Mats Zuccarello | |||
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Zuccarello in September 2015.
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Born |
Oslo, Norway |
1 September 1987 ||
Height | 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) | ||
Weight | 179 lb (81 kg; 12 st 11 lb) | ||
Position | Right Wing / Left Wing | ||
Shoots | Left | ||
NHL team Former teams |
New York Rangers Frisk Asker Modo Hockey Metallurg Magnitogorsk |
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National team | Norway | ||
NHL Draft | Undrafted | ||
Playing career | 2004–present |
Mats André Zuccarello Aasen (born 1 September 1987) is a Norwegian professional ice hockey winger currently playing for the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). Prior to joining the NHL, he played for Modo Hockey in the Swedish Elite League. In 2010, he won the Guldhjälmen (Golden Helmet), awarded annually to the most valuable player in the Swedish Hockey League.
Zuccarello grew up in the suburbs of Løren in Oslo, Norway and began playing hockey at the age of five. After a couple of years at Hasle-Løren, he started playing for Vålerenga, where he stayed until the end of lower secondary school. By that time, he had been scouted by Frisk Asker, which offered him a scholarship at the Norwegian College of Elite Sport, which he accepted.
He is of Italian descent from his mother's side. Zuccarello has a younger brother, Fabian, who plays for the Valencia Flyers in the WSHL, and a step brother, Robin Dahlstrøm, who plays for AIK in Sweden.
Zuccarello began playing full-time for Frisk in the GET-ligaen, Norway's premiere league, as an 18-year-old. He scored eight points over 21 games as a rookie in 2005–06. The following season, he improved to 59 points over 43 games, third in league scoring behind Jonas Solberg Andersen and Mathis Olimb. In 2007–08, Zuccarello helped the Tigers to the best regular season record in the league. Zuccarello finished third in league scoring a second consecutive season with 64 points, as he and Tigers teammates Chris Abbott, Cam Abbott and Marcus Eriksson ranked as the top four GET-ligaen scorers. Zuccarello added 27 points in 15 playoff games, as the Tigers advanced to the Finals, where they were defeated in six games by the Storhamar Dragons.