A Night To Remember: The Season Opener, The Banner Raising, The Title Defense, And The Final Season

After the second consecutive short-offseason the Penguins have faced the last two summers, things can arrive quickly.

The beginning of fall.

Football season.

The sweet sound of blades cutting through crisp ice once again.

Three months and three weeks to the day the Penguins last played and finished the year by carrying some bowl around, Pittsburgh opens up the 2009/2010 season -- their final one at Mellon Arena -- tonight at home against the New York Rangers to a Stanley Cup Banner raising ceremony that will mark the final chapter in their celebration of what happened on June 12, 2009 in Detroit and the first chapter in their defense of that championship this season.

Whew.

It's hard to believe it's here so fast, but it is.

I'm ready.

Are the Penguins?

That's the biggest question which faces them going into this season. How are they going to handle having a target on their back every night, especially coming off 2 straight short off-seasons. Will it catch up to them?

Because I addressed that issue when I covered the team's five burning questions going into training camp, I won't revisit it again, but suffice it to say, that's what everyone will be pointing to if the Penguins struggle this year, or even struggle out of the gate.

I think it's important that they make a statement to start the year tonight.

In trying to do so, their lineup will look a little different from the way it looked throughout the pre-season --- and not just because of the players the Penguins sent to the AHL or OHL.

RW Tyler Kennedy, who opened camp skating on the second line with center Evgeni Malkin, will start the season in his familiar third line right wing spot next to center Jordan Stall and LW Matt Cooke.

Kennedy looked good with Malkin in camp and most observers (this one included) thought he would start the season there.

However, it seems as if head coach Dan Bylsma feels that there is more to lose from what TK brings to the third line than there is to gain by putting him on the second unit.

I think that's debatable, but I'm not the coach, so in Kennedy's place on Malkin's RW will be Pascal Dupuis.

Dupuis is capable of filling in on that unit for a period, but everyone knows he's not a permanent fixture there. Dupuis is a 10-12 goal scorer in this league and even playing with Malkin consistently probably won't push him above those totals.

It will be interesting to see how long he sticks there, because RW Max Talbot -- who fit in at that position so successfully in the post-season -- needs about 8 more weeks before he can expect to get back in the lineup following off-season shoulder surgery.

But if that's the most meaningful issue surrouding the team at this point, I think it's fair to say that's a pretty good statement of where the team is, don't you?

EA Sports feels pretty good about the Penguins this year, as evidenced by their 2010 season-long simulation. You can read about that here:

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Pittsburgh/2009/10/01/11235926-cp.html

Others feel pretty good about how the Penguins have positioned themselves for this season, too. Here are a few other pieces about where the Penguins have come from and how they stack up for the coming year, both in the league as a whole and against those guys from Detroit:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/penguins/s_645205.html

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=293159

http://www.sportingnews.com/nhl/article/2009-09-29/out-old-new

With those pieces, there's nothing more to add before the Rangers arrive in town tonight.

Drop the puck and let's be on with it.

Recap tomorrow.

Let's Go Pens!