Penguins Make 2nd Round of Training Camp Cuts

Well, the Penguins reduced their roster again yesterday, sending 13 people to the Baby Penguins.

Without naming all of them, I'll say that there weren't really any surprises in the cuts. Among the more notable players sent down were Ryan Stone, Jonathan Filewich and Kris Beech. Ben Lovejoy and Joey Mormina -- 2 of the Penguins fringe prospects on defense behind Goligoski -- also were sent down.

Those still with the team include forwards Janne Pesonen and Bill Thomas, as well as defenseman Dany Richmond. Of course, Go-Go is still with the big club, too. Paul Bissonette has stuck around, too, although I'm not sure at this point whether he's a defenseman or forward. Of course, he was drafted as a defenseman, but has been playing more up front recently.

At this point, the Penguins have 16 forwards, 10 defenseman and 3 goaltenders. Expect about 4 or 5 more players to go down, one of whom will almost surely be goaltender Jonathan Curry.

Hopefully we'll know more about the status of Gonchar's injury soon. Even though I'm on my way out of town, I'll try to post as soon as I know something.

Payback at the Hands of the Kris and Go-Go Show: Penguins Beat Lightning, 3-2

Continuing their exhibition slate last evening, the Penguins visited one of my favorite cities in the U.S., Tampa, to face-off against the Lightning for the 2nd straight game. If there's a place you want to see the Penguins play on the road, Tampa is the place. Aside from the nice weather, you'll find spectacular entertainment in the area. And not just on the ice.

But back to the game at hand.

The Penguins prevailed 3-2 behind something Penguin fans may become very used to seeing in the first month or two of the season: The Kris and G0-Go Show. Defensemen Kris Letang ang Alex Goligoski, teaming up on the power play, each had 2 helpers to lead the way for the Penguins. Tyler Kennedy scored the tiebreaking goal in the 3rd period, while Max Talbot added a score in the second. Pittsburgh native Bill Thomas had the Penguins' other goal, and added an assist in a nice performance.

I didn't see Janne Pesonen on the scoresheet, but I believe Ruslan Fedotenko chipped in with a helper. The Penguins left just about all of their big guns at home and, although Tampa dressed a few players who didn't suit up in Pittsburgh -- including Ryan Malone -- they still didn't ice their best lineup. Vinny Lecavalier continues to come back from a shoulder injury, and Martin St. Louis didn't play either.

The Penguins, did, however, get a chance to torture Olaf Kolzig, who started and went the distance for Tampa. He should be used to fishing out pucks from Penguin sticks by now.

In the Penguins net, Dany Sabourin and John Curry split duties. Sabourin let up both goals, while Curry shut the door in the 2nd half. Nice performance for him.

The action also was reportedly a little rough out there. There were 5 fights in the game. Tampa Bay forward Zenon Konopka was in 3 of them, and Sergei-Gonchar basher David Koci the other 2. For the Penguins, things were a little more spread out. 5 players dropped the mitts, including Boogie Man Jr. -- Aaron Boogard -- little brother of known and large Minnesota Wild pugilist Derek Boogard.

Speaking of Gonchar, there's no word yet on the severity of his injury. The suspicion is a separation, which would be consistent with the hit he took. He's waiting for an MRI, and the fact that he's still waiting for it probably suggests there's a lot of swelling in the area.

Like I said, we could be seeing a lot of the Kris and Go-Go Show.

The Penguins return home to resume their exhibition slate tomorrow against the Toronto Maple Leafts at Mellon Arena.

I'll be out of town for a few days, so posting may be more difficult. But I'll return at the end of the week and hopefully, by then (if not sooner), we'll at least have an udpate on Gonchar's status. I would also expect the Penguins to make their final roster cuts this weekend, as they prepare to travel to Sweden in just less than a week.

Exhibition Opener: Penguins Lose to Tampa Bay in a Shootout, 5-4

Ah, hockey again.

Finally.

Even a 3 month offseason is too long for me. It was great to see the boys back on the ice Saturday night, even if their efforts added up to a 5-4 shootout loss to Tampa Bay.

