Rings and Things: The Penguins' Championship Jewelry And More

The Pittsburgh Penguins received their 2009 Stanley Cup Championshp rings last night in a private ceremony at the LeMont restaurant on Mount Washington.

Here's a look see at each player's own personal piece of championship hardware:

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/gallerylanding.htm?id=8776

Kudos to those who had input in the design of that baby, because it's pretty fantastic.

On the left side of the ring you can't see at all, it lists each player's name and number, together with the team's 4 series' triumphs from each round this past post-season. On the right side, you can see the top of 3 Stanley Cups. The 2 cups on the left and right have the years '91 and '92 in them to commemorate the Penguins' prior championships, together with the cup in the middle representing this year's title and the 2009 year across the top of that side of the ring.

In other Penguins news, there were roster happenings surrounding the team yesterday.

First, the Penguins waived five players with the intention of sending them to their main AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre: forwards Paul Bissonette, Chris Connor and Ryan Bayda, and defenseman Nate Guenin and Derryk Engelland.

There had been some talk that pretty much any of the first 4 of those guys listed had a possibility of sticking with the squad as an extra forward or defenseman, but that proved not to be the case.

The Penguins did sign Bayda to a one-year, two-way contract yesterday, which they had to do if they wanted to keep him in the organization because he appeared on a tryout. His agent was hoping to get him a one-way contract -- and explored other opportunities throughout the league for that -- but didn't find great interest, leaving the Penguins feeling pretty comfortable in signing him and sending him down without the fear of losing him.

Bayda had a strong camp -- much like Adam Hall did in making the team 2 seasons ago on a tryout -- and the it would not surprise anyone if Bayda was one of the first people called up from WBS when the need arises.

In the NHL, Bayda would earn $500,000.

The reason why the Penguins sent defenseman Nate Guenin -- who had been the frontrunner to win the #7 defenseman job over Engelland and injured teammate Ben Lovejoy -- down was because the Penguins reached contract terms with veteran defenseman Martin Skoula yesterday.

Skoula played with the Minnesota Wild the last 2 seasons, and at 29, is a veteran of over 700+ NHL games. He was not re-signed by Minnesota this off-season and just completed a tryout with the Columbus Blue Jackets. Obviously, they chose not to offer him a contract.

Skoula can play a bit of a two way game, but as the 7th defenseman who probably isn't going to see the ice unless there's an injury, the Penguins are just looking at him as a guy who can fill in capably, be steady, and not make any glaring mistakes. While the Penguins' have had their eye on him dating back to August -- and, in fact, even made a contract offer he didn't accept back then -- there's a reason he couldn't stick in Minnesota and Columbus. He's been a fairly significant minus player the last few years, and the Penguins will need that to change if they have to call upon Skoula to enter the lineup.

He signed a one-way contract worth $600,000 and will stay with the team.

The Penguins currently have 21 active roster players. Lovejoy, forward Mark Letetsu (who will go to Wilkes Barre when he recovers from his knee injury) and Max Talbot all will begin the season on injured reserve.

Speaking of Talbot, he made his first appearance on the ice yesterday as he continues his recovery from off-season shoulder surgery.

For the most part, the Penguins' Stanley Cup hero wanted to get the legs loose and feel the puck a bit. Talbot is still quite limited with his range of motion, however, which makes shooting with velocity difficult for him at this stage.

Still, Mad Max remains on schedule in his rehabilitation. If everything continues to go well, the Penguins will see him back in the lineup in about 8 weeks.

The countdown to the season and home opener Friday against the New York Rangers -- when the Penguins will broadcast the Stanley Cup Banner raising ceremony and the game outside their arena on the big screen, just like they had up the last 2 post-seasons -- is down to 2 days.

More that morning.

Let's Go Pens.

Pens' Finish 2009 Pre-Season With 5 Straight Defeats After Falling To Red Wings, 4-1

This will be a short post.

The Pittsburgh Penguins put an exclamation point on a pre-season to forget last night at the same site of their final game last season.

You all may remember that contest.

It was arguably the greatest game in the franchise's history.

Well, it's a far cry from Kansas Dorothy, because in Pittsburgh's 4-1 loss to Detroit last night at Joe Louis Arena, the Penguins finished their 2009 pre-season with five consecutive losses, looking little like the hockey team that captured its third Stanley Cup in the place they call "hockeytown" last June 12.

Sure, the Penguins played without Sidney Crosby, who as most people know is nursing a groin problem, and Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar, who were both healthy scratches, but regardless of who was in or out of the lineup this pre-season, the Penguins seem to be lacking some killer instinct.

Obviously, they deserve some degree of a pass with their play the lats few weeks. These games are pre-season contests after all.

But there's no doubting that the Boys of Winter are going to have to dial up the intensity when the regular season begins starting Friday at home against the New York Rangers if they want better results.

Once the team gets their championship rings this week and sees that Stanley Cup banner go up prior to the opening faceoff against the blueshirts, the Penguins need to step on the gas pedal and put last year completely and entirely in their collective rear view mirrors.

