Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

D Czuczman longs to be in lineup

- By Matt Vensel

For six years, Kevin Czuczman has watched countless teammates strut out of practice rinks with grins on their faces and hockey bags over their shoulders.

The 28-year-old defenseman in 2014 signed with the New York Islanders after his career at Lake Superior State wrapped up, and he made his NHL debut a few days later. He ended up playing 13 games late in the 2013-14 season.

Czuczman has not played in the league since. So, yeah, it would “mean the world” to him if he could get into the Penguins lineup one of these nights.

“It’s been 350-something minor league games since,” he said Friday.

Technicall­y, it’s been 357 games with the American Hockey League affiliates for New York, Winnipeg and Penguins and a nine-game stint in the ECHL in 2014-15. But close enough. The point is he’s aware it has been a long, long time.

Sulking would have been understand­able for Czuczman after he watched other players from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League get the call up to the Penguins instead of him. But Teddy Blueger, his teammate there for a season and a half, can’t recall seeing Czuczman ever show disappoint­ment.

“I learned a lot from him [by seeing] his attitude and work ethic and focusing on controllin­g what he can and enjoying the process,” Blueger said. “He had a good attitude . ... He’s not coming to the rink pouting and things like that.”

That, Czuczman insists, was because he was too busy having a blast.

“You’ve got to enjoy it. I absolutely love playing this game and all the work that comes with it,” he said. “It’s been a lot of minor league games but it’s been a great time. And getting better is enjoyable to me, personally. You’ve always got to want more. And I think anything you do in life, you’ve got to do it full.”

After 136 games in WilkesBarr­e/Scranton and a brief stint up in Pittsburgh in 2017-18, Czuczman was set to become a free agent last summer. He could have left for an organizati­on with an easier path to the NHL, at least listened to offers. Instead, he decided to re-sign with the Penguins before free agency.

“I didn’t really want to go anywhere else,” he said. “This organizati­on feels like home to me. They treat you so well. Top down, it’s unbelievab­le. Coaches, players, they have a culture of winning. That’s what I want to be a part of.”

Czuczman had 1 goal, 7 assists and a plus-6 rating in 21 AHL games when the Penguins called him up last month. The left-shot defenseman played well enough to get the call over Zach Trotman this time around.

“He’s a smart, puck-moving defenseman. He likes to battle in the corners and in front of the net. He’s not afraid to dish out a few cross-checks,” Blueger said. “He’s kind of selfless, always willing to go out of his way to help anyone out. I think he works and plays hard, too, so he kind of sets the tone.”

Czuczman knows there is no guarantee he will get in the lineup here, even with the Penguins so banged up. He says he will just stay hungry, make sure he is ready if called upon, and you better believe he will enjoy every moment.

“It would mean the world to me to get into a game,” the 6-foot-3 blue-liner said. “Definitely, I’d love to get in. But if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. You just have to keep going the same way, treat every day the same way. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past six years. … Every day has been awesome.”

DeSmith, Di Pauli called up

The Penguins are giving Tristan Jarry the start in goal in the second half of this weekend’s back-to-back. But instead of having Jarry fly to Montreal and back before a 5 p.m. game Sunday at PPG Paints Arena, they left him behind.

Mike Sullivan said the Penguins will call up Casey DeSmith from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and have him meet the team in Montreal. He’ll back up Matt Murray.

Jarry will rest and get ready to face the Florida Panthers Sunday.

DeSmith has won 10 of 22 starts in the AHL with a .909 save percentage.

“He’s been really good,” Sullivan said. “He’s been a big part of their success.”

The coach added that the Penguins also plan to call up forward Thomas Di Pauli from WilkesBarr­e/Scranton before Saturday’s game. This will be the third stint this season with the Penguins for Di Pauli, who has yet to appear in a game.

New top line ‘decent’

With Jake Guentzel out four to six months after shoulder surgery, Sullivan on Thursday gave Alex Galchenyuk the first crack at filling in on the top line.

After a 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks, Sullivan said he thought the line of Galchenyuk, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust was “decent” but wanted to watch the game again before giving a definitive evaluation of those three.

Sullivan’s assessment after doing so? Yeah, they were in fact “decent.”

“They had some zone time. They had some quality scoring chances,” Sullivan said Friday. “It’s obviously a work in progress. They haven’t played a lot together. So we’ll see how it goes. But I thought they had a decent game.”

Decent enough that he kept that line intact Friday at practice.

Bigger role for Riikola?

In the loss to the Sharks, Sullivan shuffled his defensive pairs, moving Juuso Riikola to the top pair to play with Kris Letang.

Jack Johnson, who had been with Letang, got pushed down to the third pair next to Chad Ruhwedel.

“It helps us create a little bit of balance throughout our three pairs,” Sullivan said. “That pair played a lot behind Geno’s line. From an offensive standpoint, I think [Riikola] brings an element there that can help those guys. Depending on how the game goes or what we think our needs are, we may tweak those tandems.”

The Penguins rotated their seven defensemen Friday throughout practice. But Riikola, who didn’t get a regular lineup spot until Brian Dumoulin and Justin Schultz got hurt, sure seemed to be getting a lot of reps alongside Letang.

 ?? Getty Images ?? Kevin Czuczman had a brief stint with the Islanders, playing 13 games late in the 2013-14 season. He has not played in the NHL since.
Getty Images Kevin Czuczman had a brief stint with the Islanders, playing 13 games late in the 2013-14 season. He has not played in the NHL since.

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