Friday, August 01, 2003

By Dejan Kovacevic, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

More than a decade ago, the Edmonton Oilers' checking line of Kelly Buchberger, Craig MacTavish and Dave Hunter was assigned to shadow Mario Lemieux.

It didn't quite work out, as Lemieux tore them apart with seven points.

"After the game, me and Mac were trying to figure out who was responsible, what went wrong," Buchberger recalled. "And Hunts? He sneaked out of the room."

Next season, Buchberger will share a locker room with Lemieux.

The Penguins yesterday made Buchberger, a gritty right winger who has captained two NHL teams, and checking center Mike Eastwood, both 36, their first two signings of the summer through unrestricted free agency. Each contract is for one year and believed to be in the range of $600,000.

General Manager Craig Patrick said his goal is to sign one more free agent, a defenseman, preferably one who is tough and right-handed. Five of the Penguins' six projected defensemen for 2003-04 are left-handed.

Patrick said the signings of Buchberger and Eastwood are intended to add leadership and toughness to a group which figures to be mostly young.

"Our aim is to be a fast, aggressive team," Patrick said. "That's what these two players bring to us."

Buchberger started his career as part of the Oilers' dynasty, winning the Stanley Cup in 1987, '88 and '90. When some of Edmonton's legends such as Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier moved on, he assumed the captaincy and remained there until '99 when taken in an expansion draft by the Atlanta Thrashers. He was captain there, too, for a year. He spent the next three years with the Los Angeles Kings and last season with the Phoenix Coyotes.

Only once a 20-goal scorer, Buchberger has just 104 in 1,111 games. Last season, he had three goals and nine assists in 79 games. But he always has been better known for his competitive, combative nature, highlighted by his 2,188 penalty minutes and fearlessness in fighting.

"I'll kill penalties, play a tough role, whatever it takes," Buchberger said. "The Penguins want me to just keep playing my game, and I can't wait to get there and do the job for them."

Buchberger added that his experience with the extremes of playing on a championship team and an expansion team should help in Pittsburgh.

"In Edmonton, those of us who were young learned to follow the great players there such as Wayne and Mark and keep our mouths shut, to play the game right. You can learn from watching the great players, people like Mario," he said. "And when I went to Atlanta, I had to be the guy who was leading."

Buchberger became a free agent when the Coyotes elected July 1 not to exercise a $600,000 club option for next season.

Eastwood has been only marginally more prolific than Buchberger, with 83 goals in 701 games, including three in 70 games last season split between the St. Louis Blues and Chicago Blackhawks. He has just 314 career penalty minutes, so his on-ice persona is not as menacing as Buchberger's, but he also has a reputation as a consistent faceoff performer and solid defensive presence.

"We see Mike coming in and doing the things we were asking Wayne Primeau and Jan Hrdina to do for us last season," Patrick said of two checking centers he traded in March. "We felt we needed a player like that."

Eddie Olczyk, the Penguins' new coach, played with Eastwood for three years with the Winnipeg Jets and gave a strong endorsement.

"He's just a great person, for one thing, a kind of guy who can give us the leadership the way Kelly can," Olczyk said. "But he's also very responsible, quick on the draws, in people's faces all night and always making things happen."

NOTES -- Left wingers Rico Fata and Toby Petersen yesterday signed their qualifying contract offers from the Penguins, meaning they accept the minimum 10 percent raise over their salaries from last season. Fata's deal was for one year at $715,000 in NHL-only salary, Petersen's for one year at $412,500 in two-way salary. Also yesterday, defenseman Rob Scuderi signed a two-year, two-way contract. The Penguins have five restricted free agents remaining -- center Milan Kraft, left winger Ramzi Abid, right winger Matt Bradley, defenseman Micki DuPont and goaltender Sebastien Caron -- and all had until midnight last night to accept qualifying offers. If they did not, the Penguins no longer are required to pay them anything.

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