The NHL / Chris Baker : With the Penguins, Asst. Capt. Roscoe Is a Scoring Machine

When Terry Ruskowski was captain of the Kings, he was known as Capt. Roscoe.

But he isn’t Capt. Roscoe anymore.

Ruskowski, who played for the Kings from 1982 to 1985 and was captain for the last two seasons, became a free agent at the end of the 1984-85 season. He signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins last summer after he and the Kings failed to come to terms.

Ruskowski, never a big scorer, has become a scoring machine this season. In fact, he has scored more goals than any King.

“Money wasn’t a big factor--it was more security,” Ruskowski said.

The Kings offered Ruskowski a one-year contract with a one-year option. But the Penguins offered him a two-year contract with a one-year option.

“I tried my best to stay here, but Rogie (Vachon, the King general manager) didn’t feel he could offer me a three-year contract because of my age (30).”

Ruskowski returned to Southern California last Saturday night when the Kings beat the Penguins, 4-3, in overtime.

One of the recurrent themes for the Kings this season has been ex-teammates and ex-coaches returning to beat them, but the Kings changed the script this time.

Ruskowski set up the Penguins’ first goal of the game and scored on a power play with 16 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. But he said he was playing out of position when Dave (Tiger) Williams scored the game-winning goal with 1:50 left in overtime.

Ruskowski has many friends in the entertainment industry. Friday night, he went to a taping of the TV show “Who’s the Boss” at the invitation of Tony Danza, the show’s star.

“I really miss L.A.,” Ruskowski said. “It’s such a fabulous city. I miss the Kings, too. I hope things turn around for them.

“The Kings are struggling now, but I know they will come out of it. I remember that the Kings were winless in their first nine games last season, and they turned it around.”

Ruskowski was one of the Kings’ team leaders, and they appear to miss his leadership this season. He is an assistant captain for the Penguins.

“He’s really become one of our team leaders,” Pittsburgh left wing Troy Loney said. “We need it because we’ve got a lot of young guys. Plus, he’s started to score like crazy.”

Ruskowski, who spent most of his career at center, is playing left wing on a line with center Mario Lemieux and right wing Doug Shedden. Lemieux was the National Hockey League’s 1984-85 Rookie of the Year.

“Mario’s fantastic,” Ruskowski said. “He’s a superstar. My goal-scoring opportunities are up because I’m playing with him.”

Lemieux helped left wing Warren Young, a 29-year-old rookie, become a 40-goal scorer last season. Young became a free agent at the end of the season and signed with Detroit. However, he has yet to score a goal this season.

Ruskowski, who scored an NHL career-high 16 goals last season, is well ahead of that pace this season, however.

Going into Tuesday’s games, Lemieux led the Penguins in scoring with 12 goals and 17 assists in 17 games. Shedden had 7 goals and 6 assists in 16 games, and Ruskowski had 9 goals and 5 assists in 16 games. Ruskowski had scored three goals in the Penguins’ last two games.

“It’s a different kind of situation,” Ruskowski said. “If I were still with the Kings, I probably wouldn’t be playing on the power play. And I’ve had some good opportunities on our power play this season.”

Ruskowski, who leased a house in the San Fernando Valley while he was playing here, has purchased a home in Upper St. Clair, a Pittsburgh suburb. His wife, Carol, is pregnant with the couple’s second child. He said she is due on Christmas.

“I really like Pittsburgh a lot,” he said. “The fans have accepted me.”

The NHL general managers considered a proposal to shorten the 18-minute intermission between periods to 15 minutes at their meeting in Chicago on Monday. Since the league went to the longer intermissions this season, games have been running three hours or longer.

But any change would have to be approved by the NHL Board of Governors, which is scheduled to meet Dec. 8-9 at Palm Beach, Fla.

“The GMs feel it’s too long,” said Minnesota’s Lou Nanne, chairman of the NHL General Managers committee. “We would like to see it shortened. But you need a unanimous vote of the Board (of Governors).”

Nanne added that he doesn’t expect any changes until after the season. At their next meeting in January, the general managers will also consider a proposal for uniform media access to the locker room after practices and games. There have been complaints that some teams won’t admit the media to the locker room after practices.

There is also a move to make the training room the only area of the locker room off limits to reporters. Many teams, such as the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers, have other rooms that are are off-limits. The rooms, which contain wide-screen TVs and Ping-Pong tables, were designed as a place for players to relax, but players have been using them to hide out from the media after games.