Monday was another gloomy day in Cranberry and the morning cold again hovered around freezing. Around 9:15 a.m., it was time for Kevin Czuczman to shuffle down the street to UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, where he had to get a COVID testing swab jammed up his nose before he headed into work.
In a little while, Czuczman, an extra stashed on the taxi squad, would have to settle for leftover reps behind Kris Letang and the other Penguins defensemen, knowing he wasn’t expected to be in the lineup Tuesday night in Boston.
The 30-year-old is still waiting to play his first NHL game in 81 months.
Just another wonderful day in the life of Kevin Czuczman. No, seriously.
Someone is paying him to play the game he loves. How do you top that?
“It’s such a cool and unique experience. You really don’t know what the next day will hold,” he said. “A lot of people like security, but there’s a certain rush you get from the unknown. Around every corner, a positive situation is just waiting for you. Luckily for me, I’m back and competing for a chance to play again.”
No wonder coach Mike Sullivan, who during his press conferences often falls back into clichés about compete level and being hard to play against, gushed about a guy who a month ago was the 11th defenseman on the depth chart.
“[Czuczman] is an unbelievable human. He’s just a great teammate,” Sullivan said Sunday. “He brings so much enthusiasm to his job every day. He loves being part of the Penguins organization. … Whatever role we give him, he embraces.”
Does Czuczman know the origin of that endless and infectious positivity, the good vibes that don’t subside after seven years waiting for another chance?
“Yeah, I can tell you,” he said, chuckling because it was the easiest question he’d have to answer in a 15-minute phone call. “It was definitely my dad.”
Paul Czuczman died in 2019, and that heartache pushes Kevin even harder to chase down his dream of finally sticking in the NHL. He wouldn’t be here now with the Penguins, the unexpected next man up on the blue line, if not for his dad.
“I’ve got all the more reason to keep playing,” he said. “To make him proud.”
Inauspicious start
You might be surprised, but for a guy who has spent all this time waiting to play in his next NHL game, Czuczman skating in his first one was a relative cinch.
After completing his college career at Lake Superior State in 2014, he signed with the rebuilding New York Islanders, who promised he’d play right away.
A week later, at 23, he made his NHL debut. He played well enough to earn another game. And then another. And then another. By season’s end, he got in 13 games. He averaged more than 19 minutes of ice time and tallied two assists.
In the season finale up in Buffalo, he was a minus-3 in an Islanders win.
“I just remember that it was awesome,” he said. “Buffalo is so close to Canada and a lot of people came across the border and watched and supported me.”
Heading into his first NHL training camp that fall, Czuczman knew that a roster spot wasn’t guaranteed. But to him the organization already felt like home.
“It was a good group,” Czuczman recalled. “A nucleus of players from the 2013-14 roster are still there. Anders Lee’s their captain. Brock Nelson. A few other players. You could tell at the time that they were building something special.”
Czuczman wouldn’t be a part of it. He was sent to the American Hockey League and spent a few weeks in the ECHL. He never played for the Islanders again.
“Pro hockey is crazy. A couple of trades later, they get a few guys, and you get bumped down the depth chart,” he said. “That’s just how it works.”
Czuczman took it personally then. In hindsight, he admits he didn’t respond to it well, certainly not how he would handle it today. He was focused too much on what management was doing, not the stuff that he could control.
His father, with a knack for spotting silver linings, uplifted him from afar.
“He put his heart and soul into everything I did. I’m getting a little teared up talking about him. But it was definitely him that was the driver of my positivity and my career,” he said. “He knew it was hard. But he helped keep me focused.”
Like father ...
It was close to 10 p.m. when Czuczman took off his sweaty gear in Allentown. Tom Kostopoulos was waiting for him, caffeinated and ready to hit the road.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had just lost an overtime thriller to rival Lehigh Valley on Nov. 29, 2019. But Czuczman’s mind was 578 miles away, back in his hometown of Port Elgin, Ontario, a small community just off the shores of Lake Huron.
Two months earlier, Czuczman’s father had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer that quickly ravaged his body. Now he was on his deathbed.
Kostopoulos, the former Penguins forward who is now a player development coach for the organization, raced through the night to give him a chance to say goodbye. Czuczman got a couple of hours with Paul before he passed away.
“All my dad wanted to hear about was the game the night before,” he said. “He was pretty proud. Even until his last breath, he was always smiling and happy. That’s the way you should live life. I feel like there’s no other way to do it.”
Kevin’s mother, Maureen, has always been loving and supportive, too. But to this day, his dad’s attitude still makes Czuczman shake his head. It blows his mind how Paul was always upbeat after every game, from peewee to the pros.
Paul’s perpetual positivity and work ethic, along with the sacrifices both parents made when he was young, helped shape Czuczman into the man he is today.
“He’s someone who I always looked up to and was always proud of,” he said. “He was the best role model I could have had in life. He’s always been a part of me.”
That much is obvious if you spend a few minutes chatting with Czuczman.
In the past he has lingered in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton dressing room, eager to answer questions about the latest Penguins prospect on the verge of getting the call from Coal Street to Pittsburgh, without a single query about himself.
And on Monday, he just wanted to hear more about a stranger’s labradoodle.
He’s the kind of dude you want around to help shepherd prospects to the NHL.
Next man up
After a year with Winnipeg’s AHL club, Czuczman signed with Pittsburgh in 2017 and was an alternate captain for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton the last three seasons. In 174 games there, Czuczman has 10 goals, 66 points and a plus-21 rating.
Sunday, Sullivan raved about Czuczman’s “great” leadership for the AHL club.
“As far as [his] character, I can’t say enough about the type of guy that he is,” Sullivan said. “We’re thrilled to have him as part of our organization.”
Czuczman cites the lessons he learned in those two challenging seasons with the Islanders organization for helping him learn how to be a professional.
“I’m grateful I went through those struggles,” he said. “I needed time. I was a late bloomer coming into pro hockey and I think I’m a late bloomer in pro hockey.”
One of Pittsburgh’s final training camp cuts earlier this month, Czuczman was back skating in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton when Mike Matheson went down Jan. 15.
Injuries to fellow blue-liners Marcus Pettersson, Juuso Riikola and Zach Trotman have cleared a path to Pittsburgh for Czuczman. He is technically still on the taxi squad. But he is the team’s seventh defenseman on this four-game road trip.
In Czuczman, Sullivan sees a 6-foot-2 lefty who is still working to get better.
“He has picked up a step from a mobility standpoint. He can play the left side. He can play the right side,” the coach said. “So he’s a versatile defenseman.”
And now he’s back in familiar territory. He was the next man up at one point in 2017-18 and again last season. Of course, he wants to get in a game.
If not, oh well. His dad taught him something good is just around the corner.
“I love this quote: If you hang around the barbershop long enough, eventually you’re going to get a haircut,” Czuczman said. “I’m just going to keep knocking on the door. Hey, call me crazy. It might never happen. But what’s the harm in trying? I’m here and having a blast. I’m so grateful for the opportunity.”
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.
First Published: January 26, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