The good news was that Miroslav Satan looked good on Crosby's flank, and the power play chipped in with 2 goals thanks to Petr Sykora.

The bad news was that Jussi Jokenen and #1 overall draft pick Steven Stamkos smoked Fleury in the shooout, and that the overall team defense and goaltending were shaky, at best. Even though the defensive work may be expected to be shaky in the first preseason game, that doesn't mean I have to like it.

The (potentially) worst news surrounds the injury that defenseman Sergei Gonchar suffered to his left shoulder when Lightning and ex-Penguin wanna-be thug David Koci drove him into the boards. I don't think the hit was illegal, but I also don't think it was necessary. Obviously, Koci was trying to make a name for himself in front of new Tampa coach Barry Melrose, but someone needs to tell him he's already spent a career trying to make a name for himself and it isn't likely to change anytime soon.

Anyway, Gonchar got up relatively quickly and did leave the ice favoring the shoulder somewhat, but he also didn't appear to be in overwhelming pain. He's supposed to get an MRI sometime in the next day or two, and word is that he may be out for a while. If that proves to be the case, it will be very unfortunate for the Penguins, especially with Ryan Whitney already on the shelf. All of their depth on defense may be needed after all.

Tonight the Penguins are back in action to resume their exhibition slate against the Lightning, this time in Tampa. Ruslan Fedotenko will be making his Penguin debut against the guy he will try to replace, Ryan Malone, who should be in the lineup for Tampa Bay.

Let's hope we come out of this one injury free.

Look for a post-game report tomorrow, if possible.

3 Days Into Camp ...

3 days into training camp on-ice workouts and here are the team storylines ..

- The Penguins are already set to play their first exhibition game against Tampa Bay tonight at Mellon Arena. It appears as if Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts didn't make the trip for the Lightning, but No. 1 overall draftpick Steven Stamkos did. Among the Penguins' bubble players, Ryan Stone and Pittsburgh native Bill Thomas will be in the lineup tonight. I'm anxious to see what Thomas can do out there.

- With the exception of one player, all of the promising prospects in the organization -- Luca Caputi, Dustin Jeffrey, Kevein Veilleux, Casey Pierro-Zabotel, and Alex Grant -- all were already returned to their junior teams or the baby Penguins. The Penguins made their first cuts yesterday. In Caputi's case, he seems to have been the victim of a shorter camp and a hip injury that didn't give him a meaningful chance to show what he can do. The one prospect who remains with the team right now, not surprisingly, is defenseman Alex Goligoski.

- Rob Scuderi hasn't been practicing for the last 2 days due to injury. This can't help his efforts to ensure his spot on the team.

- New free agent acquisition Miroslav Satan has started out camp on Sidney Crosby's wing. Both will be in the lineup and expect to play together tonight.

- Jordan Staal has been getting a lot of time on Evgeni Malkin's left side in camp. It looks as if the Penguins are going to try that combination at the start of the season.

That's the latest. I'm eager to see the boys on the ice beginning tonight. Janne Pesonen is another player I'll be following closely. I'd love more than anything for him to take Pascual Dupuis' spot on Crosby's left wing -- not because I dislike Dupuis, but because he's miscast in that role. I'd rather see Fedotenko than Dupuis there, in fact. I suppose we'll see. Any combination is possible with Therein behind the bench.

Let the game action on the ice begin ....

5 Burning Questions

With Day 1 of Camp in the Books, there's already much to say about the happenings on the ice. However, I'm going to have to bite my tongue for a day before talking about those things; otherwise, camp will be over before I get to address what I think are the Penguins' top 5 issues heading into camp (and, to a degree, the season).

So, without further delay, let's get to it. The questions are listed in no particular order:

1) WILL THE SHORT OFFSEASON, SHORT CAMP AND START OF THE SEASON OVERSEAS HURT THE PENGUINS?

