MONDAY FEATURE: Addamo Forging Pro Hockey Path From France To The Penguins

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"The strides that he's made between when we saw him in September and early October, and where he is at now - I think that's tremendous. Like, his skating, his pace of play - that's improved immensely."

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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - While Clermont-Ferrand, France might not be a hockey hotbed, it hasn't prevented Justin Addamo from chasing his dream in pro hockey and forging a path for future generations of French-born hockey players.

The 24-year-old forward is getting his first taste of pro hockey this season in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization, but Addamo's hockey origin story starts after a trip to the nearby local ice rink and his introduction to the sport began.

"You know, back in 2001, hockey was probably the only sport you could start very early," Addamo explained to InsideAHLHockey.com. "And so my parents brought me down [to the rink] when I was three, and loved it."

And the rest is, as they say, history.

Similar to how Canadian teenagers leave home and live with billet families while they play hockey away from home, in France Addamo also left home at a young age to play hockey in Rouen.

After several years of junior hockey in France, Addamo made the decision to hop the pond and give junior hockey in North America a shot - leaving France and heading to the United States - specifically North Richland Hills, Texas - joining the NAHL's Lone Star Brahmas for the 2016-17 season.

While it was an adjustment on the ice playing hockey in North America, it was obviously a whirlwind of change off the ice in going from France to the heartland of Texas.

"First of all, language was probably the hardest shock," Addamo said of learning the English language. "I had, you know, barely any vocabulary at the time. So it was very hard. Yeah, it was a different culture, but I adjusted pretty quick. And I loved the weather down there so it was alright," he added with a laugh.

Addamo's North American hockey journey continued at the NCAA level after two years with the Brahmas saw the big, physical forward compile 25 goals and 31 assists in 95 games at the NAHL level. He continued to hone his craft at Robert Morris University for three years before using his final year of eligibility at Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute (RPI) in 2021-22 - posting 14 goals and five assists in 42 games.

Entering this fall, Addamo got a late invite to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins training camp and was eager to train alongside the Pittsburgh Penguins organization's prospects - even getting to appear in the team's AHL preseason opener against rival Hershey.

He stood out, quite literally, among his peers as he entered training camp listed at 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds.

"Obviously, his size and strength - it's hard to teach that. I mean, He's enormous out there and he can really win some battles," AHL Penguins head coach JD Forrest said of his initial impressions of Addamo in camp this fall. "When we saw him in September it was like, this guy can shoot the puck a million miles an hour and he's huge, but he wasn't skating that well."

It was at AHL training camp that Addamo got a first-hand look of what he needed to work on and how the pro game is played in North America, and he headed to Wheeling ready to work at his craft. It showed as he began getting to the net and being hard to defend in the dirty areas of the ice at the ECHL level with Wheeling, totaling 33 points in 42 games in his first foray into pro hockey.

In January, he signed a professional tryout (PTO) with the Penguins and made his AHL debut on January 4 as the Penguins hosted the Charlotte Checkers. He was released two days later, but re-joined the Penguins again in the beginning of February - coming and going on PTOs but becoming a more regular option on the AHL club's fourth line.

"The strides that he's made between when we saw him in September and early October, and where he is at now - I think that's tremendous," Forrest told InsideAHLHockey.com of the improvements Addamo has made in such a short time this season. "Like, his skating, his pace of play - that's improved immensely, he added, crediting Wheeling Nailers head coach Derek Army for "bringing him along and getting him up to speed".

"So you see the steps that he's made in this short amount of time and we're like, okay," Forrest said of Addamo's progression turning heads with the staff in Wilkes-Barre and Wheeling. "He's been able to help us in some situations and net-front on the power plays. He's a big guy that seems to be able to get a stick on the puck there."

It was in his sixth career AHL contest - a March 1 road game against rival Hershey - that Addamo put those net-front skills on full display. He tallied his first and second career goals that night in what is surely an unforgettable moment for him on a personal level.

"He brings a different look for us that we don't have a ton of that up and down our lineup," Forrest said of Addamo's skill set. "So definitely he's done a great job this season and being an option for us."

As Addamo continues to push on in his pro hockey career, he's also forging a path for future generations of hockey players in France to point to.

"[I'm] the first in the family [to play hockey]," Addamo explained, adding neither of his parents or anyone else in his family played or were into the sport of hockey prior to his first experiences skating in his public rink in Clermont-Ferrand shortly after the turn of the century.

"And now both of my younger brothers are playing hockey as well. I'm the one that started it, but now they're following."

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