New defenseman bolsters Penguins' line-up

Although he's only been a member of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for less than two weeks, Andy Wozniewski has already exceeded the expectations of interim head coach Todd Reirden.

When Wozniewski was acquired from the St. Louis Blues organization in a trade deadline deal on March 4, Reirden initially compared the defenseman to himself during his playing days.

But as Reirden watched Wozniewski play his first couple of games in a Penguins uniform, he realized that might not be the most accurate comparison.

"I definitely made a mistake when I compared him to myself, because he's a way better skater than I was," Reirden said.

When it comes to Wozniewski's abilities, skating is just the tip of the iceberg.

"The Wizard of Woz" is a veteran of 77 National Hockey League games, posting two goals and ten assists over parts of four seasons with Toronto and St. Louis. In 56 games with the Peoria Rivermen this season, Wozniewski recorded one goal and 16 helpers.

"He shoots it well, his feet are very good, better that I anticipated," Reirden said. "He's a bigger body, he can play physically, he can play on your second power play, he can kill penalties. I think he's a guy that can eat up a lot of minutes."

In exchange for Wozniewski, Pittsburgh shipped defenseman Danny Richmond to St. Louis. As luck would have it, Richmond happened to be the only player on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's roster that Wozniewski had any sort of connection with.

"We're actually from the same exact area," Wozniewski said. "Same town, same high school, same agent.  It was kind of weird because he was the only guy I kind of knew and then we switched spots."

Aside from having to learn the names and faces of his new teammates, Wozniewski had to learn Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's system. But that didn't seem to faze the former University of Wisconsin Badger, who went through a similar process when he signed with St. Louis at the beginning of the season.

Prior to that, Wozniewski had spent his entire professional career in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.

"It was a lot more different than I thought, just getting to know a whole new system and all new guys, everything like that," Wozniewski said. "You don't realize it, but it plays a little part. You've just got to get used to it."

Just as he was getting Peoria's system down pat, he learned that he had been traded to Pittsburgh at the Rivermen's morning skate. He then drove 13 hours over the course of two days to get to Wilkes-Barre, arriving the day before the Penguins visited the Syracuse Crunch.

"That's the way the game goes and that's the business," he said.

Wozniewski was held off the score sheet in his first week with the Penguins, but Reirden has been using the defenseman prominently. The coach believes it's only a matter of time before the goose egg hatches.

"His best hockey for the Penguins here is ahead of him," Reirden said. "You saw some good things from him this weekend, love having him, and we've got a lot of good things coming from him down the road."