And one thing in particular they need to do after that is shore up their penalty kililng because, right now, that unit is obviously feeling the loss of defensemen Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill to free agency.

Detroit scored several power play markers last night, causing the Pens' to finish the season with a PK percentage around a putrid 73%.

That needs to improve in a hurry.

In the next few days, the Penguins will finalize their roster. They already took the first step towards that by sending goaltender John Curry to Wilkes-Barre Scranton of the AHL yesterday, leaving them with 28 roster players. They must be down to 23 (or less) by Wednesday, 9-30.

Once that is settled, perhaps they can start to actually go about their business on the ice properly.

More soon.

Crosby Injured in Penguins Pre-Season Defeat in Columbus

The biggest story coming out of last night's preseason game for the Penguins in Columbus against the Blue Jackets was not that they lost hard, 5-2, for their third straight pre-season loss, but instead the fact that center and Captain Sidney Crosby was forced to leave the game just 5 minutes into the contest with a groin injury.

The team does not believe the injury to be serious and indicated that Crosby left the game more as a precautionary measure than anything, but Crosby did say that the groin has been flaring up on him in recent days.

No word on whether he'll be ready to play for the home and season opener exactly one week from today on October 2 against the New York Rangers, but early indications are that he should be ready to go in that one if he stays off the skates for a few days.

Crosby missed about 3/4 games with a groin strain last year, and that ended up being about a week. We'll see where he is this time around.

On the ice, the Penguins looked disorganized and a step behind the Blue Jackets last night.

Columbus got a strong game in goal from Calder Trophy winner Steve Mason, who only allowed goals from Evgeni Malkin and Nate Guenin in the win.

At the other end of the ice, Pens' netminder Marc-Andre Fleury wasn't nearly as sharp in stopping 27 shots.

Guenin, by the way, continued to make a case for himself as the #7 defenseman.

The game was also very physical, with 6 total fighting majors, including 2 victories by Pens' LW Paul Bissonette.

The Penguins' final pre-season game is Sunday night on the road against Detroit. While Pens' HCDB has said that game, like last night, will be a dress rehearsal for the regular season, it's unlikely that Crosby will suit up for it.

More over the weekend.

Let's Go Pens.

Penguins Re-assign 14 Players

Today, the Pittsburgh Penguins made their second roster reduction of their 2009 training camp and re-assigned 14 players within their organization.

2009 first round draft pick, defenseman Simon Despres -- who handled himself quite well in camp -- was returned to his junior team in St. John, Quebec, Canada.

The other 13 players were assigned to the Penguins' main AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre Scranton. Those players are:

Konstantin Pushkarev, Wade Brookbank, Nick Johnson, Dustin Jeffrey, Luca Caputi, Tim Wallace, Wyatt Smith, Joe Vitale, and Eric Tangradi, together with defenseman Jonathan D'Aversa, Robert Bortozzo and Chris Lee.

Goaltender Brad Thiessen also was assigned to Wilkes-Barre.

Still with the team, but who were not regularly on the big club last year, are goaltender John Curry, defenseman Ben Lovejoy, Nate Guenin and Deryk Engelland, and forwards Ryan Bayda, Chris Connor and Paul Bissonette.

After today's cuts, the Penguin roster sits at 29, and they need to re-assign 6 of the 7 remaining players before September 30 to get to their official starting roster for this NHL season.

I don't think there's any chance that Curry or Engelland will stick. Bissonette is obviously a guy the franchise likes, but I doubt there's room for him with Eric Goddard and Mike Rupp around., so he's likely to go as well.

That leaves Guenin and Lovejoy fighting for the spot as the team's 7th defenseman, and Bayda and Connor in contention for the spot as the team's 13th forward.

Personally, I think Bayda and Guenin have the inside track for those spots.

Time will tell -- as well, perhaps the peformances of these guys in the last 2 exhibition games tomorrow night and Saturday night. As I mentioned earlier, the Penguins are treating them as dress rehearsals for the regular season which means, at least tomorrow night, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Marc-Andre Fleury, among others, are all expected to be in the lineup.

I wasn't surprised to see most of the guys who were sent to the AHL go down -- including Caputi and Tangradi. The Penguins want those two guys playing big minutes on a regular basis and dominating while they do so. Hopefully one or both will be the first call-up(s) when the need arises.

If there was one young guy I thought had a fair chance of capitalizing on Cup-winning hero Max Talbot missing the first 6 or so weeks of the year while recovering from off-season shoulder surgery, it was Nick Johnson.

Johnson has good size, a diverse and talented skill set, and at 24, decent experience. He can play in several different places in the lineup. If Caputi or Tangradi aren't the first call up from WBS when someone is needed, Johnson will likely be the guy instead.

If there was any move that I thought was interesting, it was that the club kept Pushkarev, rather than cutting him.

Pushkarev -- a former 2nd round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs about 5 years ago -- was brought in on a tryout contract about 10 days after camp started. He has good skill, but has had trouble in the past translating what he shows in practice to games. He's also been criticized previously for not playing better in his own zone.

