Top 10 Unsung Heroes: Kelly Buchberger (1)

Photo credit:Ian Scott

6 years ago

There are many reasons why Kelly Buchberger is an easy choice to occupy the top spot on this Unsung Heroes list. Anybody who saw Bucky play knows what they are. His willingness to work harder than the next guy. His willingness to play a role, to step in and defend his teammates, even when it meant taking a beating for doing so. By leading with actions, not words. They are common characteristics for players on this list. Buchberger had those in spades, of course, but there’s more.

Buchberger displayed all those traits longer than anybody I know. He never once, at least not that I saw, got complacent or figured he’d proved himself and could relax, slack off or take a shortcut. Do you know how many of the 252 players selected in the 1985 Entry Draft played more NHL regular season games than Buchberger, taken 188^th overall? One. Joe Nieuwendyk, selected 27^thby the Calgary Flames, played 1,257 games. Buchberger played 1,182 — 795 of those with the Oilers. He never took one of them for granted.

Kelly Buchberger

Right Wing
Born Dec 2nd, 1966 — Langenburg, SASK
Height 6.02 — Weight 210 [188 cm/95 kg]

Drafted by Edmonton Oilers

Round 9 #188 overall 1985 NHL Entry Draft

BY THE NUMBERS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S%	ATOI
1987-88	21	EDM	19	1	0	1	-1	81	10.0
1988-89	22	EDM	66	5	9	14	-14	234	8.8
1989-90	23	EDM	55	2	6	8	-8	168	5.7
1990-91	24	EDM	64	3	1	4	-6	160	5.6
1991-92	25	EDM	79	20	24	44	9	157	22.2
1992-93	26	EDM	83	12	18	30	-27	133	13.0
1993-94	27	EDM	84	3	18	21	-20	199	3.2
1994-95	28	EDM	48	7	17	24	0	82	9.6
1995-96	29	EDM	82	11	14	25	-20	184	9.2
1996-97	30	EDM	81	8	30	38	4	159	10.3
1997-98	31	EDM	82	6	17	23	-10	122	7.0
1998-99	32	EDM	52	4	4	8	-6	68	13.8	11:49
1999-00	33	TOT	81	7	13	20	-36	152	9.2	16:05
1999-00	33	ATL	68	5	12	17	-34	139	8.9	16:21
1999-00	33	LAK	13	2	1	3	-2	13	10.0	14:43
2000-01	34	LAK	82	6	14	20	-10	75	9.1	14:26
2001-02	35	LAK	74	6	7	13	-13	105	15.4	10:21
2002-03	36	PHX	79	3	9	12	0	109	9.4	9:59
2003-04	37	PIT	71	1	3	4	-19	109	2.9	10:21
12 yrs		EDM	795	82	158	240	-99	1747	10.0	11:49
3 yrs		LAK	169	14	22	36	-25	193	11.2	12:40
1 yr		PHX	79	3	9	12	0	109	9.4	9:59
1 yr		PIT	71	1	3	4	-19	109	2.9	10:21
1 yr		ATL	68	5	12	17	-34	139	8.9	16:21
Career			1182	105	204	309	-177	2297	9.9	12:17

PLAYOFFS

Season	Age	Tm	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	S%	ATOI
1986-87	20	EDM	3	0	1	1	0	5	0.0
1989-90	23	EDM	19	0	5	5	2	13	0.0
1990-91	24	EDM	12	2	1	3	-3	25	16.7
1991-92	25	EDM	16	1	4	5	2	32	8.3
1996-97	30	EDM	12	5	2	7	-1	16	26.3
1997-98	31	EDM	12	1	2	3	0	25	7.7
1998-99	32	EDM	4	0	0	0	-4	0	0.0	10:06
1999-00	33	LAK	4	0	0	0	-1	4	0.0	8:56
2000-01	34	LAK	8	1	0	1	-1	2	20.0	9:58
2001-02	35	LAK	7	0	0	0	-3	7	0.0	8:48
Career			97	10	15	25	-9	129	12.2	9:27

WHY HE MAKES IT

It’s not surprising, even a little bit, that after taking over as head coach of the New York Islanders last spring (when the interim label was dropped), former Oiler Doug Weight wanted Buchberger on his coaching staff. While Weight, as you’d expect, had plenty of good things to say about Buchberger when he hired him last summer, here’s what he had to say in 1999, when No. 16 went to Atlanta in the expansion draft (Weight took over as Edmonton captain when Buchberger joined the Thrashers).

“Everything he did, on and off the ice, was about being a leader,” Weight said. “The way he played the game, the way he prepared, the way he treated his teammates and their families. He had respect for not only the authority of the coaches, but the organization. He was very loyal. As a fan, you could see his game, the blocking shots, his will to win, but I saw leadership in every aspect of his life. Every young player who played with him not only had the utmost respect for him, but learned a lot.”

With the big names from the Stanley Cup era gone by the time he arrived late in the 1992-93 season, Weight would become the Oilers’ best player. It was Buchberger, who’d done whatever it took to stay on the roster with all those future HHOF players in the late 1980s, who became the glue guy. The same qualities that got Buchberger to the NHL — willingness to work, to do whatever was needed — remained. Buchberger never got “comfortable.” Weight, and a lot of young players, watched and learned. They were tough lessons on some forgettable teams.

THE FINE PRINT

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Buchberger sipped champagne from two Stanley Cups with the Oilers and he paid for that privilege with as much sweat and blood as has ever been shed in Edmonton silks. As a bottom six forward, Buchberger crashed and banged, skated and fought — no matter how ridiculously overmatched he was. Bob Probert. Dave Brown. Chris Simon. All told, Buchberger had more than 200 NHL fights. Winning them came up a distant second to showing up. That’s a damn tough gig.

During the lockout season of 2004-05, I got an up-close look at what had made Buchberger successful as a player while he was cutting his teeth as an assistant coach under Geoff Ward with the Edmonton Roadrunners of the AHL. Let’s be real. Bucky was never going to teach the talented kids on that team how to score. Not in his wheelhouse. What he taught them was how to work, to be prepared, to be in shape and how to get the most out of whatever tools they brought to the table. What worked for him.

While some fans got miffed that Buchberger seemed to survive all the turnover in the Oilers’ coaching staff during the Decade of Darkness — they put it down to that Old Boys Club thing — it’s no stunner that his old friend and teammate came calling with a job offer last July. Weight knows all about what made Buchberger the player he was and he wanted some of it on his coaching staff. Why wouldn’t he?

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