Alden volunteer hose company to meet

web1_TTL110815juskiewicz.wed_.jpg

Kristi Juskiewicz and Scott Clarke wed

<p>Steve Oleksy no longer views himself as a former Hershey Bear/Washington Capital.</p><p>That ended on July 1 when he signed a two-way contract with Pittsburgh. While fans may remember Oleksy as a key figure in the long-standing rivalry between Hershey and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the time to reminisce about his former team is over.</p><p>&#8220;For me, it was easy to forget where I was and focus on where I am,&#8221; Oleksy said. &#8220;The day I signed that contract, I&#8217;m a Penguin.&#8221;</p><p>And a leader.</p><p>As Hershey&#8217;s captain last season, Oleksy brings leadership qualities to the Penguins that surfaced quickly. While Tom Kostopoulos was a lock to wear the &#8220;C&#8221; this season, head coach Mike Sullivan said he would rotate alternate captains for several weeks. One of those A&#8217;s was placed on Oleksy&#8217;s jersey at the start of the season and it&#8217;s remained there ever since.</p><p>The gesture, and the faith that the coaching staff has in Oleksy&#8217;s leadership attributes, has further cemented him as a Penguin.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a sense of accomplishment wearing the A, especially with this group,&#8221; Oleksy said. &#8220;It&#8217;s definitely a good feeling, especially with the group of guys we have in this locker room.&#8221;</p><p>Still, Oleksy is quick to point out that leadership doesn&#8217;t come just from those wearing a letter in their jersey. Instead, Oleksy prefers a committee approach when it comes to leadership, and that&#8217;s inclusive of everybody in the room.</p><p>&#8220;Collectively making decisions is a lot more satisfying than one or two making a decision for everybody,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Not everybody is going to wear a letter, but everyone can lead and contribute.&#8221;</p><p>Oleksy, 29, has the experience to back up his leadership attributes. During his seven-year pro career he played with nine different teams in four leagues, ranging from the ECHL to the NHL. Along the way, Oleksy played with some proven veteran leaders, and he picked up something from each of them.</p><p>It began in the 2009-10 season, Oleksy&#8217;s first year as a pro, when he bounced from three ECHL clubs to Port Huron in the IHL trying to establish his hockey career. He eventually settled with the Idaho Steelheads in the ECHL, a place where he would remain for the most of the next two seasons.</p><p>In Idaho, Oleksy got his first look at a true veteran leader from teammate and captain Marty Flichel. During his first season with Idaho, Oleksy was a 23-year-old rookie on his fourth team that year while Flichel was a 33-year-old former pick of the Dallas Stars with 14 years of pro hockey under his belt.</p><p>&#8220;Marty Flichel was a captain for years in Idaho and he really instilled the groundwork of what a leader is,&#8221; Oleksy said. &#8220;I learned a lot from him in the way he treated people and players. The sense of leadership I got from him set the foundation.&#8221;</p><p>It was a foundation that would help Oleksy&#8217;s career quickly evolve from journeyman minor leaguer to NHL player and now veteran leader.</p><p>Along the way, Oleksy learned from more leaders, such as John Erskine, Tom Poti and Mike Green in Washington, Jeff Taffe in Hershey and now Kostopoulos.</p><p>It&#8217;s an evolution that assistant coach Jay Leach, who served as a captain for three AHL teams during his 12-year career, said is a natural progression for a player like Oleksy.</p><p>&#8220;Other than Tom Kostopoulos I don&#8217;t know if there&#8217;s another guy that has the experience and leadership qualities that Steve has,&#8221; Leach said. &#8220;It&#8217;s just the kind of guy he is. He always comes to work, is always worried about his teammates and just a take-charge guy. He is a role model for our younger players.&#8221;</p><p>But that doesn&#8217;t mean Oleksy is done learning and developing as a leader himself.</p><p>This season, Oleksy said, he&#8217;s learned a lot from watching the way Kostopoulos conducts himself on and off the ice.</p><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s a guy you battle against for so many years and you really respect the way he plays and treats the game,&#8221; Olesky said. &#8220;To be in the locker room with him and see all the stuff he does behind the scenes, it&#8217;s been a great experience for me.&#8221;</p><p>So far Oleksy&#8217;s first season with the Penguins has been a great experience in general. After eight games, the blueliner has five points and is a plus-3 while manning the top defensive pairing with Derrick Pouliot.</p><p>And, like a true leader, Oleksy deflects credit for his play to his teammates.</p><p>&#8220;When you have the group we have and the chemistry, it&#8217;s easier to go out there and play hard and have fun. When you&#8217;re doing that, you&#8217;re more comfortable and tend to play better,&#8221; Oleksy said. &#8220;You&#8217;re only as good as the guys around you.&#8221;</p><style>
.neFileBlock {
	margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
	margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
	border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
	padding-bottom: 5px;
	padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
	font-size: 85%;
}
</style>
<div class='neFileBlock'>
<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Oleksy.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">After serving as captain for Hershey last season, Steve Oleksy is wearing the A in his first year with the Penguins. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_Oleksy.jpg</photo0><caption0>After serving as captain for Hershey last season, Steve Oleksy is wearing the A in his first year with the Penguins. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams file photo | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>From from journeyman minor leaguer to NHL player, former Bear has done it all</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Wilkes-Barre/Penguins Steve Oleksy’s evolution into a leader