The Penguins open the new Consol Energy Center tonight for the start of their 2010-2011 season. The game will be the Penguins 167th straight sellout going back over three years ago to the soon to be demolished Mellon Arena. It’s no surprise that the team has attracted such great crowds with the players they have assembled and the winning they have done since Sidney Crosby’s arrival. The same reason that the team has done so well at the gates, however, is the reason I approach the regular season with a bit of a yawn.
We all know that the Penguins are going to make the playoffs, making these next 82 games pretty much a formality. It is not until then that the success of the Penguins’ season will be judged. When you have the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal, Brooks Orpik, Marc Andre-Fleury and more, anything less than another Stanley Cup championship has to be considered a disappointment.
Don’t get me wrong, I am excited for the start of the Penguins’ season. The NHL regular season, unlike that of the NBA (whose season is also pretty meaningless for the top teams), is still played with a ton of intensity and provides a good bit of entertainment. Games like tonight’s match-up against a heated rival such as the Flyers have a playoff-like feel. But no matter how great the Penguins play over the next several months, it won’t matter until the Stanley Cup playoffs begin.
There are a few things I will be keeping an eye on in the early part of the season. I want to see how the new additions fit in, especially Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek on the blue line. I want to see how the power play does with the departure of Segei Gonchar and how Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski and Malkin do running the point in his place. I am very interested to see how the new third line of Max Talbot, Matt Cooke and Arron Asham perform. I will be watching to see how Staal looks when he makes his way back on the ice, particularly if he is fully recovered from the infection resulting from his offseason foot surgery and more importantly how he does playing on the second line, presumably with Malkin. Lastly, I will be watching how Coach Dan Bylsma mixes and matches his lines to see what combinations give the Penguins their best chance for postseason success.
Really, though, I will be tuning in hoping that the Pens manage to stay healthy. After all, health is the only real reason I can see this team not making another run at the Cup. Anything less than that will be a disappointment.
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