BUCHBERGER HAS LOTS OF FIGHT LEFT AT 35, KINGS' TOUGH GUY GOING STRONG.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

He never thought it would come to this.

Not when he started playing hockey in a town of 900 in Saskatchewan at age 3. Not when he got into a fight with the biggest, toughest player on the Flyers in his first NHL game. And not when he won three Stanley Cup championships with Edmonton.

Not this, not ... naps.

OK, a slight concession to his thinning hair and smack of gray around the temples. But that's it, that's as far as he goes.

Otherwise, Kings wing Kelly Buchberger is holding his ground against this supposed onslaught-of-age thing. He's changing nothing.

Still throwing his body in front of pucks and face in front of fists. Playing every game as if it could be his last. Specializing in team hockey. And honestly enjoying every freezing minute it.

The years call and Buchberger turns a deaf ear. He wants none of it, none of this graceful surrender stuff. He's still one of the first to practice and the last to leave. He is the first to drop his gloves. The first to declare his unabashed love of the game.

Buchberger is 35, which makes him one serious senior citizen in this sport for the young. He's the oldest player on the Kings, at least chronologically.

Because somehow you don't expect a 35-year-old to lead the team in fighting majors. Not when he's built more like a greyhound than the typical NHL enforcer. Body fat and Buchberger, strangers on the ice.

``The older you get, the less time you take off and the harder you work,'' Buchberger said. ``The last five years I've really concentrated on getting stronger and being in better shape when the season starts.

``The biggest thing is, to get ready for the game. I find myself at the rink earlier. Getting more rest during the day. I used to never sleep during the day of a game. Now I take naps. The night before, I get plenty of rest.''

This week the Kings honored the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Buchberger for playing in his 1,000th NHL game. Only 167 others have ever managed to play that long, but few played the sacrifice-the-body role that is Buchberger's specialty.

``The job he's done his whole career is the toughest job in hockey,'' Kings coach Andy Murray said. ``He's got to go out and know he has to lay his body on the line every game, because he's a physical player. He's the kind of guy who knows when a team needs a lift, he may have to drop his gloves. And that has to be a tough thing to do.''

Buchberger has been doing it for 15 seasons. He was first schooled in hockey in his hometown of Langenburg, where hockey wasn't just the biggest sport but the daily way of life.

``I lived right beside the rink and all I did every day was play hockey,'' he said. ``That's all we had in a small town. I started at 3 years old and my love for the game hasn't changed at all.''

Buchberger first donned his ``Tron'' helmet with Edmonton when Wayne Gretzky was leading the Oilers to annual championships. His first game was in the playoffs in 1987, where he quickly was introduced to Philadelphia enforcer Dave Brown.

``First game, first shift,'' Buchberger said. ``You're just running on adrenaline, ready to go. This is your chance and you've got to prove it as fast as you can.

``I was running around and he came and tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'That was enough,' only with a few more words. Then I had no choice. I had to fight him.''

He's been consistent ever since.

``It must be tough going out to dinner with your wife every night, knowing you may have to fight somebody,'' Murray said. ``Kelly's done that his whole career. He lays it on the line for the team. He's doing what he can right now to prolong his career.

``A lot who have played that role, when they're a little older in their careers, they're not as keen to do some of those things. If anything this year, he's shown more of a desire to do it - diving in front of pucks, extra work, dropping the gloves, sacrificing himself.

``I think that's probably why he's still here.''

Buchberger, who married his high school sweetheart, said he's not certain how a third-line player leads the team in brawls.

``I don't know, sometimes it just happens you're in the faces of guys and they don't like it,'' he said. ``Or you try to pick the team up in some way to get some energy going.''

Buchberger is in the last year of his contract but wants to keep playing. Most of us, er, middle-age types, look down at our physiques and see a certain reality. Buchberger looks down and sees another couple of years of NHL hockey.

``He'll never quit,'' Kings right wing Nelson Emerson said. ``He'll have to be dragged away by what little hair he has left.''

Buchberger said he knows people are watching, waiting for the fall. It's part of what drives him.

``In your later years, you have to keep proving yourself all the time, that you want to survive.,'' he said. `You have to do certain things to stay in the league.

``You can never get comfortable because there is always someone knocking on the door to take your job. You have to be hungry every time you step on the ice. You take a couple nights off, the next thing you know, they're asking questions. If you're not dedicated, you're not going to last very long.''

Or if you are, it can make for one improbably, long career.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Kelly Buchberger was honored by the Kings and GM Dave Taylor on Tuesday for playing in 1,000 NHL games.

Kevork Djansezian/Associated Press

(2) At age 35, the Kings' Kelly Buchberger, left, takes a nap to prepare for his role as team enforcer.

Charles Krupa/Associated Press