Rob Scuderi of the Pittsburgh Penguins sitting in the penalty box during a Detroit Red Wings vs. Pittsburgh Penguins game at Joe Louis Arena.
Robert John Scuderi (born December 30, 1978) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). In 2001, Scuderi began his professional career in the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Pittsburgh Penguins' minor league affiliate. That season, he played in 75 games, recording a goal and 22 assists. Scuderi played in his first career NHL game during the 2003–04 season. His second NHL season, 2005–06, was a struggle, as he contributed just four points in 56 games, but his reliability as a stay-at-home defenseman meant that he earned a permanent position in Pittsburgh for the 2006–07 season, appearing in 78 games, scoring a goal and ten assists. On February 2, 2008, Scuderi played his 200th career NHL game against the Carolina Hurricanes. Additionally, on October 4, 2008, Scuderi ended a 120-game scoreless streak in Stockholm against the Ottawa Senators, when he scored a tying goal to get the Penguins into an overtime situation; they later won the game. On April 19, 2009, Scuderi recorded his first career Stanley Cup playoff goal against the Philadelphia Flyers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarter-finals. During the 2009 playoffs, Scuderi's Penguin teammates rechristened him with the nickname "The Piece," after he misspoke during an interview when he referred to himself as "the [missing] piece" to the puzzle, intending to say that he was "a piece" to the puzzle. He had previously been known simply as "Scuds," a shortening of his surname. On June 12, 2009, Scuderi won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh. He made a crucial play late in Game 6 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals, with the Penguins hanging on to a 2–1 lead over the Detroit Red Wings; Scuderi stopped a shot at a wide open net by Johan Franzén with his stick, then stopped Franzén again with his skate. Scuderi became the first Long Island native to have his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. Within weeks of winning the Cup, Scuderi hit the market as an unrestricted free agent, as the Penguins could not afford him under the salary cap. On July 2, 2009, Scuderi was signed by the Los Angeles Kings to a four-year, $13.6 million contract. He debuted for the Kings on October 3, 2009, and tallied his first point, an assist to Ryan Smyth, in a Los Angeles uniform in an October 8 Kings win over the Minnesota Wild. Scuderi won his second Stanley Cup in four years on June 11, 2012, over the New Jersey Devils. He took a hit early in the first period, which resulted in a five-minute major penalty and three subsequent powerplay goals for the Kings, leading them to their first ever Stanley Cup. On July 5, 2013, it was announced that Scuderi had re-signed with his former team in Pittsburgh on a four-year, $13.5 million contract. Scuderi crashed into the boards as a result of a legal hit by David Clarkson of the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 26, 2013, in a 4–1 defeat. Scuderi missed over two months, later returning to play on December 28. In the 2015–16 season, Scuderi provided 4 assists in 25 games for the Penguins before he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for fellow defenseman Trevor Daley on December 14, 2015. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Scuderi en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...