National Hockey League defenseman Chad Ruhwedel of San Diego, California announced his retirement on Tuesday at the age of 35 according to nhl.com. He split this past season with the New York Rangers of the NHL and Hartford Wolfpack of the American Hockey League.
Who did Ruhwedel play for in the NHL?
Ruhwedel played 13 seasons in the NHL. He was with the Buffalo Sabres for four seasons from 2012 to 2016. That was followed by eight seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2016 to 2024, and parts of two seasons with the New York Rangers in 2024 and 2025.
Ruhwedel’s career statistics
Ruhwedel had 13 goals and 37 assists for 50 points in 369 games. He was a -7 with 94 penalty minutes, one game-winning goal, four power-play points, 396 shots on goal, 350 blocked shots, 622 hits, 90 takeaways, and 98 giveaways.
Ruhwedel’s game-winning goal
Ruhwedel’s lone NHL game-winning goal came on February 19, 2019 in a 4-3 Penguins win over the New Jersey Devils. Ruhwedel scored from Evgeni Malkin of Magnitogorsk, Russia. At the time of the goal (two minutes and 31 seconds left in the second period), the Penguins went up by a score of 4-2.
Stanley Cup champion
Ruhwedel was part of the Penguins team that won the 2017 Stanley Cup. He played six postseason games (two games against the Washington Capitals in the second round and four games against the Ottawa Senators in the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals) eight years ago and was a -3 with four penalty minutes, 11 shots on goal, three blocked shots, 12 hits, and three giveaways. The Penguins won their fifth Stanley Cup in franchise history as they eliminated the Nashville Predators in six games.
Ruhwedel is one of four NHL players from California all-time to win the Stanley Cup. The other three are Beau Bennett (a right winger from Gardena who won the 2016 Stanley Cup with the Penguins), Brooks Orpik (a defenseman from San Francisco who won the 2009 Stanley Cup with the Penguins and 2018 Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals), and Scott Parker (a right winger from Hanford who won the 2001 Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche).
Played in the Spengler Cup
Ruhwedel represented the Rochester Americans at the 2013 Spengler Cup. This a prestigious annual international hockey tournament in Davos, Switzerland that starts on Boxing Day and ends New Year’s Eve. Rochester lost their two games (5-0 to Switzerland’s Geneve-Servette, and 4-3 to Russia’s HC CSKA Moscow). Geneve-Servette was the eventual champion as they beat HC CSKA Moscow 5-3 in the final.
