J.J. Piccinich: I’m not feeling any pressure for my Belfast Giants return… only motivation to win

As far as off-season signing double salvoes go, that was close to as good as they get. After a season where they finished 40 goals behind the Grand Slam-winning Sheffield Steelers, the Giants have addressed a major offensive need by adding a pair who were part of the same line for the entire 2021-22 season in Belfast, along with winger David Goodwin, and, between them, scored 84 goals on their way to a League and Challenge Cup double.

"Definitely an excellent few days for the Giants and the fans,” grins Piccinich, speaking for the first time since his return to the SSE Arena from Norwegian side Stjernen Hockey was confirmed.

"That year speaks for itself with me and him together. Being able to have him back and myself back, just continuing that core, is testament to the Giants organisation. We’re all super excited to get things going again.

"During the off-season, as players it’s nice to unwind for the few first weeks, but then you quickly start itching to get back out there again. For me, I already feel that way because the season ended around the third week of March, so I’ve had plenty of time to digest.

"I’m ready to go and definitely ready to play at the SSE again.”

In Piccinich, not only have the Giants signed a player they can immediately write into their top line right wing slot in permanent marker, but they have signed a star who is beloved within the organisation and within the fanbase. The supporters clamoured for him to be brought back last summer and were left disappointed when the 27-year-old New Jersey native signed a new two-year deal in Stjernen, but this time around they have got their wish.

What was dressed up as a two-year deal was actually a ‘1+1’, per se, with both parties able to exercise a clause that would break the deal halfway through. Having remained close friends with Giants head coach Adam Keefe and director of hockey Steve Thornton, their constant communication naturally turned to business and the potential of a reunion for Piccinich, while Stjernen, going through tough decisions financially, knew they needed to shed some salary.

In the end, it was almost perfect timing.

"I loved Norway. It’s a beautiful country, in many ways very similar to Northern Ireland,” reflects Piccinich.

"I had two pretty solid years there, doing what I know what I can do when I stay healthy and perform. But my time has ended there and no better place to pick up than here.”

If he did pick up on where he left off with Stjernen – and where he left off with the Giants – then it would be a good return for all involved. In 71 games in Belfast, Piccinch scored 43 goals and 98 points and he would go on to replicate that success in Norway, scoring 51 goals and 129 points across 93 games, although he could not lead the side to the Eliteserien title, falling in the Quarter-Finals in both of his seasons with the club.

Piccinich believes, after some early campaign adversity last season, that he is returning to Belfast an even better player than he was before. Time will tell in that regard but the pressure, of course, is trying to replicate what happened the last time he was in Belfast, something which the fans are already expecting now that Keefe and Thornton appear to be getting the band back together.

In that 2021/22 campaign, the Giants were one game away from doing the Grand Slam – which they managed to do a season later – after winning the League and Cup double but fell to the Cardiff Devils in the Play-Off Grand Final.

This time around, Piccinich is determined to do all that again and go even further, but he maintains that it’s not something that is a burden on his shoulders, rather something to embrace.

"It’s more motivation than pressure. The feeling of winning that trophy will motivate us to do things professionally and correctly every day,” he insists.

"It’s not the type of pressure you’re thinking. Ice hockey is my job, so you want to do the job to the best of your ability and as long as I’m doing that, I know the rest will come.

"The big thing for me is training the right way, preventing injuries before they happen, because the best way for me to perform is being out there. Performing to the best of my ability is the pressure that I will put on myself. Anything beyond that never made sense to me.

"Some players might feel it more than others but I never put pressure on myself to score or something specific in that sense. What I feel the pressure to do is have the best off-season I can have and, if I do that, then everything else will fall into place.

"However many points I had the last time I was here, I’ll want to hit that at the minimum. However many wins we had the last time, I want to hit that. We won two trophies last time, I want to hit that at the minimum. No steps back, in that sense.”