Working And Waiting
By Bob Grove

As the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' regular season began winding down last month, the team found itself depending on the line of Ramzi Abid, Shane Endicott and Colby Armstrong to sustain its position as a playoff team in the East Division.

It was a fitting development, too, because all three forwards have taken major steps toward becoming players who are ready to battle for NHL roster spots in Pittsburgh.

"We've developed some good chemistry with each other," says Endicott, a 23-year-old center. "We're all hard-working guys who don't mind getting in the corners and doing a little bit of the dirty work."

Joining the 25-year-old Abid, a left winger, and the 22-year-old Armstrong, a right winger, Endicott gives coach Michel Therrien a unit that can be deployed to win games with a late goal or protect leads late in the third period. All three have already established AHL career highs for points, although Endicott and Armstrong are pointing toward checking roles in the NHL.

"They've been trying to mold me into a (checking) kind of player," says Endicott, a second-round 2000 draft pick who had 19 goals and 40 points in 54 games. "I don't think the coaches would be happy if I wasn't putting up numbers offensively, but they're telling me to make the next step I have to be a solid defensive player and shut down the other team's top line and kill penalties. I've really been listening to what they are saying."

Assistant coach Mike Yeo says the 6-4, 214-pound Endicott "is playing a more mature game. His penalty killing has improved a lot, he's better on faceoffs and he's improved his strength, which is going to help him battle guys down low in the NHL. He's come a long way in four years (in the AHL), and he's accepted the fact that to play in the NHL, he's going to have to be a solid defensive center."

After two largely inconsistent AHL seasons, Armstrong has parlayed a strong off-season workout regimen into his best pro season. The former first-round 2001 pick had 18 goals and 48 points in 66 games and was getting ice time in all situations.

"My first year I had a tough time not playing as much as usual, so I've learned to be patient and stick with it," he says. "It's always been one of my big knocks that I'm not big enough or strong enough. I knew it and we finally addressed it. I wanted to take the step to be the player I should be, and it's really helped me. Coming out of the corner now, I have the strength to hold guys off."

Yeo said Armstrong "is more confident now because he knows he improved physically, and he had that sense that he deserved some success because of how hard he had worked. He's a gritty guy on the ice, and you get something good from him every time he goes out there."

Abid, who had 23 goals and 47 points in 64 games, has finally put two reconstructive surgeries on his right knee behind him to prove he has the tools to become a power forward in the NHL.

"Mentally, it's been very hard. I had a lot of tough days and nights, rehabbing the knee by myself and wondering if I was ever going to be the player I'm supposed to be," said the 6-2, 210-pound Abid. "There have been people doubting my ability since my knee injuries, and I want to prove a lot of people wrong. I finally feel like I'm on the right track again."

Bob Grove serves as a regular co-host on the Penguins Radio Network.