I didn't get a chance to see a lot of him this pre-season (in part because he recently arrived)m but obviously the team has seen enough of him -- and likes what they see -- to feel he at least belongs on the organizational depth chart.

Let's Go Pens

Pens' 3rd Straight Blown Lead Leafs Them To Their Third Straight Pre-Season Loss

Is it too early to worry about trends?

For the third straight pre-season game last night, the Penguins' blew an early lead and lost, this time to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 in a shootout at Maple Leaf Gardens.

It was the second time in the last 3 games the Penguins' took an early 2-0 lead against Toronto only to have the Leafs come back and win.

Admittedly, the Penguins' had a watered down lineup last night. However, they had a lot of stars suited up in the last two come-from-ahead losses. In my opinion, the Penguins' pre-season penchant for blowing leads is something to pay attention to. I might not feel the way I do about it but for the fact that the team had a demonstrated history of blowing leads last season. They were one of the worst teams in the league doing that in the regular season last year -- especially for the first 2/3 of the schedule.

It's not a habit they want to fall into again.

Last night, Ryan Bayda and Chris Conner staked Pittsburgh to a 2-0 lead in the first, which backup goalie Brent Johnson held up until the Leafs' finally dented him on a play late in the second period when Toronto forward Tyler Bozak crashed right into him and left Johnson helpless to stop Leafs' rookie winger Viktor Stahlberg from scoring to bring Toronto within one.

Johnson finished the period, but the Pittsburgh Tribune Review has reported this morning that Johnson hurt his knee a little bit on the play. Goaltender John Curry came in to start the third, although my understanding was that he was going to do that anyway.

Regardless, Johnson's injury will be worth watching.

Toronto worked hard to come back in the game in the 3rd period and those efforts paid off with about 1 minute to go when Nazem Kadri forced overtime, then won the game in the shootout with Toronto's first -- and deciding (of two) -- shootout goals against Curry.

The Penguins' fell to 1-2-1 in the pre-season so far, and it would be nice to see them get on track a little bit. They have 2 pre-season games left --- Thursday at Columbus and Saturday at Detroit. HCDB has said that those contests will be "dress rehearsals" for the regular season, so it will be interesting to see who exactly he has in the lineup. I've read that the Penguins may make some cuts today. We'll see.

Either way, I want to see more killer instinct and less complacency when they get up by a few goals on the scoreboard.

More later this week --- either after the next pre-season game, or sooner if cuts are announced prior to then.

Let's Go Pens.

Pens' Fall To 1-2 In The Pre-Season After 4-3 Loss To Montreal

Like the exhibition game they played last Friday at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs, things started well enough for the Penguins in their latest exhibition contest on the road last night at the Bell Centre in Montreal against the hallowed Canadiens.

Behind a strong attack (or counter-attack, as the case may be), and goals by Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins had a 2-1 lead going into the third period.

Three unanswered goals later -- including a sloppy shorthanded goal against by Canadiens forward Scott Gomez -- and they were on the end of a 4-3 loss.

Gomez caught Gonchar sleeping a little bit in this writer's estimation when he was able to sneak behind him on a 2-on-2 rush and tap in a dish pass from Brian Gionta past Pens' netminder John Curry.

That goal gave Montreal momentum and they just rolled from there, potting 2 more goals in the next 8 minutes.

The Penguins were up to their usual tricks, outshooting their opponent by a 31-28 margin. And all things considered, I don't think Curry played poorly.

Who did play poorly, however, were Pittsburgh's third defensive pairing on the night -- Ben Lovejoy and Derrek Engelland. They were overmatched most of the night and neither did themselves any favors in trying to gain the team's open 7th defenseman spot. Engelland, in particular, was slow to react and cover Montreal forwards around the net. He finished the evenign minus 3.

Lovejoy wasn't much better at minus 2, and would have been minus 3 as well had he not assisted on Malkin's goal in the 2nd period. He made a nice pass to the trailing Geno after coming out of the penalty box and leading a rush up the near boards, but if he plays like he did in Montreal last night, he certainly won't be the first call-up for the Penguins if (when) one of their defensemen go down.

The Penguins are back in action tonight in Toronto, and will have more of a watered down lineup since both Malkin and Sidney Crosby played last night. Notables who expect to dress this evening are Jordan Staal and Alex Goligoski.

I was impressed with first round draft choice Simon Despres last night. He skated and moved the puck well for his size, and didn't seem intimidated in the least. He was calm under pressure.

Top prospects Eric Tangradi and Luca Caputi showed off some of their talents as well. Both did what they do best. For Caputi, that's being tenacious in the offensive zone and going to the net. For Tangradi, that's working hard along the wall and positioning himself to get off that great shot. He missed an open, point-blank opportunity that Malkin set him up on in the 2nd period that he'll have to bury in the future if he wants to be a top scorer in the league.

More tomorrow.

From Wilkes Barre to Pittsburgh

On Thursday night, the Penguins played a near-complete intraorganization scrimmage in Wilkes Barre before 8,000+ fans of their AHL affiliate Baby Penguins team, with "Team Black" defeating "Team Gold" by a score of 3-2.