This is the issue that could rear it's ugly head all season long. The off-season was extremely short for the Penguins. That's what happens when you go all the way to the Cup Final (and just another reason why you want to win it when you get there). I don't think the short offseason will hurt the Penguins early on -- in fact, their timing may not be as off as some other teams. The jury is out as to how fatigued they'll be later in the year, though.

The short training camp, on the other hand, could indeed result in the Penguins being rusty. It also doesn't give them meaningful time to evaluate their young players, which hurts the chances of guys who have been on the fringe of the roster in prior years -- players like Jonathan Filewich and Ryan Stone -- as well as the chances of some younger players like Luca Caputi and Kevin Veilleux.

Of course, the shorter camp is a result of the Penguins traveling overseas to start the season in Sweden with 2 games against the Ottawa Senators. Provided the Penguins aren't overrun by Daniel Alfreddson fans, they stand a good chance to open up the season 2-0 and make the trip a rousing success. That won't come without cost, however. Aside from reducing the time of camp, the Penguins only have 4 exhibition games. These games also require that the Penguins take nearly a week off before and after the games just to travel and get acclimated. Historically, teams that have played overseas to start the year -- including the Penguins when they opened up their season against the Nashville Predators in Japan a handful of years ago -- have been sluggish on the ice in their return to North America.

The Penguins didn't start well last year; let's hope their overseas trip to start the season this year doesn't put them in the same predicament, because slow starts are not always easy to overcome.

2) HOW WILL RYAN WHITNEY'S INJURY AFFECT THE TEAM AND WHO WILL BE THE STARTING 6 DEFENSEMEN TO BEGIN THE SEASON IN HIS ABSENCE?

Defenseman Ryan Whitney is a little more than a month removed from his surgery to correct a deformed foot. Although his recovery and rehabilitation is said to be going well, the earliest he'll be back is in mid-November. Potentially, he could be out for the rest of 2008.

Fortunately for the Penguins, they have good depth on the blueline. There are no less than 7 NHL-experienced defenseman on the team, excluding Whitney: Sergei Gonchar, Rob Scuderi, Brooks Orpik, Mark Eaton, Kris Letang, Daryl Sydor, and Hal Gill. Of course, that list doesn't include the man knocking on the door for a spot on the backline, top prospect Alex Goligoski.

As it is now, two of those 8 won't be in the starting lineup. Gonchar, Orpik, Letang and Gill are vitrutal locks. Eaton can probably be counted on for one of the other spots. Whether Sydor, Scuderi or Goligoski gets the other one remains to be seen. It has long been known that GM Ray Shero has been shopping Daryl Sydor. He hasn't found any takers, though. Assuming that continues to be the case, there's a good chance he'll be scratched come game time. If Goligoski wows the brass at camp, he could make Scuderi a healthy scratch, too.

What happens when Whitney returns is anybody's guess. Depending on how Kris Letang performs in Whitney's absence, #19 could end up being good trade bait.

Now, I'm not a Whitney basher like most people are. I think he fills a valuable role on our squad -- a role that would be even more valuable when Gonchar's contract expires in 2 years because, given his age, it's doubtful the Penguins will pay what is likely to be necessary to bring him back at that time. However, there's no denying that the Penguins' strong depth on the blueline makes a trade or two possible. Whitney is a guy that would be attractive to a lot of other teams in exchange for a nice scoring winger.

On the ice, the Penguins will miss Whintey, but because of Letang's skill-set, losing him doesn't drastically alter the approach the Penguins will take to offense or the power play.

3) WILL THE PENGUINS' OFF-SEASON FREE AGENCY ACQUISITIONS OFFSET THEIR FREE AGENCY LOSSES

This is perhaps the most obvious question facing the team this year. The Penguins lost forwards Marion Hossa, Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Jarkko Ruutu and Georges Laraque in the off-season. With those players gone, the Penguins lost primary and secondary scoring, and individual and team toughness.

Replacing those players up front are former New York Islander wingers Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, former Washington Capital Matt Cooke, and former Calgary Flame Eric Goddard.

Goddard will replace Laraque as the team enforcer. Although he's a skilled fighter, Laraque was unquestionably at the top of the NHL-food chain in that regard. The Penguins lose in this area, even if they did save on salary.

