Shea-ved Ice: 2011-12 Season Preview
I hope you all enjoyed your summers, but it's time to get back to hockey and I could not be more excited.
The sting from last season's early exit from the playoffs wore off quicker than I thought. As it turns out, moving into and working on a house will take your mind off a lot of things.
To me, the injury-plagued Penguins just seemed to run out of gas against the Lightning in their seven-game series.
Now that the Boston Bruins are the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the season can't start soon enough. The less I have to hear about how awesome it was for them to win from family and friends back home, the better.
As we look ahead to the dawning of the new year, I feel like I should be writing two of these previews.
One would include Sidney Crosby, the other would exclude him.
One burning question heading into the season is how will the injured players bounce back?
The biggest question mark is the status of Sidney Crosby. Will he return, and if so, when?
During a recent press conference, he told reporters point-blank to not bet on him not playing this season. Obviously, that made the hairs on my neck stand up and put a huge smile on my face. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
After the first two training camp sessions, he said he was pushing himself harder than he has since the injury was sustained in January. As I write this, he has still not been cleared for contact. That will be a major hurdle to clear.
Being cleared for contact is one thing, but seeing how he responds to it will be the true test.
Secondly, how will Evgeni Malkin respond after tearing his ACL and MCL?
Malkin suffered the injury after colliding with Buffalo Sabres' defenseman Tyler Myers in February and missed the remainder of the season.
The Penguins posted videos of him working out in Russia with Sergei Gonchar over the summer. Keanu Reeves' character in "The Replacements" once said, "Chicks dig scars."
Something tells me no one is "digging" the one on Malkin's knee. That just looks painful to me. If Crosby is out for an extended period of time, it will be up to Malkin and Jordan Staal to carry the load. They've done it in the past and they can do it again.
Aside from the injuries to just about every forward on the roster last year, the biggest problem was the lack of goal-scoring down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Tyler Kennedy enjoyed a breakout season with 21 goals and 24 assists and was one of the most consistent producers in the absence of Crosby and Malkin. He's looked good so far in the preseason and will be out to prove that last year was no fluke, 20 goals isn't out of the question.
With the departures of Alex Kovalev, Mike Rupp and others, there figures to be some competition for forward roster spots in camp.
The early favorites are Mark Letestu, Eric Tangradi and Nick Johnson based on their play in the preseason thus far.
Tangradi could be a big help on the power play. I don't think it's any coincidence that when he was inserted into the lineup for Game 4 against the Bolts, that the Pens scored their only goal with the man advantage in the series.
Tangradi was the only guy willing to go to the net and take a beating in order to cause confusion for Dwayne Roloson.
General Manager Ray Shero went out and added veterans Steve Sullivan and Richard Park to the mix as well.
Sullivan, if healthy, could be an absolute steal. There's no reason to think he couldn't put up 50 points or so playing alongside Malkin or Crosby.
Park is the wild card for me. I know he's a great penalty killer, but I just think there are better options in the farm system.
The defense and goaltending were key factors in the Penguins winning all of those countless shootouts and overtime games down the stretch to lock up a playoff berth.
I not-so affectionately refer to that run of games as "The Stretch That Took 10 Years Off My Life."
Marc-Andre Fleury was nothing short of brilliant last year. It amazes me how quickly people can turn on him even after all he's accomplished here.
Sure, the month of October wasn't great and of course, the critics were quick to jump all over him.
The thing no one talked about was the amount of turnover the Penguins sustained just one summer ago.
Zbynek Michalek and Paul Martin were brought in to help shore up the defense corps. It was going to take them a few games to learn Dan Bylsma's system and get used to all the nuances of it.
The man most affected by his new teammates learning a new system was Fleury.
Were there a couple of soft goals? Sure, but that happens with every goalie from time to time. He is human, which people tend to forget.
Once the team settled down and everyone was comfortable in their roles, the wins started to pile up and Fleury's confidence quickly returned.
He went on to post a 36-20-5 record with a 2.32 GAA and .918 save percentage. Had October gone better, 40 wins would have been an easy achievement. I think 38 to 40 wins is well within his grasp this season again.
Backup goaltender Brent Johnson was stellar as well with a 13-5-3 record to go along with a 2.17 GAA and .922 save percentage.
Speaking of the defense, will anything look different on the back line this season?
Deryk Engelland and Ben Lovejoy served as the Penguins' sixth and seventh defensemen last year.
Both performed well in their roles, but you have to think they want a more permanent one this season.
With Brooks Orpik, Kris Letang, Michalek and Martin solidifying the top four on defense, the final two jobs are open for debate.
Matt Niskanen held down one of those positions after coming to Pittsburgh along with James Neal in a trade with the Dallas Stars last year.
However, Niskanen was underwhelming and never seemed to feel comfortable in the Penguins' system.
Perhaps a full training camp with the team will boost his confidence level and allow him to hold onto the fifth spot.
One guy many considered to be a threat to crack the top six was Simon Despres, who was one of the last guys cut from camp last year.
However, the Penguins sent him down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday. It would appear likely that the defense corps will remain unchanged from last season when the Penguins head to Vancouver to open the season.
As far as predictions for the upcoming season, I see the Penguins contending for the Atlantic Division title once again.
However, I'm not sure that they actually win the division. I can't believe I'm actually going to write this following line or two.
Forgive me, but it hurts me more to write this than for you to read it.
The Philadelphia Flyers would appear to be the favorites with their many acquisitions over the summer. Most notably, they went out and got a goaltender in Ilya Bryzgalov.
For a team who was only a couple games from winning the Stanley Cup in 2010 with a tandem of Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher, it's no wonder Flyers fans are freaking out over Bryzgalov.
Of course, we all know how JagrWatch ended.
While I made it clear I didn't want to see the Flying Mullet back in black and gold, it still stings to see him wearing bright traffic cone orange.
The sting was intensified with Max Talbot signing there as well. I can't really blame the guy for going. The Flyers offered him a ridiculous contract and Talbot is just trying to make a living and set up his future.
Had he gone anywhere else for that kind of money, no one would have blinked. But, because it's Philly and the signings of Jagr and Talbot were literally announced within minutes of each other, it feels a lot worse than it really is.
I wouldn't expect Philly to get out of the gate particularly well given the amount of changes to their offense, but they have the pieces in place to be a very competitive team this year.
Even with Jagr.
The Devils have supposedly started to use an up-tempo pace that emphasizes skating. For a team most noted for their trapping style, I'll wait to actually see it in action before passing judgment.
The Rangers added Brad Richards, but they've been down this road before. They add high-priced guys and nothing seems to work. They'll sneak into the playoffs as a low seed and flame out in the first round. Goal scoring was a major issue for them all season and one guy or one line isn't going to cut it.
The Islanders…well, I could resort to taking cheap-shots over what happened last season, but I won't. There's some young talent on the team, but they're still a couple of years away from being a true player in the division.
The way I see it, it's going to come down to the Penguins and the Flyers. Both will be in the playoffs, but one will claim the division with the other a close second.
As for putting a point total on the Penguins' season, 100-104 is where I see this team this year.
Of course, that's assuming (hopefully) the injury bug decided to leave the posh CONSOL Energy Center.
The bottom line is that this team will be an exciting one to watch yet again.
You can follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CaseySheaPens.
For More Penguins Coverage Check Out Puck Talk With Popchock.
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