Defenseman Alex Goligoski stole the show in that one, scoring all 3 goals for his "Team Black" squad for the hat trick.

Luca Caputi and Mike Rupp scored for "Team Gold"

Post-game put them in mid-season form, as the team hopped on a plane immediately after the contest and flew back to Pittsburgh for last night's exhibition contest with the Toronto Maple Leafs at Mellon Arena.

Unlike Tuesday night when the Pens' won their first home exhibition game, Pittsburgh fell to the Maple Leafs, 4-3.

The result of last night's game certainly didn't speak highly to the Penguins' penalty killing, who gave up 4 power play goals -- all in the second period -- and allowed Toronto to overcome an early 2-0 deficit on first frame goals by Matt Cooke and Evgeni Malkin.

Sure, it didn't help that Craig Adams took a 5-minute major penalty for elbowing during that 2nd period, or that the Pens' gave up a goal while down by 2 men in that stretch, but let's hope that the peformance of the shorthanded unit rounds into better form than that over the remainder of the pre-season.

Brooks' Orpik also scored in the 3rd period for the Penguins, who actually outshot Toronto 27-17 in the game.

Pittsburgh's next pre-season game is on Monday night on the road in Montreal. That game will be televised by The NHL Network. I'll be anxious to see some of the action so I can better digest some of the guys the Penguins' have in camp, rather than just catch the highlights.

More next week.

12 Man Exodus: Penguins Make First Training Camp Cuts

The Penguins made their first cuts of this year's traning camp yesterday, dispatching 10 players to their main AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre Scranton, sending one back to his junior team, and giving another his outright release.

Forwards Joey Haddad, Zack Sill, Kevin Veilleux, Nick Peterson, Aaron Boogard, and Casey Pierro Zabotel, along with defensemen Brian Strait, Lane Caffaro, and Alex Grant, as well as goaltender Jordan Parise were assigned to WBS.

Forward Nathan Moon was sent back to his Ontario Hockey League Club in Kingston.

Defenseman Jamie Hunt was released.

Not too many surprises in this group, really. The Penguins have high hopes for a few of these players in particular -- Pierro Zabotel and Strait, to name two -- but neither of those guys distinguished himself overwhelmingly during the rookie camp, rookie tournament, or the regular part of training camp to-date.

Strait still has some work to do on his game, which isn't uncommon for a defenseman his age. He will probably benefit from 2 years or so in Wilkes-Barre. Guys like Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi honed their games there over a period of time and became good NHL'ers as a result.

Zabotel has a load of offensive potential and even led the Western Hockey League in scoring last season, but he hasn't been able to translate that to productivity with the big boys yet. I can't recall hearing his name mentioned hardly at all over the last 2+ weeks, and that's probably why he was one of the first people sent down.

Let's hope he dominates in his first season of professional hockey this year at the AHL level.

Tonight, the Penguins will have an intersquad, full-organization scrimmage in Wilkes-Barre. More this weekend on that contest and on the Penguins' next exhibition game tomorrow night back in Pittsburgh. Evgeni Malkin is expected to suit up for that one.

Let's Go Pens.

Pens' Open 2009 Pre-Season In 2008 Comeback Style; Defeat Blue Jackets, 5-4 (OT)

Last season, the Pittsburgh Penguins were the best comeback team in hockey.

Pittsburgh had more third period comeback victories than any other squad in the National Hockey League.

So what do they do to open up the pre-season in defense of their Stanley Cup Championship this year?

Go down 3-0 in the third period at home before rolling back to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets in overtime, 5-4 (OT).

The Penguins dressed a mixed lineup typical of most exhibition games last night. Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz, Jordan Staal, Ruslan Fedotenko and Pascal Dupuis were among the returning forwards on the ice.

On defense, Sergei Gonchar was in the lineup, as was new free agent acquisition Jay McKee.

Marc-Andre Fleury started and played the first two periods in goal.

Despite the presence of those guys, former Penguin netminder and current Blue Jacket Matheiu Garon pitched a shut out for the first two periods before he was replaced for the start of the third by Dan LaCosta.

Not coincidentally, perhaps, things went downhill for Columbus from there.

Crosby began the comeback with two goals in the first few minutes of the period, and then Chris Connor tied the game at 3 about 5 minutes in.

With about 2 minutes left in the game, Columbus took a 4-3 lead, only to have Chris Kunitz again tie the game 17 seconds later and force overtime.

In the extra frame, Crosby intercepted a pass behind the Blue Jackets goal and quickly centered it to Kunitz, who buried it for his second goal of the game less than a minute into OT to complete the comeback victory.

True to their style, the Penguins outshot the Blue Jackets 42-28. They also played fairly physically, with both winger Eric Godard and defenseman Deryk Engelland scoring decisive first period fight victories, and Eric Tangradi -- getting his first game action in a Penguin uniform, and alongside Crosby in RW Bill Guerin's place to boot -- threw his body around all over the ice.

Tangradi didn't look entirely out of place on the top line last night, either. He finished with 2 helpers, assisting on both of Crosby's early 3rd period goals.

