When I heard the announcement on the nightly news last summer that the Penguins had signed defenseman Chad Ruhwedel, I confess that I mistakenly thought the sports anchor pronounced his name “root weevil.” As in the noted garden pest.
I soon learned the Pens’ newest d-man hailed from a strange spot for a hockey player, too. Southern California. Hardly a breeding ground for future NHL stars.
While Ruhwedel may boast of an unusual surname and origins, there’s been nothing offbeat about his play since he was summoned from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on December 17 in the wake of a crippling rash of injuries to the Penguins’ defense.