Former Texas Tornado Andy Wozniewski makes Toronto Maple Leafs opening night roster
October 5, 2005 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Texas Tornado News Release
Toronto, Ontario - Overnight, former Texas Tornado defenseman Andy Wozniewski has become a celebrity. Wozniewski has been the surprise of this year's Toronto Maple Leafs training camp and has made the Opening Night roster. The Maple Leafs open their 2005-06 season with a game against the Ottawa Senators on October 5th. "This is an unbelievable feeling," said Wozniewski. "I have had so many calls." Texas Tornado Head Coach and General Manager Tony Curtale agrees that Wozniewski has worked very hard to get to this point. "Andy has always been a hard working kid who possesses a tremendous amount of skill," said Curtale. "I felt that he had NHL potential from the moment I saw him." Curtale originally found Wozniewski (Buffalo Grove, Illinois) while working as the Director of the Central region for USA Hockey. "At that time, I saw a lot of things other didn't see and brought him down to Texas."
Wozniewski played for the Texas Tornado during the 2000-2001 season, where he was a 1st team All-NAHL selection, scoring 44 points in 54 regular season games. His performance also earned him a spot on the 2001 NAHL All-Star Team. During the playoffs, Wozniewski led all NAHL defensemen in scoring with 9 points in just 8 games played as the Texas Tornado won their first ever Robertson Cup Championship.
After the Tornado, Wozniewski went on to play for the University of Wisconsin, where he accumulated 38 points in three outstanding years. During his senior season, Wozniewski was named team captain for Wisconsin. After graduating, Wozniewski was signed as a free agent by Toronto and played the remainder of the season with the St. John's Maple Leafs of the American Hockey League.
Wozniewski's recent success with the Toronto Maple Leafs has made him a cult hero in Toronto. It was his sparkling performance against Chris Chelios and the Detroit Red Wings at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday, October 1st that confirmed his selection in the minds of Maple Leafs management. From his first goal of the pre-season to his crushing of Wings speedster Pavel Datsyuk, it proved to be the exclamation point on his impressive camp. "With (Datsyuk), if you look down at the puck you can get mesmerized, so you have to stay on his body. So that's what I did," Wozniewski said. "In this newly structured NHL, it is good to see someone like Andy get a shot. He comes from a different background and worked very hard to get to this level," said Curtale.
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