Bayda has overcome a great deal in his return to AHL
Published: October 7, 2009
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share thisWILKES-BARRE - Adjusting to life with a new team. Clawing back to the NHL after being sent to the minors.
Nothing can compare with the challenge Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins winger Ryan Bayda has already overcome this season.
At the end of last week, he and his wife made the 35-hour drive from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, with 2-year-old daughter Tylar in the car.
Shockingly, Bayda said the trip wasn't that bad.
Bayda has done his share of traveling in his pro career too. He spent six of seven seasons in the Carolina Hurricanes organization but shuttled back and forth from AHL to NHL enough times to rack up prodigious amounts of frequent flier miles.
Last season, it looked like Bayda finally stepped off the shuttle for good. He spent the entire year in Carolina and was in the lineup as the Hurricanes advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.
Surprisingly, though, the Hurricanes didn't re-sign Bayda in the offseason, leaving him to come to Pittsburgh's training camp as a tryout.
"Anytime you spend a full season there, you think you finally get your foot in the door and kind of establish yourself and figure out a pretty good role," Bayda said. "You think you're going to be set, and all of a sudden you're not and you're scrambling around again. You're hoping you don't have to, but realistically, it's part of the process."
Bayda had a good shot at claiming the 13th forward spot on the parent club's roster, but ultimately signed a two-way contract with the Penguins and reported to Wilkes-Barre.
The drive in from Saskatchewan helped him clear his head of the sting of being sent down.
"It was nice to kind of refocus and get excited to come back down here and come in with a fresh start and a good attitude," he said. "It was a enough time off where I'm anxious to get back."
In the NHL, Bayda is known as a fierce hitter and physical forechecker who chips in on offense occasionally. He had 20 points in 110 NHL games the past three seasons.
In the AHL, on the other hand, Bayda is a big-time scorer. He had 36 goals and 71 points in 76 AHL games the last three seasons and could be a significant piece of the puzzle for the Penguins as they host Hershey and Bridgeport this weekend.
"He out-grinds guys," coach Todd Reirden said. "That's how you an have success in the American Hockey League because that's where the inadequacies of other teams are - a soft defense, D-zone coverage, their D men going back for pucks, the retrievals aren't as clean. When he comes down here, he doesn't change his game. He just has a little bit easier prey, so to speak, to work on."
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