By Alyssa Dombrowski - Special to NHL.com

For most people, the mere mention of Southern California evokes images of sun, sand and surf.

For San Diego native Chad Ruhwedel, his mind has always been on the ice.

"Playing hockey out there, it definitely wasn't the biggest sport," said Ruhwedel, a rookie defenseman with the American Hockey League's Rochester Americans. "Ninety percent of the kids didn't play hockey -- it was mostly baseball, basketball, football … the standard sports. My mom and dad threw the skates on me at a young age, and it just kind of stuck. I knew it was the sport I always wanted to put first."

Ruhwedel was raised in the Scripps Ranch area of the coastal city, where he played for his high school roller hockey team and a handful of junior ice hockey teams before joining Sioux Falls of the United States Hockey League. He played three years at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and led the River Hawks to their first Frozen Four appearance in 2013.

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