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WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Todd Reirden could make his practices as grueling as possible and they still wouldn’t bother Ryan Bayda right now.
After driving more than 2,000 miles, eight hours a day from Saskatoon, Saskethewan to Wilkes-Barre with his wife and two-year-old daughter, and then spending his first week in the area living out of a hotel room, just about anything is easier for Bayda.
“We’re still in the hotel scrambling around trying to find an apartment. The hotel room gets tighter than the car,” he said. “The easy part is coming to the rink and getting on the ice.”
Easy because a hockey rink is a familiar place for Bayda. A home away from home, if you will, even if the other home is 2,000 miles away or the tight confines of a hotel room.
“The ice is the same everywhere, so that’s always the easiest thing,” he said.
Bayda, 28, joined his Wilkes-Barre/Scranton teammates on Monday after a whirlwind month that saw him compete for a roster spot in Pittsburgh to the end of training camp. When he was assigned to the AHL Pens, Bayda had to drive back to Saskatoon to pick up his family and then make the four-day return trip to Wilkes-Barre.
Throw in the fact that Bayda is coming to a new team after spending the last three years with the Carolina Hurricane organization, it’s understandable if he admits it was nice to get hockey off his mind for a little while.
The drive helped Bayda do just that.
“It was nice. It allowed me to refocus and get excited to come down here with a fresh start and a good attitude,” he said. “It was enough time off that I was anxious to get back out there.”
Bayda spent all of last season in the NHL with the Hurricanes. Primarily a grinding, defensive forward, Bayda registered 12 points in 70 regular season games for Carolina and scored two goals in 15 playoff games. A highlight of the postseason occurred when Carolina was playing Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference Final and Bayda cross-checked Kris Letang in the face, sparking several fights.
The bad blood didn’t boil over to Pittsburgh’s training camp, however, and Bayda said while he may have a nasty streak on the ice, he is not the same person away from the rink.
“I know a lot of guys on the team (Pittsburgh) so it was a pretty easy adjustment,” Bayda said.
“Certain things happen on the ice, especially in a playoff series, that don’t really reflect who you are off the ice. It’s not the first time guys have had a run-in on the ice and then became teammates. It’s part of the game.”
Bayda’s game is the definition of a grinding forward. He forechecks relentlessly, isn’t afraid to throw a few hits and take punishment in front of the net to score a goal. He’s had scoring success at every stop in his AHL career, and Reirden hopes Bayda can continue that path in Wilkes-Barre.
“He does have success in this league putting up numbers, and he gets it because he outgrinds guys,” Reirden said. “That’s how you can have success in the AHL.”
Bayda became familiar with the organization’s aggressive system during Pittsburgh’s training camp and said it suits his style just fine. After splitting most of his seven professional seasons between the AHL and NHL, Bayda knows what’s expected of him at this level.
“Obviously my minutes probably get tripled here, and I get to play on the power play and penalty kill, so you’re put in a position down here where you have a chance to succeed,” Bayda said. “I’m a little more creative here because you have a little more freedom and time.”
And a place that, no matter where he plays, will always be a home away from home.