The Penguins closed out their 2010-2011 preseason with a 5-2 victory against the HATED Red Wings.......Next up are two barn burners to christen the CEC, first the Flyers, followed by the Canadiens and a chance to run PK Scissorskates into next year...........There are some concerns about the Pens to start with, related to health......We have not played a regular game yet, and Staal is out until the holidays, Crosby is nursing a chronically sore hip flexor, Asham has an undisclosed upper body injury, and Orpik is nursing a sore groin......I sure hope that this team is not going to crushed by the injury bug.....because if it does not, this years Pens team has a lot about it that gets me excited in no particular order;
General Attitude-Last year's team, despite finishing 4th in the conference, one win away from a third straight appearance in the ECF, seemed a bit tired at times, and at others a bit like a team that figured it could turn it on when it wanted to. This years team seems to be invigorated by a normal offseason, and edgy due to the bitter taste of losing a chance at a deep run to an inferior team in the second round of the 09-10 post season;
Geno-He seems to be playing a dominant style this season, dominating with the puck, playing defense, and getting pucks to the net. I look for 71 to have a big year, and we know how dominant he CAN be;
Fleury-MAF has looked very sharp in all of the games this season.....going into tonites game he had a .943 save percentage, much higher than the norm for him. I was a vocal critic of Fleury all season long last year, but I really believe he will have a bounce back season in 2010-2011;
Competitive Depth throughout the lineup-The additions in the offseason of Comrie, Asham, Martin, and Michalek all look like great pickups by Shero, which should be no surprise to anyone. The potential emergence of players like Eric Tangradi, Mark Letestu, Ben Lovejoy, Nick Johnson has put players like Tyler Kennedy, Max Talbot, and Alex Goligoski in a position to have to deliver in order to maintain their ice time;
Better defense-Many people worry about the loss of Gonchar on the blueline, along with Mark Eaton, and Jordan Leopold. In my opinion, their overall defense IMPROVED with the loss of the soft play of Sarge, and the addition of Michalek and Martin. In my opinion Martin will blossom offensively in the Pittsburgh system, and along with Michalek, they will both improve the defensive zone play of the Pens. I also think that Letang's performance in the playoffs where he scored more goals in 13 games than he did all season will carry over, and his offensive contributions will be significant. Finally, I expect Alex Goligoski to produce some points from the blueline more consistently, as he has shown in the early parts of each of the last two seasons that he is capable. The Pens top 5 is good as any, and the battles for the 6 and 7 spots will play out over the next couple of days.....want to see Despres get a shot!;
Grit-The Pens lineup is full of gritty players.........I think that the Pens lineup post holidays figures to be as follows:
Line 1-Kunitz, Crosby, Dupuis
Line 2-Malkin, Staal, Tangradi
Line 3-Asham, Talbot, Cooke
Line 4-Godard, Rupp, Adams
The defensive pairings are up in the air, but Orpik, Michalek, Letang, Martin, Goligoski, Despres, Engellend or Lovejoy would not be out of the question. The first line has a healthy Kunitz for the first time in a year or so, and I expect him to put 25 in the net, and Crosby always seems to improve something every year.........Duper is not an ideal top 6 winger, but his speed works on this line........Line 2 to me will have a fired up Malkin looking to get back to the top of the league in scoring, and a motivated Staal whose defensive prowess may free up Geno to be more creative with the puck, as will his positioning on the off wing. Finally, Tangradi should provide that big body in front of the net that has lacked on this line since the departure of Ryan Malone.....the third line could be one of the best enery lines in the league. The type of line that will drive opponents crazy, wear them down, and contribute some nice offense in big moments......the fourth line has size and grit to spare............
It is a long season, and injuries will affect every team in the league, and alter all proposed lineups to some degree, but I look at this season with a great deal of positive energy, and a very good feel about the makeup of this club! GO PENS!
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