2010 Pittsburgh Penquins preview

The 2010-11 season will be a big one for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sure they will enter the season as teh favorites in the Atlantic Division, but questions remain whether they did enough to improve the roster in a vastly upgraded Eastern Conference. The real excitement for this team is they will be opening a new facility, and the really good news for Penguins fans is that stadium is actually in Pittsburgh. Not say Las Vegas, Hamilton, Ontario or Seattle.

The Penguins faltered a bit last season, but we have seen that before from teams that have gone to consecutive Salary Cup Finals. This team also had five guys go to the Olympics so the Penguins roster has a lot of miles on it. They have remade their Blue Line, and Sidney Crosby is coming of his best offensive season yet. It seems having fresh legs will be a big boost for this club. They have had a full four months off, and that will play a factor when we get to playoff time.

They will be coached by Dan Bylsma who is entering his third year and has an over all record of 65-31-11. His biggest challenge will be to adopt a style that lets the offense flow while keeping the opponents off the score board. The Penguins scored 257 goals last year, but allowed 237. That is a tad high.

Key Additions- D Zbynek Michalek, D Paul Martin, LW Brett Sterling, D Corey Potter, and LW Ryan Craig

Key Departures- D Sergei Gonchar, D Jordan Leopold, D Dan Hamhuls, D Mark Eaton, and LW Alex Ponikarovsky