Matt Taormina

Matthew Angelo Taormina (born October 20, 1986) is an American former professional ice hockey defenseman. He played with the New Jersey Devils and the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Matt Taormina
Taormina with the Syracuse Crunch in 2012
Born (1986-10-20) October 20, 1986
Warren, Michigan, U.S.
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Weight 185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position Defense
Shot Left
Played for New Jersey Devils
Tampa Bay Lightning
NHL Draft Undrafted
Playing career 2009–2019

Playing career

As a youth, Taormina played in the 2000 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Detroit Honeybaked minor ice hockey team.[1]

Taormina began his amateur career playing in the North American Hockey League with the Texarkana Bandits. Earning a place in the Second All-Star Team, the All-Rookie Team and winning the NAHL's Rookie of the year, Matt then committed to play collegiate hockey in the Hockey East with Providence College. With a selection to the Hockey East Second All-Star Team as a junior, Matt progressed to join the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League after completing his senior year at the end of the 2008–09 season.

As an undrafted free agent, Taormina was signed to an AHL contract for the 2009–10 season by the New Jersey Devils on August 20, 2009.[2] Taormina scored 50 points in 75 games to lead the Lowell Devils in assists and signed a one-year contract extension with the Devils on February 26, 2010.

With an impressive training camp and with the advantage of familiarity under head coach John MacLean with Lowell, Matt opened the 2010–11 season on the New Jersey Devils roster.[3] In his fifth game, Matt scored his first NHL goal on October 15, 2010, a powerplay goal, against Craig Anderson of the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-2 defeat.[4]

Taormina signed a one-year two-way contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL on July 6, 2012.[5]

In his second season with Tampa Bay, at the 2013–14 trade deadline, Taormina was traded by the Lightning, along with Dana Tyrell, to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Jonathan Marchessault and Dalton Smith on March 5, 2014.[6]

On September 26, 2014, the Worcester Sharks announced they had signed Taormina to a one-year AHL contract.[7] In the 2014–15 season, Taormina returned to form to lead the Sharks in scoring from the blueline with 38 points in 72 games.

On July 1, 2015, Taormina returned to the Tampa Bay Lightning, in signing a one-year, two-way contract as a free agent.[8] On April 19, 2016, Taormina played in first career Stanley Cup Playoffs game, which was a 3-2 Lightning win over the Detroit Red Wings.[9]

On June 28, 2016 the Lightning announced the re-signing of Taormina to a one-year, two-way contract. Taormina skated in three games with the Lighting that season. Taormina also skated in three Stanley Cup playoff games in 2016. He also appeared in 61 games with the Crunch last season, recording 13 goals and 41 points. This ranked Taormina second among Crunch defensemen for points and led all defensemen for goals with 13.[10]

On March 17, 2017, Taormina was named a permanent alternate captain of the Syracuse Crunch.[11] On April 6, 2017, Taromina was named to the 2016–17 AHL All-Star First Team.[12] On April 7, 2017, Taromina was awarded the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL's outstanding defenseman for the 2016–17 season.[13]

On July 1, 2017, Taormina left the Lightning as a free agent and signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Montreal Canadiens.[14] Near the beginning of the season, Taormina was named an alternate captain of the Laval Rocket along with Chris Terry, with Byron Froese being the first captain in the team’s history.[15]

Prior to the 2018–19 season, and having missed pre-season through injury, on October 1, Taormina and Rinat Valiev were traded by the Canadiens to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Brett Kulak.[16]

