Matthew Angelo Taormina (born October 20, 1986) is an American former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice h ...

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

. He played with the New Jersey Devils and the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

of the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL).

Playing career

As a youth, Taormina played in the 2000

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with the Detroit Honeybaked

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

team. 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 The Hockey East Association, also known as Hockey East, is a college ice hockey conference which operates entirely in New England. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a hockey-only conference. Hockey East came into existence in 1984 for ...

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 The American Hockey League (AHL) is a professional ice hockey league based in the United States and Canada that serves as the primary developmental league for the National Hockey League (NHL). Since the 2010–11 season, every team in the le ...

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. Taormina scored 50 points in 75 games to lead the

Lowell Devils The Lowell Devils were a minor ice hockey team in the American Hockey League playing in Lowell, Massachusetts, at the Tsongas Center. As their name implied, they were the top minor league affiliate of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey L ...

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 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season on the New Jersey Devils roster. In his fifth game, Matt scored his first NHL goal on October 15, 2010, a powerplay goal, against Craig Anderson of the

Colorado Avalanche The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...

in a 3-2 defeat. Taormina signed a one-year two-way contract with the

of the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

on July 6, 2012. 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 The Columbus Blue Jackets (often simply referred to as the Jackets) are a professional ice hockey team based in Columbus, Ohio. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

in exchange for

Jonathan Marchessault Jonathan Marchessault (né Audy-Marchessault; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has previously played for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Tampa B ...

and Dalton Smith on March 5, 2014. On September 26, 2014, the

Worcester Sharks The Worcester Sharks were a professional ice hockey team in the American Hockey League (AHL) that played from 2006 to 2015. Affiliated with the National Hockey League's San Jose Sharks and located in Worcester, Massachusetts, the Sharks played t ...

announced they had signed Taormina to a one-year AHL contract. 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. 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. 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. On March 17, 2017, Taormina was named a permanent alternate captain of the Syracuse Crunch. On April 6, 2017, Taromina was named to the 2016–17 AHL All-Star First Team. On April 7, 2017, Taromina was awarded the

Eddie Shore Award The Eddie Shore Award is presented annually to the AHL's best defenceman. The award winner is chosen by AHL media and players. The award is named after Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Eddie Shore. Winners NHL-level Eddie Shore Award One of the Bos ...

as the AHL's outstanding defenseman for the 2016–17 season. On July 1, 2017, Taormina left the Lightning as a free agent and signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Montreal Canadiens. Near the beginning of the season, Taormina was named an alternate captain of the

Laval Rocket The Laval Rocket (french: Rocket de Laval) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) as an affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Montreal Canadiens. Based in Laval, Quebec, Canada, the Rocket play th ...

along with Chris Terry, with Byron Froese being the first captain in the

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to inf ...

’s history. Prior to the 2018–19 season, and having missed pre-season through injury, on October 1, Taormina and

Rinat Valiev Rinat Valiev (born May 11, 1995) is a Russian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently playing under contract with Admiral Vladivostok of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). Valiev was selected in the third round (68th overall) of the ...

were traded by the Canadiens to the

Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

in exchange for

Brett Kulak Brett Kulak (born January 6, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kulak was selected by the Calgary Flames in the fourth round, 105th overall, of the ...

Career statistics

Awards and honors

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taormina, Matt 1986 births Living people Albany Devils players Binghamton Senators players Laval Rocket players Lowell Devils players Sportspeople from Warren, Michigan Ice hockey players from Michigan New Jersey Devils players Providence Friars men's ice hockey players Springfield Falcons players Stockton Heat players Syracuse Crunch players Tampa Bay Lightning players Undrafted National Hockey League players Worcester Sharks players American men's ice hockey defensemen