BUTLER TWP— Ashlee Gallagher might not be the biggest Pittsburgh Penguins fan in Butler.

But if she isn't, she's close.

Gallagher, 17, a junior at Butler High School, has followed the team since she was a baby — when the team was winning Stanley Cups.

"She used to sit on my lap and watch those playoff games with me when she was a year old. And her eyes were glued to the set,"said her father Greg Gallagher.

The younger Gallagher attends three to five games a season and has attended numerous practice sessions. She's collected eight sticks and 40 pucks from Penguins players over the years.

Her brother, 5-year-old Colin, received a stick from Penguin rookie star Evgeni Malkin at a game earlier this season.

"That's just not right," she said, smiling, unable to hide her envy.

Gallagher's career goal is to land a job in hockey, preferably as a TVor radio broadcaster for a National Hockey League team. So for her part in the Butler High School job shadow program, she opted to follow Penguins radio color commentator Phil Bourque for a day.

"To complete our portfolio at school, we have to choose someone in the field we'd like to enter and follow that person around on the job for a day,"Gallagher said. "The choice was easy for me."

Gallagher had met Bourque at Penguins practice sessions and approached him about the job shadowing idea a few weeks ago.

Bourque was receptive to it and called Gallagher a few days later, inviting her and her father to follow him on the job during the team's Dec. 29 game vs. Toronto at Mellon Arena.

The Gallaghers arrived at the arena a little after 6 p.m. that night, only to discover Bourque has an all-day job.

"His day began at 10:30 that morning,"Ashlee Gallagher said. "He goes to the Penguins' morning skate, the opponent's morning skate and gathers information. Then he spends most of the day organizing and creating game notes.

"He (Bourque) didn't leave the arena until 11:45 p.m. He said he takes an hour on game days to go home, take a shower, sit on the couch and 'Just be Phil.'"

Bourque and Penguins veteran play-by-play announcer Mike Lange meet before the game to plan the pre-game broadcast.

"Bourque's preparation for the game is incredible,"Greg Gallagher said. "He goes into each game with stacks and stacks of papers, many with hand-scribbled game notes he compiled himself."

Once his playing career ended, Bourque attended broadcasting school at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut through the NHLPlayers Association.

He waited three years to gain a position on the Penguins broadcasting team.

"I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing right now. I tried real estate when I got out of hockey — I was miserable,"Bourque told Gallagher in an interview. "There are only 30 of these jobs in the NHL. I had to be patient.

"As a player, I got in front of a microphone whenever I could. I took on numerous public speaking engagements. It all helped."

Despite seeing the hours of preparation done behind the scenes, Gallagher is not discouraged.

"That's still what I want to do,"she insisted. "I want to break into that business. It's definitely the job for me.

"I'll probably study physical therapy in college. If I don't get into broadcasting, I can work with hockey that way. I'll drive the Zamboni if I have to — I'll do anything."