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Matt Iacopelli

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Matheson Iacopelli
Born (1994-05-15) May 15, 1994 (age 30)
Woodhaven, Michigan, U.S.
Height 6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight 205 lb (93 kg; 14 st 9 lb)
Position Right Wing
Shoots Left
ECHL team
Former teams		 Jacksonville Icemen
Rockford IceHogs
NHL draft 83rd overall, 2014
Chicago Blackhawks
Playing career 2017–present

Matheson Iacopelli (born May 15, 1994)[1] is an American professional ice hockey winger, who is currently playing with the Jacksonville Icemen of the ECHL. He was drafted 83rd overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2014 NHL Draft.

Playing career

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Amateur

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Iacopelli joined the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL during the 2013–14 season. He was the leading scorer for Muskegon as a 19-year-old USHL rookie, as he led the league with 41 goals and had 23 assists in 58 regular season games.[2][3] Hew as also +12 with 47 penalty minutes that season. He was named to the All-USHL first team.[4][5] Although older than most draft-eligible prospects, he was rated as the 98th best prospect going into the 2014 NHL Draft by Central Scouting.[3] Central Scouting director Dan Marr described him as a "late bloomer".[3] He was then drafted in the 3rd round, 83rd overall, by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2014 NHL Draft.[2][6] The Black Hawks traded Brandon Bollig to the Calgary Flames in exchange for the pick used to select Iacopelli.[7][8][9]

During the 2014–15 season, Iacopelli scored 23 goals for Muskegon in his second USHL season, sharing the team lead with Tom Marchin. He had 14 assists and was -16 with 38 penalty minutes that year as well.[2]

Iacopelli had already committed to playing college hockey at Western Michigan in 2014-15 in September. He left the USHL and committed to the NCAA for the Western Michigan Broncos of the NCHC. He struggled in his freshman season with Western Michigan in 2015–16, scoring only 1 goal in 27 games, but was far more effective in his sophomore season.[10] According to Iacopelli "I never really had to use my body, or protect the puck in the corners, stuff like that. Definitely, last year was a bit of an adjustment. The players are faster, stronger, bigger. This year I think I'm utilizing my size and learning how to protect the puck."[10] He ended up scoring 20 goals and had 16 assists in 40 games that season, and helped get Western Michigan into the 2017 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament.[11]

Professional

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After his sophomore season with the Broncos in the 2016–17 season, Iacopelli opted to end his collegiate career in agreeing to a two-year entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on March 29, 2017.[12] He immediately joined AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs, to play out the remainder of the year.

During the 2018–19 season, while stagnating within the Blackhawks AHL and ECHL affiliate's, Iacopelli was traded by Chicago to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Spencer Watson on February 24, 2019.[13] He was assigned to play out the remainder of the season with the Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL.

Having completed his entry-level contract with the Kings, Iacopelli was not tendered a qualifying offer and was released to free agency on June 25, 2019.[14] Unable to attract NHL interest, Iacopelli agreed to a contract with the Kalamazoo Wings of the ECHL on September 9, 2019.[15] After three seasons with the Kalamazoo Wings, Iacopelli was traded to the Jacksonville Icemen in exchange for future considerations on March 14, 2023.[16]

Personal

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Iacopelli is one of only two players to have played for the Woodhaven Warriors ice hockey team that has been drafted by an NHL team (Jeremy Smith being the other in the 2007 NHL Draft at 54th overall).[citation needed] He is the son of Marco Iacopelli and Victoria DePalma. He also has two sisters, Chelsea and Marinna, and two brothers, Marco and Fedor.[17]

Career statistics

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Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2011–12 Texas Tornado NAHL 1 0 0 0 0 — — — — —
2012–13 Springfield Jr. Blues NAHL 4 3 1 4 0 — — — — —
2013–14 Muskegon Lumberjacks USHL 58 41 23 64 47 — — — — —
2014–15 Muskegon Lumberjacks USHL 56 23 14 37 38 11 5 2 7 10
2015–16 Western Michigan University NCHC 27 1 6 7 6 — — — — —
2016–17 Western Michigan University NCHC 40 20 16 36 20 — — — — —
2016–17 Rockford IceHogs AHL 8 1 3 4 0 — — — — —
2017–18 Rockford IceHogs AHL 50 11 8 19 10 — — — — —
2017–18 Indy Fuel ECHL 10 9 1 10 0 — — — — —
2018–19 Rockford IceHogs AHL 27 2 2 4 19 — — — — —
2018–19 Indy Fuel ECHL 9 4 0 4 4 — — — — —
2018–19 Manchester Monarchs ECHL 12 2 3 5 6 1 0 0 0 0
2019–20 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL 41 16 15 31 31 — — — — —
2021–22 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL 61 21 15 36 33 — — — — —
2022–23 Kalamazoo Wings ECHL 46 16 13 29 23 — — — — —
2022–23 Jacksonville Icemen ECHL 12 4 4 8 4 12 4 1 5 4
2023–24 Jacksonville Icemen ECHL 60 27 13 40 26 7 1 1 2 4
AHL totals 85 14 13 27 29 — — — — —

Awards and honours

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Award Year
USHL
All-Star Game 2014
First All-Star Team 2014

References

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  1. ^ "Matheson Iacopelli - Forward player profile". October 5, 2014. Archived from the original on February 7, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Willis, Andrew (April 12, 2023). "ECHL: Icemen Player Spotlight: Matheson Iacopelli". Inside the Rink. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Allen, Kevin (June 27, 2014). "Diverse Trio Top USA's Crop". Statesman Journal. p. 7C. Retrieved April 29, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Matt Iacopelli named to All-USHL First Team". Michigan Live. May 15, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  5. ^ Caples, Michael (May 15, 2014). "Kyle Connor, Matt Iacopelli named to USHL First Team list". MiHockey. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "Chicago Blackhawks select Muskegon Lumberjack and WMU commit Matt Iacopelli in NHL Entry Draft". Michigan Live. June 28, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  7. ^ "Chicago Blackhawks trade veteran player to move up and draft Muskegon Lumberjacks' Matt Iacopelli". Local Sports Journal. June 28, 2014. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  8. ^ Odland, Kristen (June 30, 2014). "Funnyman Bollig en route to Calgary". Calgary Herald. p. D5. Retrieved April 29, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Blackhawks trade Bollig to Calgary for draft pick". Pantagraph. June 29, 2014. p. B5. Retrieved April 29, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ a b Kalra, Avash (November 9, 2016). "'All In': Iacopelli Emerges As Scoring Threat for Western Michigan". College Hockey News. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  11. ^ Neveau, James (March 22, 2017). "NCAA Announces Frozen Four Hockey Tournament Schedule". NBC Chicago. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  12. ^ "Blackhawks agree to terms with Iacopelli". Chicago Blackhawks. March 29, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2017.
  13. ^ "LA Kings acquire Matheson Iacopelli from Chicago Blackhawks". Los Angeles Kings. February 24, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  14. ^ Zach Dooley (June 25, 2019). "Kings qualifying offer news". Twitter. Retrieved June 25, 2019.
  15. ^ "Two Western Michigan alums return to Kalamazoo". Kalamazoo Wings. September 9, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  16. ^ "Icemen Acquire Experienced Forward Matt Iacopelli". Jacksonville Icemen. March 14, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  17. ^ "Matheson Iacopelli". wmbroncos.com. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
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