Transcript of Scuderi’s TSN interview

James Duthie interviewed Rob Scuderi during TSN’s coverage of NHL free agency. The transcript of their conversation follows:

On choosing to sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins:
“I think to me it was just the geography of the equation, and at this stage of my career I’d like to be a little closer to my home and to my parents and in-laws. It came down as a family decision.”

On whether this could be the last contract of his NHL career:
“I’m not sure. I think that the four years is a long time in the National Hockey League. A lot of things can change. But, due to percentages of how many guys make it to that age and still play – do I still think I can contribute? Yes. But it’d have to be up to me at that point…most certainly. But for right now, I just thought I wasn’t going to have another chance, again, based on the term being thrown around in the deals today, and I thought that if I was going to make my choice to come back east, it would have to be there.”

On the number of teams interested in him, and whether he thought he’d return to Pittsburgh:
“You know, I didn’t really know who would be interested. I had an inkling…before free agency, and you try not to get too involved in it, because you’re not really sure. But I thought L.A. tabled a very fair offer, and I wasn’t going to leave Los Angeles to play for another team in the Western Conference. So it had to be an east coast team, and it wasn’t a very long list. Pittsburgh wasn’t even on it, because I didn’t think that they wqould offer, and then when it came down to it and they offered, I wasvery intrigued by the possibility. I get to go to a place that I’m familiar with. The management, the coaching the area – it just helps me make a smooth transition, because now that my children are older, that’s important to me.”

On what he saw in Pittsburgh’s semifinal series, and what he hopes to bring to the Penguins:
“Not being in that locker room, it’s hard for me to comment. But, certainly, they know what I’m going to bring. They know what I’m going to do. I haven’t changed at all, really, since I was 19. I mean, I’m still a defensive plug. That’s what I do. I try to just play solid, stay-at-home D, and let everyone else do what they do best. So, for me, nothing much is going to change. If I was in the locker room I could comment, but since I wasn’t part of that locker room, I just don’t know.”