Cooke will replace some of the abrasiveness that Ruutu brought, and will be a better offensive player. A lot of fans probably don't know much about Cooke. He's not going to score 30 goals, but could chip in 15. He plays all 3 forward positions and does an excellent job along the boards. He's a gritty, in-your-face player like Ruutu.

All that said, Roberts and Malone brought physiciality to the team, as well. The Penguins will miss the intangibles they bring, and I wouldnt' be surprised to see Shero bring in an experienced veteran with an edge at some point this year to help make up for those losses as the Penguins (hopefully) head towards the playoffs again.

Hossa is one of the best wingers in the game. Nobody can replace him. But don't underestimate what Satan can do. He scored at least 25 goals for 8 seasons in a row until the Islanders were putrid last season. He can easily recapture that form, and exceed it. He already showed some good chemistry playing in Hossa's old spot on Sidney Crosby's wing in the first day of camp.

I also think Fedotenko is an underrated player. He could score as much as Ryan Malone did. He's just as good on the wall, although maybe not the presence in front of the net. Time will tell if he ends up playing in Malone's old spot riding portside to Evgeni Malkin, or whether Jordan Staal gets that role.

Overall, any reasonable observer has to look at the Penguins and see they took somewhat of a step backwards in the offseason. However, I don't believe the step back is that big -- and certainly less than many people think.

4) WHAT WILL THE PENGUINS DO WITH JORDAN STAAL THIS YEAR?

By all accounts, Jordan Staal met the expectations of the organization last year. Sure, his statistics went down, but there's no question he improved as a player, especially defensively. Nobody in the league questions his ability to be a top 2-way center in this league and if Ray Shero put him on the block, every other team in the NHL would be knocking his door down. Yesterday.

One other reason why Staal's statistics decreased last year is that he didn't play alongside Evgeni Malkin during any stretch of time, nor did he get any meaningful minutes on the power play. Staal is a great player. Obviously, he's going to put up better numbers if he plays with better players.

This year, it looks as if #11 is going to get a legitimate crack at the power play. Ideally, he's able to replace Jordan Malone in front of the net there. He's got the size and hands to do it. He'll have to want to take the punishment, though.

In addition to that -- and if the 1st day of training camp is any indication -- it seems as if coach Michel Therein wants to give Staal a permanent spot in the top 6 by slotting him next to Malkin again. He had Ruslan Fedotenko, Matt Cooke, and Max Talbot on the 3rd line.

If Staal ends up playing with Malkin, in addition to being a valuable offensive contributor, he'll be an excellent defensive consience to the 2 very creative offensive linemates in Malkin and Petr Sykora. If Staal stays there the entire season, he could be a 35 goal scorer.

5) WHAT WILL THE PENGUINS DO IF MARC-ANDRE FLEURY GETS HURT AGAIN

This could be the quiet thorn in the Penguins side all year. It's not that #29 is injury-prone. Despite his ankle sprain last year, he doesn't have that kind of track record. The problem is that the Penguins' proven backup, Ty Conklin, was let go in free agency. To think he signed a whopping $770,000 deal to back up Chris Osgood with the hated Red Wings. For a backup of his known caliber, that's a bargain, and I still don't know why we couldn't have brought him back for that much.

I am concerned that, if Fleury goes down for a stretch of time, Dany Sabourin won't hold the fort nearly as well. He had a chance to do that last year and failed to make the most of it. Having Fleury stay healthy will be a huge key for the Penguins this year, because if he doesn't, I wouldn't be surprised to see the team give John Curry a shot. He looked great for Wilkes-Barre in his first professional season last year and I think the team expects him to be the regular backup for Fleury as soon as next season when Sabourin becomes a free agent. In light of all those circumstances, don't be surprised to see him if Fleury gets hurt because there's at least a 50/50 chance that Sabourin will only provide the Penguins with inconsistent goaltending --- at best.

Well, those are the 5 key issues facing the team as it heads to camp and, not long after, into the regular season.

