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Hockey is a small world and players often cross paths with each other at some point. But what about current Penguins crossing paths with former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton players?
It’s happened at virtually every level, and each week we’ll highlight six degrees of separation that connects current Penguins to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton players of the past.
Ryan Haggerty — Bryan Rust
When Ryan Haggerty was 16 and just beginning his hockey career, his first stop was with the U.S. National U-18 Team in 2009-10.
It was also the same place where former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguin Bryan Rust was beginning his career. Rust impressed with 10 goals and 23 points in 26 games. Haggerty was held without a point in three games, but when he was sent to the U-17 squad that season he responded with 11 points in 34 games.
Haggerty spent the following season with the U.S. National Development Team and scored 15 points in 23 games.
Rust departed after the 2009-10 season, was drafted by Pittsburgh that summer and spent the next four years playing at Notre Dame. He turned pro in 2014, splitting the next two seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Pittsburgh, and is now up with the NHL club as a regular after contributing to the Penguins’ Stanley Cup championship last season.
After his time ended in the U.S. program in 2011, Haggerty played hockey for three seasons at the collegiate level with R.P.I. before turning pro. He spent the last two seasons in the AHL with Hartford and Rockford before joining Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as a free agent last summer.
