Away from his wife and out of the NHL, Rocco Grimaldi leads the Milwaukee Admirals while working on his master's
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Sure, Rocco Grimaldi has his moments.
He has played more than 200 games in the National Hockey League and believes he should be competing at his sport’s highest level. He has pride, and at times it hurts more than others.
But in terms of priorities, playing is a lot more important to Grimaldi than being in the NHL. If he’s lacing his skates in Milwaukee rather than wearing a suit at the rink in Nashville, well, then play the anthem and drop the puck.
That’s a view that has made Grimaldi one of the top goal scorers in the American Hockey League and an integral part of the Milwaukee Admirals’ turnaround this season.
“I’m making NHL money down here, I could have come down here and just sat around and done nothing,” said Grimaldi, who earned a two-year, $4 million contract with the Nashville Predators in February 2020, only to become an afterthought under coach John Hynes . “Some people might have done that.
“But I was raised differently by my parents. I don’t think I would have been satisfied myself just doing that. I don’t think I’d be able to look my kids in the eyes whenever I have kids one day and … they’re going through a tough time and they’re having a bad attitude, I wouldn’t be able to tell them, you need to do better, you need to work hard to get yourself out of it. …
“It’s tough. There’s days that are harder. And people don’t understand the off-the-ice is a lot harder than the on-the-ice stuff you’re going through. No one realizes that.”
Time on the road is part of being a professional athlete. You fly or bus to a game, live out of a suitcase for a short time and then come home.
For the 29-year-old Grimaldi, though, this entire season has been life on the road.
Nashville worked well for an NHL player with a singer-songwriter wife, but while Abby is at home, Rocco lives out of a hotel 570 miles away. Miss her? Yeah. Daily. The same for his parents in California.
Since the Predators acquired center Jimmy Huntington in a trade Feb. 1 and assigned him to the Admirals, Grimaldi has had a hotel buddy. And of course, they have their teammates, but when practice is over they head their separate ways. Grimaldi goes out for lunch. And then again for dinner. It’s just not the same.
Mind you, Grimaldi is not complaining. That isn’t his nature. He’s a hard worker, a mentor to younger players and a bit of a clown in the dressing room who sees keeping the mood light and confidence high as an important part of his job.
He’s just sharing insight into one of the not-so-glamorous aspects of the business.
“I know that I’m not just playing for one team, I’m hoping for other teams that are hopefully watching,” Grimaldi said. “And whether that’s this year or next year, I’m playing for another job. ...
“I think I’ve handled it really well in terms of my attitude. It is what it is.”
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Grimaldi saw the handwriting on the wall in Nashville last season as his ice time diminished and he didn’t play in the playoffs. Honestly, he expected to start this season with the Admirals, but the Predators kept him on hand for 13 games – he played in just five and was scoreless – before sending Grimaldi down.
Milwaukee coach Karl Taylor was happy to have him.
“We want good players here,” Taylor said, “and he’s a good player.”
In 39 games heading into home games Friday and Sunday, Grimaldi has a team-high 24 goals plus 22 assists for 46 points, also the most for the Admirals (26-21-4-2). He ranks sixth in the league in goals scored, with three of those ahead of him having played more games.
After starting 3-9-1-0 the Admirals have gone 23-12-3-2, climbing from seventh in the Central Division standings to third with second place within reach. Other than a December call-up during which Grimaldi played two games with the Predators, he has been an integral part of the Admirals’ ascent.
“He appreciates the minutes we give him,” Taylor said. “He’s doing a great job mentoring some of our young players. And he’s a huge part of our team down the stretch here.
“Business and hockey will collide sometimes, but only if you let it stay and linger does it become an issue.”
Grimaldi figures he has been sent down and called up more than any of his teammates. He understands the business side of hockey more than he would have as an 18-year-old second-round draft pick in 2011, a 21-year-old first-year pro out of North Dakota in 2014 or when he signed with the Predators as a free agent in 2018.
If nothing else, that makes him better at channeling the feelings of frustration that inevitably arise.
Grimaldi also has put his off-ice, away-from-home time to good use, working on his master’s degree in Christian apologetics from Biola University, a small private Christian university in La Mirada, California.
“I’m really busy with that, which helps,” said Grimaldi, who didn’t find out until after signing up for online classes that the school is located 20 minutes from his parents’ home.
“I’m here (at the rink on a non-game day) and I grab lunch and I go home and just basically bury myself in school work. Have to go out to eat for dinner. Then come back and do some more and go to sleep. It’s like ‘Groundhog Day’ every day.
“This is the physical activity in the morning and then I get the mental sweat at night and try to grow myself in different ways.”
Talk about making the best of a tough situation.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nashville Predators' Rocco Grimaldi stars with AHL Milwaukee Admirals
