Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Training Camp is Open!

All you die hard hockey fans can finally be happy. The Penguins have opened their training camp yesterday as players reported in for their physicals. Practices have started this morning with several sessions throughout the day at the Igloo.

See camp schedule here.

And, in an unusual twist due the the Pens trip to Europe this fall, the first pre-season game will be this Saturday (9/20) at home against Tampa Bay.

After being two wins away from winning the Stanley Cup last season (and only about 100 days), expectations are high for this team. There are quite a few questions that will be answered in the next few weeks. Among them are:

- Will Satan be a suitable replacement for the departing Marian Hossa?
- Can Letang step up and fill some of the responsibilty vacated by Ryan Whitney?
- Since Sid turned 21 last month can we still call him "The Kid"? Or even, should we since he has been "The Man" the past few seasons?
- Will Jordan Staal "see the money"?
- Can Michel Therrien adjust to a team that is becoming more of a veteran team? His coaching style has always been geared toward getting younger players to produce at levels much higher than their experience.

News of Note: Single game tickets for the upcoming season will go on sale Saturday morning (9/20) at 10 am. There will be a limited number of seats avialable for all home games so get them fast! Tickets can be obtained at pittsburghpenguins.com, at the Mellon Arena box office or by calling Ticketmaster at 412-323-1919.

They're back!