I still believe -- as most do -- that Tangradi will start the season in Wilkes-Barre. The Penguins are hoping he dominates at that level to the point that they won't have a choice but to make him one of their first in-season call-ups.

Another guy that held his own last night was first round draft pick Simon Despres.

Despres was paired with Gonchar and didn't look completely out of place filling that role. Expect him to get a lot of action in the pre-season, but not to make the roster. He'll likely go back to junior for one more year.

The Penguins' next exhibition game is on Friday -- again at home -- against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Then they go to the road next week to continue their exhibition slate. 3 of those games (I believe Monday, Tuesday and Saturday) will be televised on the NHL Network.

More later this week, when I'll talk in more detail about some of the newcomers and bubble players in Penguins' camp this year, including one of their training camp tryout invitees, LW Ryan Bayda, who is fast gaining the head coach as a fan.

Let's Go Pens.

Penguins Open 2009 Training Camp -- 5 Burning Questions

As the Pittsburgh Penguins opened their 2009 training camp on Saturday with physicals and fitness testing, and then yesterday with their first on-ice practice sessions, there's no better time than now to examine five (5) burning questions that the team faces this season as they set out to their work of becoming the franchise's 4th Stanley Cup Champion in 2010:

1) HOW WILL THE PENGUINS HANDLE BEING THE DEFENDING STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS?

It would be hard to deny that going to -- and losing -- the Stanley Cup Final in the 2007/08 season put a strain on the Penguins at some point last year. Let's face it -- they had a short off season after playing into June in 2008, then had a short training camp as a result of beginning last season overseas with 2 games against the Ottawa Senators. Of course, the Penguins started out well for the first 5-6 weeks of the season, but quickly fell into a 8-10 week funk that many thought they might never get out of. They clearly needed to re-focus and re-energize, and under new head coach Dan Bylsma, they were able to do that --- and do it well.

This season, the challenge is greater. Not only did the Penguins play into June for the 2nd straight summer, they had 3 months of attention as the Stanley Cup Champions. Did that distract them? More importantly, how will they handle having the bulls-eye on their chest over 82 games this season? As the defending champion, they are going to get the best from their opponents every night. Bylsma will work hard in camp to establish a culture that mostly forgets about what happened last season and instead focuses on championship building from scratch all over again this year. I think that's the right approach, but only time will tell if it is successful.

2) WHO WILL PLAY SIDESADDLE FOR EVGENI MALKIN TO START THE YEAR?

This is probably the most obvious question the Penguins face going into camp.

Max Talbot, who played -- and played exceedingly well -- on Malkin's RW for most of the playoffs last year is out for the first 6-8 weeks of the regular season after recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. He brought speed, grit and an underrated scoring touch to Geno's line.

The other person on the roster at the same natural position who has just about all of those characteristics is RW Tyler Kennedy. Kennedy was an equally good fit playing with center Jordan Staal on the 3rd line almost all of last year and there might be an understandable reluctance to break up the effective unit that those two -- together with LW Matt Cooke -- formed last season. However, during the first on-ice session of camp yesterday, there was Kennedy getting the first crack at patrolling Malkin's RW.

Clearly, Blysma realizes that a more effective second line puts the Penguins at a better advantage than if they had a less-than-whole second unit at the expense of a solid, 2-way 3rd line. He also just as clearly realizes that Kennedy brings so many similar elements to the ice as Talbot did that it was worth the try in camp to see if he and Geno can develop some good chemistry.

3) WHO WILL THE PENGUINS RELY ON TO REPLACE ROB SCUDERI AND HAL GILL?

Throughout the post-season last year, the Penguins matched up defenseman Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill against each of their opponents' top forwards --- from Jeff Carter to Alexander Ovechkin to Eric Staal to Henrik Zetterberg -- and it would be hard to deny that both played the best hockey of their careers in limiting the damage incurred by all of those guys. Unfortunately, thanks to free agency and the team being close to the salary cap ceiling, the Penguins were not able to retain either one, with Gill going to the Montreal Canadiens, and Scuderi signing a multi-year deal with the Los Angeles Kings.

So who will the Penguins deploy to do what those 2 guys did?

Well, for starters, the Penguins still have several carryovers on the blueline who have proven they are pretty capable defensively. Brooks Orpik is one and Mark Eaton is another. While few guys in the league are as good positionally or with their stick as Scuderi, Eaton has always been an established shot blocker in the league, and Orpik remains one of the most physical defensemen in the NHL. Both give the Penguins a decent defensive presence.

Add to that Penguins' free agent addition Jay McKee -- another physical, defensive defenseman who is known for blocking shots -- and the Penguins are not lacking capable players who know how to concentrate on their own end. Let's hope both McKee and Eaton stay healthy, though, because both have been known to battle injuries in their careers.

I actually don't think the Penguins will miss Gill that much. His size and experience were assets -- particularly on the penalty kill -- but he had weaknesses. The truth is that playing with a guy like Scuderi helped Gill greatly. Having a partner as sound as "The Piece" on the ice with him helped cover up for the lumbering Gill getting beat wide or out of the corners by a speedy opposition forward. Gill certainly was capable, but not irreplaceable.