Career statistics
Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2003–04 Little Caesars 18U AAA AAA
2004–05 Texarkana Bandits NAHL 52 14 30 44 44 — — — — —
2005–06 Providence College HE 36 1 10 11 16 — — — — —
2006–07 Providence College HE 35 5 2 7 6 — — — — —
2007–08 Providence College HE 39 9 18 27 12 — — — — —
2008–09 Providence College HE 34 5 15 20 16 — — — — —
2008–09 Binghamton Senators AHL 11 2 3 5 4 — — — — —
2009–10 Lowell Devils AHL 75 10 40 50 45 5 1 3 4 4
2010–11 New Jersey Devils NHL 17 3 2 5 2 — — — — —
2011–12 New Jersey Devils NHL 30 1 6 7 4 — — — — —
2011–12 Albany Devils AHL 33 6 10 16 12 — — — — —
2012–13 Syracuse Crunch AHL 55 4 20 24 21 18 2 10 12 4
2012–13 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 2 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2013–14 Syracuse Crunch AHL 41 6 12 18 20 — — — — —
2013–14 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 7 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2013–14 Springfield Falcons AHL 17 3 5 8 2 4 0 1 1 0
2014–15 Worcester Sharks AHL 76 11 27 38 24 4 1 0 1 0
2015–16 Syracuse Crunch AHL 61 13 28 41 10 — — — — —
2015–16 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0
2016–17 Syracuse Crunch AHL 70 15 45 60 22 22 5 15 20 11
2017–18 Laval Rocket AHL 63 4 48 52 18 — — — — —
2018–19 Stockton Heat AHL 31 0 7 7 14 — — — — —
AHL totals 533 74 245 319 192 53 9 29 38 19
NHL totals 59 4 8 12 6 3 0 0 0 0

Awards and honors
Award Year
NAHL
All-Rookie First Team 2005
Rookie of the Year 2005
College
All-Hockey East Second Team 2008
AHL
All-Star Game 2015, 2016, 2017 [17]
First Team All-Star 2017 [18]
Eddie Shore Award 2017 [19]

References
  1. "Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA" (PDF). Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. 2018. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  2. "Devils sign 5 players to AHL contracts". New Jersey Devils. 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  3. "Rookie defenseman Matt Taormina won't forget his first goal for Devils". NJ.com. 2010-09-27. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  4. "Devils lose to Avalanche 3-2, now 1-3-1 to start season". NJ.com. 2010-10-15. Retrieved 2010-10-19.
  5. "Lightning sign defenseman Matt Taormina". Tampa Bay Lightning. 2012-07-06. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
  6. "Lightning shake up Crunch with trades of Tyrell, Taormina". Syracuse.com. 2014-03-05. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  7. "Worcester Sharks sign defenseman Matt Taormina". Archived from the original on 2014-09-30. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  8. Tampa Bay Lightning (2015-07-01). "Tampa Bay bring back Taormina". Twitter. Retrieved 2015-07-01.
  9. Harris, Paul (April 19, 2016). "Power play gives Lightning Game 4 win". NHL.com. Retrieved April 20, 2016.
  10. Tampa Bay, Lightning (June 28, 2016). "Lightning Re-Sign Forward Tye McGinn, Defenseman Matt Taromina to One-Year Contracts". Tampa Bay Lightning. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
  11. "Erik Condra named Syracuse Crunch captain". syracusecrunch.com. Syracuse Crunch. March 17, 2017. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  12. "Matt Taormina, Cory Conacher named to 2016-17 AHL All-Star Teams". syracusecrunch.com. Syracuse Crunch. April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  13. "Taromina Named AHL's Top Defenseman For 2016-17". theahl.com. American Hockey League. April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  14. "Canadiens agree to terms with defenseman Matt Taormina". Montreal Canadiens. 2017-07-01. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  15. "Byron Froese named captain of Laval Rocket, with Chris Terry and Matt Taormina as assistants". Montreal Gazette. November 3, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  16. "Flames acquire Taormina, Valiev from Montreal". National Hockey League. October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  17. "3 More Added to All-Star Roster". theahl.com. The American Hockey League. January 29, 2017. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  18. "Matt Taormina, Cory Conacher named to 2016-17 AHL All-Star Teams". syracusecrunch.com. Syracuse Crunch. April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  19. "Taromina Named AHL's Top Defenseman For 2016-17". theahl.com. American Hockey League. April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
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