WILKES-BARRE - General manager Craig Patrick had some encouraging words for newly acquired defenseman Richard Lintner on Monday.
"We'll definitely get a look at him before too long here, because we can use a highly-skilled guy like that," Patrick said.
Lintner, 25, hopes so. He has been trying to gain a foothold in the NHL for six years now and his patience in wearing thin.
"If this doesn't show me that I'll be a regular player in the NHL, I think I'm going to stay in Europe and play hockey there," Lintner said.
Lintner isn't about to book passage back to Slovakia just yet, though. In fact, he's off to a good start with his new team, scoring a goal in his first game to help the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-3 victory over the Binghamton Senators on Wednesday night. He impressed his new coach in the process.
"He's a very skilled offensive player," Glenn Patrick said. "He will definitely help us out in the offensive department. Like a lot of young players, we're going to have to help him out with his defensive game."
If Lintner did take off for Europe at some point, it wouldn't be the first time. At the start of last season, he elected to sign with a team in Czech Republic rather than report to the Nashville Predators' American Hockey League affiliate in Milwaukee.
"At that point, I didn't feel like I could improve as much as I could back in Europe," Lintner said.
Lintner made his biggest splash on the international stage.
He had a goal and an assist for Slovakia in the Winter Olympics but left Utah disappointed when the nation failed to make it out of the qualifying round.
That all turned around a few weeks later when Slovakia unexpectedly claimed gold in the 2002 World Championships in Sweden. Lintner was the tournament's top-scoring defenseman, posting four goals and four assists in nine games.
EXIT INTERVIEW
Like Lintner, defenseman Mike Wilson realized that his contract status made him a candidate to be traded at any moment while he was with the Penguins. When it finally happened Monday, he was relieved.
"I've always said whether it was with Pittsburgh or some other team was going to give me a chance, my goal for the season was to get back to the NHL," he said.
Wilson joins a team where his three-year, $2.45 million contract is merely a drop in the bucket.
"I guess they got a pretty good payroll there," he said with a laugh. "I guess it was nice to be one of the top-paid guys in the minors. I got lucky and signed a good deal. Hopefully I'll go to New York and prove that I'm worth it."
SLAP SHOTS
The Baby Pens (25-23-4-3) won Wednesday to move two games over .500 for the first time this season. ... Center Toby Petersen came into this weekend with points in his past eight games, the longest scoring streak for a Baby Pens player this season. ... Center Kris Beech has 12 points (7 goals-5 assists) in his last eight games. ... Defenseman Rob Scuderi is a plus-6 in his last nine games, getting him back to even for the season. ... Right winger Colby Armstrong scored the game-winning goal in the third period of a 4-3 victory over San Antonio last Saturday night to break a 31-game goal drought.