4) CAN BYLSMA GET THE SAME THINGS OUT OF HIS TEAM NOW THAT HIS 'HONEYMOON PERIOD' IS OVER?

What Dan Bylsma did last year with this team is one of the greatest coaching success stories in the history of the National Hockey League, in my opinion. Coming into his first head coaching gig to an underachieving team that was in real danger of missing the post-season just months removed from playing in the Stanley Cup Final, Bylsma did a fabulous job righting the ship and leading the franchise to its 3rd Stanley Cup.

But let's face it. Bylsma benefitted from the low expectations that came with his new position. And he also benefitted from the fact that his message was fresh. The Penguins' players clearly grew tired of the stale, nearly 3-year old routine from former coach Michel Therrein that they had to deal with every day. This year, Bylsma's honeymoon period is over. He will have to establish from the first day of camp that he runs the show, and will need to get his players to buy in all over again.

While the Penguins had their moments of adversity during the Stanley Cup playoffs under Bylsma, the regular season grind is a different animal. The Penguins will undoubtedly hit a rough patch or two at some point, and it will be up to Blysma to keep things from spiraling out of control like they did last season. If he can stop the bleeding when needed and avoid losing streaks of more than a few games during the dog days of the season, that will prove he continues to be capable of getting his team to respond.

Bylsma is also probably going to have to be an authoritative figure at times. Clearly, at his age, and with his experience, he's a players' coach. Only time will tell how he responds when his authority gets challenged. Tony Granato, who was brought in this year as an assistant coach and who is a bit more outspoken and assertive, is probably a good complement for Blysma in this regard.

5) WILL THE PENGUINS GET ENOUGH SCORING FROM THE WING?

There's no team in the NHL deeper down the middle than the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal are a matchup nightmare for opponents night in and night out.

But carrying 3 lynchpins at center in the salary cap era comes at a cost -- wingers who are less than lethal in finishing all the opportunities #87, #71 and #11 regularly create.

Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotneko and, perhaps Tyler Kennedy aren't going to be confused with the Dany Heatley's, Marion Gaborik's and Jarome Iginla's of the league, that's for sure.

Guerin is 39 and will be tested during a full season here in Pittsburgh.

Fedotenko has never been a great regular season player. He's basically a 20-goal man and, if he exceeds his ceiling, he might be able to get to 25.

Kennedy is still developing and could blossom if he sticks with Malkin all year, but that's far from certain.

Kunitz is capable of more than he showed last season when he scored only one playoff goal despite being regularly centered by maybe the best playmaker in the game for 24 contests.

Because of how well Malkin and Crosby carry the offense and score when necessary, it's not absolutely critical that the Penguins have three 40-goal scorers on the wing. But it sure would be nice for one or two of these guys to step up into the mid-30 range and become a real threat from along the wall.


Those are the questions. I'm anxious for the answers.

The Penguins already have their first exhibition game tomorrow night at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. More on camp happenings in the next day or two.

Penguins Visit The White House

In honor of thier 2009 Stanley Cup Championship, the Pittsburgh Penguins organization was invited to The White House yesterday to be honored by President Barrack Obama.

What a cool scene.

To watch the President talk about hockey at all, let alone in an organized but relaxed tone was really interesting. I mean, when the 44th President of the United States takes the time at the beginning of the 10 minute appearance to recognize all of the legislators from Western Pennsylvania as being "in the house" to recognize the Penguins, you're on to something special.

Aside from the things one might expect -- like seeing Obama pose for pictures with the Cup, and be recognized by head coach Dan Blysma -- I'm not sure what my favorite part of the ceremony was. There were several enjoyable moments, though.

For one, Obama said having Mario Lemieux in The White House was "a pretty big deal".

Another enjoyable moment was the President turing around from the podium to recognize Evgeni Malkin as being the 3rd youngest player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy was playoff MVP, then watching Malkin pull out his cell phone to take a picture of Obama as soon as he turned back around to face the audience and have the audience break out in laughter.

When Obama turned back around, Malkin hid the phone, before pulling it out once more when Obama again turned to face the audience.

Great stuff there.

Of course, Obama was presented a black Penguins jersey with his name and the number 44 on it, in recognition of him being the 44th President of the United States.

Crosby presented him the jersey, and not long after, Obama said that he must be fast and skilled because there were a lot of big hockey players there and Crosby wasn't one of them.

That was another great moment, for sure.

And with that 10 minutes of fame, the Penguins can -- and should -- close the book on their 2009 season.

Training camp starts with players reporting tomorrow and the Penguins need to do what their brethren from the Pittsburgh Steelers plan to do.

Not repeat.

Focus on the job of starting from day one and turning the current group into one which will win a very special trohpy at the end of the year.

More in the coming days about the outset of camp and 5 burning questions which face the Penguins in their quest to again become champions.

5 Days Until Training Camp, '09: Penguins News and Notes

As both players and fans of the defending Stanley Cup Champions get geared up to open training camp in 2009 this Saturday, September 12, 2009, it's time to get on the pulpit more often. The olympic orientation camps are now over and soon, guys like Brooks Orpik (U.S.A.), Evgeni Malkin (Russia) and Marc-Andre Fleury (Canada), among others, will descend back home and look to bear down on a repeat in the final season it Mellona Arena.

