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 Rod
Buskas was born and raised in Wetaskiwin. When he was a
youngster it became apparent that Rod was going to excel in
sports. He started his hockey on an outdoor rink at his
family farm playing with his dad, his brother and his
sister. He didn’t play organized hockey in the Wetaskiwin
minor hockey system until he was eleven. Then he played two
years of pee-wee, two years of bantam and one year of
Midget. It seems like almost every team Rod played on in
Wetaskiwin was a “winner”or a “contender”. During his two
years in Bantam hockey, Rod’s Pahal Motors teams were second
in provincials both years. Rod was Assistant Captain of the
1977 Kinsmen Kings Midget “B” hockey team that won the
Provincial Championship. As a fastball player Rod was on
two provincial championship teams. Rod was also a member of
the Wetaskiwin Sport Shot Midget fastball team that won the
Western Canadian Championship in 1977. In grade nine he was
the top male athlete at Rosebrier School and held junior
high school records in track and field. In addition, Rod
was the quarterback of the Sabre football team in his Grade
10 year and was named team “rookie of the year”. In 1982,
Rod was named Wetaskiwin’s male athlete of the year.
When he was
fifteen he was scouted by the Medicine
Hat Tigers of the WHL and attended their training camp in
1977. That year and part of the next year he played for the
Red Deer Rustlers of the AJHL and then spent the next two
and a half seasons with the Tigers. As he matured in
junior, Rod accumulated a fair number of points while
providing a physical presence in his own zone. Rod was an
WHL All-Star and received the Best Defenseman Award for the
Tigers. He also set a record of seven points in one game
with the Tigers scoring two goals and adding five assists.
WHL All-Star and Received the Best
Defenseman Award
 After
his solid junior career, Rod was drafted in 1981 in the
sixth round by the Pittsburg Penguins. After some
seasoning in the minors, Rod made his NHL
debut near the start of the 1982-83 season. For eight
seasons he was a reliable contributor on the blue line as
the club slowly improved over the rest of the decade.
In 1989 Rod helped the Penguins come within a game of
reaching the Stanley Cup semifinals.
At the
start of the 1989-90 campaign, Rod was dealt to the
Vancouver Canucks. However, he appeared in only 17
games for the Canucks before breaking his ankle, requiring
surgery. While recovering, he was traded back to
Pittsburgh. Rod was a “hard nosed physical defender”
and when he moved to play with the
Los Angeles Kings in 1990-91 he was Pittsburgh’s all- time
leader in penalty minutes, a record that was later broken.
Rod was a “Hard
Nosed Physical Defender”
Rod spent a
year with the Los Angeles Kings and was then traded to the
Chicago Blackhawks in the 1991-92 season. That
season’s playoffs would prove to be one of the highlights of
Rod’s career as Chicago reached the Stanley Cup finals
before losing to Rod’s former team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Rod’s NHL
career came to a close in 1992-93; he played a total of 574
NHL games and finished his tenure with 19 goals, 63 assists
along with 1294 penalty minutes. Rod played the next three
years in the IHL finishing his hockey career with the Las
Vegas Thunder. In total, Rod played just under 900
professional hockey league games including those played in
the NHL, IHL and AHL.
Rod also Organized and Played in
Alumni
Hockey Events for Las Vegas Charities
Since
retirement Rod has continued his involvement in hockey.
In 1995-1996 and part of the next season, he was the
Assistant coach with the Las Vegas Thunder. For ten
years Rod coached minor hockey teams in Las Vegas Nevada
where he currently resides with his wife Debra,
son Blake and daughter Paulina. One year he coached Blake’s
team to the US National Finals. Rod has also
organized and played in Alumni hockey events for Las Vegas
charities. This year Rod was invited by Mario Lemieux and
the Pittsburgh Penguin organization to play in the Winter
Classic Alumni game. The game was played outdoors at Heinz
field in Pittsburgh prior to the Pens/Caps Winter Classic
game. It was an honor for Rod to be invited to play in this
elite group and lace them up one more time with Mario. He
also scored a goal in a 5-5 tie.
Rod’s
exemplary NHL career has been an inspiration to the young
hockey players of Wetaskiwin and County. We applaud Rod’s
professional hockey career and take pride in inducting Rod
Buskas into the Wetaskiwin and County Sports Hall of Fame.
Information
about an inductee is collected
from published sources, sports archives, scrapbooks,
anecdotal information from family, friends and fans, and the
athlete.
However,
sometimes the best stories and personal insights are gleaned
at the induction
dinner from the introductory
comments or acceptance speech of the inductee or their
representative.
Where
possible we have included this
type of information for your enjoyment.
Read the
opening comments made by Sandra Wright when introducing Rod
Buskas.
Read Rod's
acceptance speech.
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