CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- There's a remarkable discipline about Chad Ruhwedel's game. Aside from his skating ability, a must in today's NHL, and the 412 area code in particular, there's nothing flashy about his skill set.
He makes a good first pass, he's sound positionally, he can carry the puck when called upon and he has a decent shot, an all-important right-handed one at that. When he plays within himself and takes what the game is giving, Ruhwedel has shown to be a fairly effective defenseman for the Penguins over the past two seasons.
That's when he's actually played, which isn't a whole lot.
It seems long ago but, just up until a few weeks ago, he'd been a healthy scratch for an almost unthinkable two months. That includes in the wake of Ian Cole being dealt at the Feb. 23 trade deadline. Matt Hunwick played the following four games and it was only after the Penguins' biggest get last summer in free agency struggled mightily that Mike Sullivan finally turned to his seventh defenseman.
But never once during that whole ordeal, even after sitting in press boxes night after after night, did Ruhwedel complain or curse the hockey gods. It's just not his way.
Where does this discipline come?
That's an easy one: His father, John, is a retired U.S. Marine Sergeant Major. After being stationed in Hawaii, John Ruhwedel moved his family to San Diego, where his son took up hockey in a most non-traditional market for the sport.
"It wasn't anything crazy liked you'd see in the movies or anything like that, but definitely plenty of discipline, a lot of respect," Chad Ruhwedel told me this week. "You had to respect your parents and siblings. Those were the lessons that my sister and I lived by and shaped us into the people we are today."
What Ruhwedel is today, ready or not, is a bona fide top-six defenseman on a team that's gunning for a third straight Stanley Cup championship.
Just like Jim Rutherford drew it up, eh? Not likely.
But that is the risk that Rutherford took at the deadline when he dealt Cole, leaving the Penguins' already-thin defense corps even skinnier. Oh, there were some inquiries into a few veteran blueliners at the deadline but, ultimately, nothing was done.
To be fair, the Penguins did win a Stanley Cup last spring without Kris Letang but it would be tempting fate, to say the least, to think that they could do it again without any or all of Letang, Brian Dumoulin, Justin Schultz, Jamie Oleksiak, Olli Maatta and, yes, Ruhwedel -- the guy the organization thought so highly of that he sat out 27 straight games, 15 of them officially as a healthy scratch.
Injuries are as much a part of the playoffs as scraggly beards and soft ice. And the Penguins, whose identity is rooted in the offensive zone to begin with, will be tested in more ways than they have in either of the previous two years, including last spring sans Letang. Barring something unforeseen, like Hunwick having the greatest practices known to hockey, there's no reason to think Ruhwedel won't be playing between 15-17 minutes a night during the playoffs. Certainly it'll be more than the six playoff games that he played last spring.
Sullivan has said repeatedly that all lineup decisions are based on one overriding factor: Who gives his team "the best chance to win." And for the last three weeks that has included Ruhwedel.
He can further solidify his case by finishing up strong over the final 10 games of the regular season, beginning Tuesday night against the Islanders in Brooklyn. He has certainly made a fairly compelling argument for himself the last seven games since returning to the lineup and replacing Hunwick on March 3.
Ruhwedel has this goal against the Flames on March 5 ...
... to go along with an assist and a plus-2 rating. He has more than passed the eye test, too. His 52.78 Corsi For percentage at even strength trails only top pair defensemen Letang (54.94) and Dumoulin (53.75) among all Penguins blueliners.
"It's been going good," Ruhwedel said. "Just trying to focus on playing my game and doing what I can to help the team win. It's been pretty good so far."
Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, he's found chemistry working along with Maatta which, in turn, has allowed Sullivan to have a left- and right-handed shot and an offensive-minded player with a more defensive-minded player on each pair.
When Cole was dealt, many assumed -- myself included -- that Sullivan wouldn't tamper with the pairings of Dumoulin-Letang or Maatta-Schultz. Turns out, I -- and many others -- were half-right. The top pair has remained the same while Oleksiak is now partnered with Schultz, allowing the 6-foot-7, 255-pounder to play on his left, strong side.
Of course, defense is a relative term when it comes to the Penguins, a team whose unofficial motto is the best defense is a good offense. Ruhwedel's skating ability helps in that and, certainly, he hasn't been afraid to join the rush.
In last week's win over Dallas, a defensive marvel in which the Penguins held the Stars to just four shots in the third period, Ruhwedel even had a deflection of a Maatta shot, rare for a defenseman in the slot:
"It's just a couple mobile defensemen working together, trying to use each other to get out of our end and try and be a little creative in the offensive zone," Ruhwedel said. "But we know we're at our best when we keep things simple."
That Ruhwedel has been able to fill in so seamlessly after such a long layoff doesn't impress Maatta much. Having worked with him in the past, including the early parts of this season, Maatta said there's a comfortability with each other.
"He's been huge," said Maatta, who is plus-2 with an assist since being paired with Ruhwedel. "The way he's been playing, how good he's been playing, I don't think it really impresses me (that he missed time). Last couple seasons, every time he's been in, it's like it doesn't matter who's in or who's out, he always fills the spot and brings something more. I feel like playing with him, he talks a lot. And he's such a good skater he can defend well with that. .. I think he makes the simple and easy plays but he also sees the ice well, he makes the game look pretty easy."
Sullivan concurs, to a point.
"They've played well together as of late so we like the combination," he said. "Olli's a guy who's a very good puck mover, has good hockey sense. I think his passing ability is underrated. He's as good as we have at going back for pucks and making that subtle play to beat the forecheck or beat pressure and get out of our own end zone. Olli has a really good awareness out there. Chad's a guy who brings a level of mobility. He gets back to the puck quickly and he defends well."
And then the coach closed his thoughts with this perhaps telling nod to why Ruhwedel was sitting out in January and February.
"He's playing with a level of intensity that I think he needs to play with to be effective defending-wise."
That would mean not doing this:
Ruhwedel's tripping penalty on the Rangers' Paul Carey late in the third period led to Mika Zibanejad's tying power play goal in last week's 4-3 overtime loss at Madison Square Garden. That was an easy penalty call anytime, anywhere in any league. That's the kind of penalty that drives a coach crazy and can quickly earn one a return trip to the press box.
In a little over three weeks from now, when the intensity ratchets up and every play, every mistake, is magnified, Ruhwedel will need to elevate his game. He might be on a short leash, but he should be there.
Yep, just like no one expected.