Let's start with a run-down of various news and notes surrounding the team.

First, defenseman Philippe Boucher will not be returning to the Penguins this year, instead announcing late last week that he was retiring from the game.

There had been some thought that Boucher might return to be the Penguins' 7th defenseman this season, and the Penguins -- apparently not 100% comfortable with relying on Ben Lovejoy in that role -- did, in fact, offer him a one-year deal to return, but to no avail.

On a different note, the Penguins also remain engaged in what I think still must be described as 'preliminary' contract talks with defenseman Sergei Gonchar and Kris Letang, both of whom were key contributors to Pittsburgh's Stanley Cup Championship, and both of whom will be free agents after the coming season.

Gonchar would be an unrestricted free agent; Letang would be restricted.

I think there's a 50-50 chance -- at best -- something will get done with one of the two (likely Gonchar) before the season.

In other news, it was recently announced that the Penguins will follow the footsteps of their city brethren Pittsburgh Steelers when they visit President Barrack Obama at The White House this Thursday, September 10.

Of course, the Steelers visited Obama there several months ago in honor of their stirring Super Bowl XLIII victory over the Arizona Cardinals on February 1, 2009.

Like the Steelers, Obama invited the Penguins players, coaches, owners and staff to join him in Washington, D.C. to honor their Stanley Cup championship -- an experience that must truly be one-of-a-kind.

There's no doubt that the Penguins deserve such recognition after their outstanding season and exhilirating post-season.

On a final note, the Penguins are in the middle of their rookie camp this week.

The camp is taking place in Kitchener, Ontario, where there are daily workouts followed by rookie tournament games involving the Penguins' prospects, as well as those of the Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins.

So far, the Penguins' prospects have gone 0-2 in the tournament, falling first to the kids from Toronto, 3-1, and then last night to the Senators' prospects, 4-1.

True to organizational form, the Penguins have had their share of shots and scoring chances. Unlike at the NHL level, however, the Pens' prospects have been unable to finish those opportunities.

On the bright side, one of the best players in the camp and tournament so far as been 2009 first round draft pick Simon Despres.

By all reports, Despres, a 6' 5" defenseman, has been strong defensively while showing an ability to start the breakout and advance the puck offensively.

His progress has to be encouraging because the Penguins seem to be getting some inconsistent play from some of their other defensive prospects --- guys like Alex Grant and Brian Strait. Of course, both Grant and Strait have time to still work on their game, and will benefit from time in Wilkes-Barre this season. Hopefully they can find the roles that suit them best. For Grant, that's offense. For Strait, that's defense.

More on the rookie camp and tournament later this week. I'll try to summarize how top prospect Eric Tangradi has performed next time.

Let's Go Pens.

The Debate Ends: Which Championship is the Penguins' Greatest -- The Final Installment

Over the last several weeks, I have posted 2 entries discussing the Penguins' first two Stanley Cup Championship teams and titles in an effort to set the table for a comparison between those two squads and the Penguins' latest to determine which Cup is the franchise's greatest.

Today, I will render a verdict.

Before I do that, though, a few quick reminders about just how much the Penguins of 2008/2009 accomplished. I'm not going to break down their playoff run or team this past season with the detail I did the 1990/1991 and 1991/1992 teams, because the latest playoff run that culminated on June 12, 2009 -- and the players that accomplished it -- are, I would hope, still very fresh in everyone's minds. But there are a few things that I believe deserve mentioning about the latest group to skate around in black and gold.

The first thing worth mentioning is that the Penguins were in perilous danger of not even being able to compete for the Cup just 6 weeks before the end of the season. They struggled through about 2 and 1/2 months of below-average hockey mid-season before their General Manager was so fed up with the team's performance he dismissed a coach that led the team the Cup Finals the previous season in favor of a minor league bench-boss who had just completed only his 4th month in his first full time coaching gig ever.

That alone created a storybook finish when the Penguins' won the Cup, but their rise to the post-season under new head coach Dan Bylsma wasn't the full tale by any means.

Once the Penguins got to the post-season this last year, they were focused from the start. Things didn't come easy for them but when the chips were down, they stepped up and showed a tremendous amount of character.

After all, this is the squad that won every single series on the road on its way to the Silver Chalice -- including not one, but TWO game 7's away from home in extremely hostile environments. In both of those series', they managed to win 4 of the last 5 games after dropping the first two away from home. They are the only team in the history of the National Hockey League to have done that in one playoff season.

Of course, they were the first team in 38 years to win a game 7 on the road in the Stanley Cup Finals -- and the first team in 30 seasons to do it in any professional sport -- and only the 4th team ever to do it in the NHL.

But enough about those accolates.

Let's get down to comparing the 3 playoff runs and teams to compare which title is the best one the Penguins have captured.

