On Thursday, Blue Jackets rookie sensation Adam Fantilli appeared on 97.1 FM The Fan's Morning Juice and talked about his play, the "rookie wall," and more. Fantilli has posted 11-13--24 in 40 games including 7-7--14 in 16 games since Dec. 1.
#CBJ center Adam Fantillis 7-1613 performance in December received some well-deserved recognition. https://t.co/jh88MHYVpB pic.twitter.com/54YLEcO6gz
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) January 2, 2024
https://t.co/YvcJ2RLrWM
— Morning Juice (@MorningJuice971) January 4, 2024
Adam Fantilli of the Blue Jackets talked about life in the NHL...avoiding the "rookie wall"...finding a comfort level...and continuously changing lines
On Life In Columbus
Fantilli: "It's been great. I've been having a blast. Ever since I got to Columbus, I'm really starting to call the city home. It's been a lot of fun."
#CBJ Fantilli (10) goal pic.twitter.com/5oLXeXzUhD
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) December 30, 2023
On The Rigors of The NHL Schedule
Fantilli: "It's definitely completely different than where I came from in college. It's a lot more stressful on your body and mentally that way with the travel and stuff. But to be honest, you get to play hockey pretty much every other day or every single day. So it's kind of a dream come true. And I'm having a blast doing it."
On The "Rookie Wall"
Fantilli: "Yeah, I mean, both Cole Sillinger (16-15--31 in 79 GP) and Kent Johnson (16-24--40 in 79 GP) both had really good rookie years and I talked about them and they're like, man, like we both got hot in the second half and were able to put up the majority of our points in the second half. So just kind of keep your head down, keep working, and try to continue to better your game as the season goes on, and don't even think about anything regarding a rookie wall. It's just a hockey season and you've been doing it for your whole life. So just keep trying to play and keep trying to be the best player you can be."
On His Hot December
Fantilli: "Just like every single game you play, you seem It couldn't be more and more comfortable. Just feeling out the league, feeling out our team's systems. Just getting more comfortable with the guys. I've also been playing with some pretty amazing players for the last month and a bit so that's been extremely helpful. [I've] been getting to know them, getting to build chemistry with them. And it's, it's been probably one of the main reasons actually."
On Being Close To A Breakthrough
Fantilli: "Yeah, I think so. I mean, we're working every single day. There's no doubt about that. And we're a young team and we're only gonna get better so I feel like we're gonna get there at some point. And like I said, we've had some third-period situations that we could have cleaned up, and if we clean up half of those we're in a completely different situation in the standings. So just as a young team getting more mature and eventually we're gonna get there."