In the coming days, we'll talk more about the battles going on at camp and how the roster and lines may be starting to shake out.

Training Camp Begins

Is it here already?

It's hard to believe that the Boys are back in camp. Seems like yesterday I was saying some things I can't repeat here to Red Wings' netminder Chris Osgood when he carried the Stanley Cup around Mellon Arena ice.

Let's not go there.

This year, the Penguins will look to break an ugly trend. In the last 12 years, the teams which have gone to the Stanely Cup Final and lost have only won ONE playoff series in each subsequent year.

There's no question that the Penguins' have had a shorter off-season -- like any Cup finalist would. There's also no question that the lack of sufficient summer down time could catch up to them at some point this season.

Let's hope not.

I think the bigger challenge for the Penguins will be coming out of the gate strong. Their training camp is extremely short. They are here for only 10 days before heading off to Sweden approximately one week in advance of their season opening 2-game set in Stockholm against the Ottawa Senators. During that period, they play only 4 exhibition games -- the first of which is this Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Mellon Arena. They also play a final *tuneup* game against the Finnish National Team while overseas, before they play Ottawa.

The Penguins finished the rookie tournament last weekend with a 2-1 record, beating Toronto and Florida's squads, but losing to Ottawa's minor league group. Among the Penguins who participated, defenseman Alex Goligoski was said to look fabulous. Kevin Veilleux, Dustin Jeffrey and Casey Pierro-Zabotel also were said to look good. All were invited to the main camp, which begun yesterday with physicials and off-ice workouts. We'll see how they perform on the ice today.

Luca Caputi -- someone I'm excited to see -- was held out of the last 2 games of the rookie tournament due to a hip pointer. He, too, will be at the big camp, however. Hopefully he'll be able to play because, as set forth above, there isn't much time to make an impression.

In the coming days, I'll talk about 5 training camp questions -- things to watch for during camp and heading into this coming season.

For now, let's watch the boys go back to work.

It's great to be back.

The Countdown To Camp

Now that September is upon us, it's time to get back in hockey mode.

IT'S ABOUT TIME!!

Okay. I can't complain. The Penguins run to the Stanley Cup finals really shortened the off-season. It wasn't that long ago when we were celebrating Petr Sykora's triple overtime winner in game 5. After the meaningful period of free agency, there's really only been about 6 weeks or so without significant news, Ryan Whitney's injury notwithstanding.

Now, however, it's time to get in the swing again. Penguins' training camp starts in approximately 10 days on September 16. Prior to that, the Penguins will hold their annual rookie camp beginning next Wednesday, September 10. The Penguins' top prospects will be in Pittsburgh for 3 days of conditioning and workouts under the tutilige of Wilkes Barre head coach Dan Blysma (and under the watchful eyes of Penguins' head coach Michel Therrein and GM Ray Shero) before heading off to Kitchener, Ontario Canada to play in a tournament against the prospects from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, and Ottawa Senators.

This is the 2nd or 3rd year the team has done this. Last year, the "junior" Penguins had a pretty good showing in that tournament.

This year, all eyes will be on defenseman Alex Goligoski in both the rookie camp and the main camp. Goligoski, who will be wearing number 13 now, has every opportunity to crack the top 6 and push Darryl Sydor back into the press box or out of town to start the year.

Although Goligoski will deservedly command most of the attention, left wing Luca Caputi will also be on the radar of a lot of observers, myself included. Caputi has really come on as a prospect in the last year, and the challenge for him will be to establish himself as an offensive force at the pro level, whether that be in the NHL or initially at the AHL. Caputi contribued in the Baby Penguins' playoff run when he arrived last season, but didn't dominate as he did with the Niagra Ice Dogs of the Ontario Hockey League. He's proven to be a quick learner and has the work ethic to do what it takes, but only time will tell if he sees any action with the big club this year. For as much as I'd love to see him crack the Penguins' roster, I think he's probably ticketed for Wilkes-Barre. Hopefully I'm wrong.

I'll post more next week on the rookie camp.

Until then ...