It's hard to say that the Penguins had the same kind of depth and star power on their most recent championship squad as their 1990/1991 and 1991/1992 teams had. Sure, they have 2 of the top 3 players in the game on their team right now, and they also have one of the better defensemen and one of the better goaltenders in hockey, but overall, the teams of 1990/1991 and 1991/1992 were, I believe, stronger up and down the roster. Certainly the 1991/1992 team was.

All that said, to say that a team with less overall talent and a bit less depth captured the Cup this last season when there was so much more overall league parity speaks to how satisfying the franchise's lastest Cup win truly was when compared to the challenge at hand. Add to that the fact that this last year's outfit was one of the few teams in the last decade to win even a single playoff round after bowing out in the Cup Finals the year before, and then to go back up against the same era juggernaut that sent them home for the season last year by winning the Cup on their own ice, and the Penguins' 2008/2009 accomplishments shine in even greater light.

But don't overlook the difficult odds the 1991/1992 championship team had to face. They were forced to avoid elimination in 3 straight games just to win the opening round, then lost two of their best forwards almost right off the hopper in round 2 against the best team in the league that year. Those hurdles were almost so overwhelming that once the Penguins overcame them, they didn't lose again in their next 11 playoff games on their way to the Cup.

Clearly, the Penguins' 2nd championship team was the most dominating.

And that's where I think we can begin to narrow this debate.

The Penguins' first Cup-winning team doesn't compare to the 2nd one or the most recent one, either in terms of adversity or quality of opposition. Pittsburgh's opponent in the final that year had a whopping 68 regular season points. The Minnesota North Stars played well when it mattered most in the post-season and were no pushover for the Penguins in the Final, but the fact is that the Boys of Winter in 1991/1992 and this past year faced -- and overcame -- bigger challenges on their way to their titles.

So, while the franchise's first Stanley Cup Championship will always hold a special place in Penguins' lore because it was just that -- the first -- it undoubtedly cannot be considered the Penguins' best.

That leaves us to this last year's Cup-winning group or the 1991/1992 team.

It's not an easy call.

So what's it going to be?

Contrary to how I feel most Penguin fans would weigh in, I believe that the Penguins' 2nd Stanley Cup in '91/'92 is the franchise's greatest.

While this past year's team did more with less, the 1991/1992 team overcame an injury to the league's best player for nearly an entire series to beat the best team in the league in that series and do it fairly convincingly. After that, they were plain dominating the rest of the way, knocking off a team in the Final, the Chicago Blackhawks, that had come into the championship round having steamrolled their way to 11 straight victories of thier own.

The Penguins' championship team from this past year wasn't even close to being that dominating for that long.

And, as I mentioned earlier, the 1991/1992 team faced elimination 3 times. While this last year's team also did that, they didn't do it all in one round. I don't know that it makes it a better accomplishment because sometimes it can be easier to get on a roll against one opponent than have to fight off elimination repeatedly against different teams, but it was something the Penguins' title group of 2008/2009 did not do.

Of course, they didn't have to do that, and that says something, so again ... it's probably a wash on that factor.

But what really tips the scales for me in this debate is my belief that the Penguins wouldn't have won either the Washington or Detroit series' this past season if Crosby or Malkin had been lost for almost all of that series, like Lemieux was against the Rangers in 1991/1992. They might have been able to change things up enough to beat the Capitals because Malkin still might have been able to match Ovechkin goal-for-goal in that series if he had to, and Washington's support players weren't giving them very much otherwise. Their goaltender kept them alive in that series in game 1 to 6 until the Penguins broke through him big time when it mattered most.

However, if the Detroit Red Wings only had to deal with one of #87 and #71 in the Finals, I'm convinced that our offense would not have been able to overcome that. Look at what Zetterberg did to Crosby in that series. That's not to say Sidney played poorly. In fact, he played so well that Zetterberg wasn't nearly able to do what he could have otherwise accomplished offensively because he was so pre-occupied with Sid all series. If Malkin was all Zetterberg had to contend with, the Red Wings' depth would have proven far superior to the rest of Pittsburgh's roster during the remainder of the series.

I think that primarly makes the difference because, as I have already mentioned, I think while the 1991/1992 team had a stronger roster, that can be turned around to say that this last year's Cup team won with less, making those things almost come out even.

Sure, the 1991/1992 team didn't have to win the Cup Finals in game 7 on the road. But that's because they were so overwhelming in the championship round, thier opposition couldn't even get to game 5, let alone a game 7.

So, to me, that's it.

The 1991/1992 Pittsburgh Penguins' Stanley Cup Championship Team is the franchise's greatest.

You tell me what you think. Speak out if you feel differently. Vote in the poll on the right. Otherwise show your colors.

Regardless, it's been great to reminisce over all 3 of the Penguins' championships.

This last year remains vivid and thrilling in my mind and, there's no doubt as far as I'm concerned, the Penguin's 2008/2009 Cup run gave the 1991/1992 title team outstanding competition to determine which was the franchise's greatest championship.

But in the end, the 1991/1992 team stands just a hair taller.

Next week, I'll talk about the Penguins' rookie camp in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

Just a few weeks before the opening of the team's full training camp.

Let's Go Pens.