For Rob Scuderi, February 12, 2004 may not have been where his hockey story began, yet it did mark ‘day one’ of his officially becoming an NHL defenseman.
Playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins at the time, his team traveled to Florida for a game with the Florida Panthers…
“Well, unfortunately, we lost (5-1),” said Scuderi, when asked what his memories were of that game. “I thought I played pretty well for (my) first game. Sometimes, for your first game, not to be completely selfish, you have more of an awareness of how you’re doing yourself. You still want to win the game, that’s the most important thing though. I remember playing pretty well and having a good debut. The whole rest of the call-up went that way and probably started my NHL career.”
The call-up he refers to was his 13-game stint in the NHL that season. Interestingly, in his final game before being sent back to the AHL, Scuderi scored his first NHL goal – in Madison Square Garden. Not bad for a native New Yorker, who says he grew up hating the Rangers.
Due to the NHL lockout the following season, Scuderi didn’t make it back to the NHL until October 2005.
Now, looking ahead to the game tonight versus Florida…
“Just like most games, we’re worried more about we do,” said Scuderi. “We think that if we do the things that make us successful, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing. So, if we can do those things – which is moving the puck north, keeping it simple – we like our chances against anybody.”
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