the greatest goal scorer in NHL history.
Overall, Acciari leads the team in hits (168) and blocked shots (98), while also recording 299 faceoff wins.
“He's one of my favorite guys, with the number of shots he blocks and the times he's bailed me out,” Nedeljkovic said. “He's going to show up on the ice and give you over 100% every single day.”
The penalty kill is another area where the team heavily relies on Acciari, as he’s out there for over 50% of them. His 179 minutes of shorthanded time on ice lead Pittsburgh and rank 32nd among all NHL skaters.
“We put him in tough spots,” Sullivan said. “He gets a lot of D zone starts against other team’s top lines, and if he doesn't win the faceoff, he defends hard. So, that's an important role for our team. I think Noel’s a guy that he prides himself in that aspect.”
Taking pride is exactly what Acciari is all about, and is at the heart of his hockey philosophy.
“I take it personal getting scored on, and I want to make sure for me, defense first,” Acciari said. “Obviously, everyone wants to score goals. I want to do that, too. But at the same time, you win games by keeping pucks out of your net. So, I want to be good defensively first, and then I think the offense will come from that. For me, it's blocking shots, making hits, getting out of the zone quick, and chipping in when you can at times.”
Putting his body on the line and still managing to play in all of the games this season thus far is something Acciari can't do alone—something he attributes to some other unsung heroes, the medical and training staffs.
Acciari joked that he does go through bags of ice and receives top-notch treatment, which allows him to keep up the intensity that Sullivan and his teammates so greatly appreciate.
“I spend some time on the training tables,” Acciari said. “They do a great job of keeping me coming right back out. And that's a big, big part of it.”
While Cookie is "hard to play against" on the ice, off the ice, he's someone his teammates get along with incredibly easily.
“He's pretty much as honest a guy as you're going to find,” Nedeljkovic said, who spent time in Florida with Acciari over the 4 Nations Break. “He is a fun guy to be around. He's got a good attitude, good personality, he's funny, he's very witty. Just an honest and genuine person.”
Bryan Rust - who said Noel is the teammate he'd trust to babysit his kids - added to that sentiment.
“On the ice, for us, it's really apparent. He does a thankless job, blocks a lot of shots, wins a lot of face-offs, plays a lot in the D-zone, and does those things that are hard to do,” Rust said.
“Off the ice, he's a guy who just loves having a good time, comes to the rink with a smile on his face, happy to be there every day, talking to everybody, chatting with everybody, laughing with everybody. He's everybody's buddy."
