The 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs may be long gone and Noel Acciari may also be long gone as a Boston Bruins player, however that won’t stop us from looking back.
Noel Acciari, prior to signing a deal with the Florida Panthers this summer, for realistically more than he was going to get if he remained with the Boston Bruins, played a vital fourth line role in their run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Although he missed a few games on the way to the Final, he was ever-present either side, appearing in all seven games against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round, and indeed all seven games of the Cup Final against the St. Louis Blues. For his efforts, he earns himself a solid B grade.
His role within the Boston Bruins team wasn’t to do anything incredible, aside from maintain a fore-checking presence and ensure that the fourth line weren’t the weak link. He certainly achieved this, along with fellow fourth liners Joakim Nordstrom and Sean Kuraly.
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Whenever that trio was on the ice, they weren’t just a weak fourth unit, they were being all-round pests for their opponents. You only need look at the fact that, as a fourth liner, there were playoff nights that he was seeing upwards of 14 minutes per night to know that he was very much deployed with the trust of the Boston Bruins head coach.
Not typically known for his scoring prowess, tallying just 14 points in 72 regular season games, Noel Acciari was also able to contribute for the Boston Bruins here. 2 goals and 2 assists in 19 games isn’t exactly going to blow anyone’s mind, but the fact he was able to contribute is all the more reason to be impressed.
Perhaps what it was that Boston Bruins fans liked from Noel Acciari and why some lament that they didn’t re-sign him is his physicality. He led the team in hits during the play-off run, tallying 15 more than his nearest rival, with 74 hits across his 19 games, averaging 17.7 per 60 minutes ice-time.
Not only that, he truly stepped up with his shot-blocking, matching Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara with his average of 5.3 shot blocks per 60 minutes. These are the areas that Noel Acciari really showed up for his team in. Often, these are the areas that win Cups, just as much as goal scoring and assists; it’s just unfortunate that this year it wasn’t to be.
It’s fairly safe to say that Noel Acciari was able to bring something to the Boston Bruins line-up this playoff season just gone. He brought that old-school, slightly mean, slightly heavy play that was needed at times.
His departure for the sunny Florida shores will leave a hole in the line-up, that’s a certainty, but this Cup run, he played his role as well as anyone could have expected and for that, we’re grateful.