For as long as he can remember it has been all hockey, all the time for Zac Rinaldo.

The 33-year-old coach of the Pelham Panthers had a successful National Hockey League career as an enforcer, racking up 758 minutes in penalties over 374 games for five organizations. Before that, it was a career in the Ontario Hockey League with the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors, London Knights and Barrie Colts before he was selected in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL draft by the Philadelphia Flyers.

Rinaldo last played in 2021/22 for the Calgary Flames and after retirement quickly found himself serving as a personal trainer. Last season he was as an assistant coach with the Milton Menace of the Ontario Junior A Hockey League and with the Toronto Red Wings U14 AAA of the Greater Toronto Hockey League.

“I never left the game, realistically,” Rinaldo said following a recent practice at the Pelham Meridian Centre. “This is my life. It’s been my life since I was six years old. Ever since I was eight years old, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. There was no plan B. It was NHL and that’s it.

“This is all I know.”

Rinaldo joined the Panthers this season after quickly catching the coaching bug helping out former London teammate Dan Erlich with the Red Wings.

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