"When the Penguins approached center Joe Vitale about a contract extension last week, he couldn't grab a pen fast enough.

"They put something together, and there wasn't too much negotiating," he said. "Both parties wanted to get it done. I know I wanted to get it done, and it worked out."

The team announced Friday that Vitale, who would have been a restricted free agent after the season, signed a two-year deal that will pay him an average of $550,000 through 2013-14. It will be a slight bump from this season's salary, when he made $525,000.

After practice yesterday at Southpointe, a smile spread across Vitale's face -- even though he knew he probably was buying dinner for some teammates tonight in Boston. The Penguins play the Bruins at 1 p.m. today at TD Garden.

After soaking in the good news, Vitale, 26, was asked about more challenging times in his career.

"A lot of dark, dark days and dark, dark years," he said.

A native of St. Louis, Vitale was part of three state championship teams at Christian Brothers College High School and won a national title with the St. Louis Junior Blues in 2004. But he saw how the other side lived when he played for Sioux Falls of the United States Hockey League and later at Northeastern University, where the team won three games his freshman season."