The season is nearly upon us (and not a moment too soon!). With all the previews I've been seeing everywhere, I figured I might go ahead and do one of my hometown Penguins. The big thing everyone is saying right now is that the Penguins are set for a reality check. I can't begin to deny it, either. You don't lose almost half your team and not lose a step. With Marian Hossa, you lose a playoff performer (remember, he only played 12 regular season games), with Ryan Malone, a gritty winger, and with most of the other guys they let walk,(George Laraque, Jarkko Ruutu, Adam Hall, and Gary Roberts among others) they lost character and undoubtedly some team chemistry. But that's all in the past now. So, without further adieu, The Pittsburgh Penguins' Season Preview! Departures: Marian Hossa, Ryan Malone, Gary Roberts, Jarkko Ruutu, Adam Hall, George Laraque, Ty Conklin, Mark Recchi (Waviers), Colby Armstrong and Erik Christensen (Trade) There's no denying that the loss of so many players will affect the team. How and to what level remains to be seen. Hossa leaving won't be as big a deal as people are suggesting. Malone's loss will hurt, but the team will recover. The physical element was also lost with the departure of Roberts, Laraque and Ruutu. Conklin can probably be replaced, Adam Hall can be. And the Penguins survived without Recchi, Armstrong or Christensen well enough. Arrivals: Matt Cooke, Ruslan Fedotenko, Eric Goddard, Miroslav Satan. Miroslav Satan was pegged by many as a subpar replacement for Marian Hossa. However, Satan is hardly a replacement. Penguins GM Ray Shero signed him because he has top-line talent, and wanted to play for the team. Fedotenko is not a replacement for Ryan Malone by any stretch as some have suggested he might be. He has more offensive upside than Malone, but is smaller. Goddard is pegged to be a possible replacement for George Laraque, and while he can hold his own in a fight, will probably have trouble finding the right place, as Laraque did last season (especially when Gary Roberts went down with his leg injury). The real impact player from this group should prove to be Matt Cooke. All reports generally agree that he will make everyone forget about Jarkko Ruutu pretty quickly. In fact, Going Five Hole's Sean Leahy created a fan club for Matt Cooke shortly after the Pens signed him. The Usual Suspects Ray Shero's plan with the Penguins is that if he can keep the core of the team together, the players around them can change. Crosby is signed until the new arena is finished. Malkin signed long term, as did Brooks Orpik. Ryan Whitney (although injured) is signed for a while, and Marc-Andre Fleury signed a deal to keep him in the 'Burgh for a while. The same players who are causing teams problems now should be around for a long time. Don't expect the Penguins to have trouble keeping a winning record for a while. Best Defense Okay, so maybe the Penguins don't have the best defense in the NHL. But, they have been getting better each year, and were really one of the unsung parts of the SCF run last season. And they didn't lose a player. And Alex Goligoski (Penguins' 2nd round pick in 2004) is just about ready for the NHL. This is a situation where, while goaltending may not be as deep as at it's best last season, and the team's offensive abilities as not quite as good, the team's defensive capabilities are much improved. Sleepers Just for you fantasy buffs out there, here are a couple of players to keep an eye on this season. First, Tyler Kennedy. If you didn't follow the Pens last season, you might not know the name, but suffice to say that one of my friends referred to him as the "Hyper Chihuahua" because he was fast, small, and hit everything. The reports out of camp are that he is skating even better. If someone on the second or third line goes down, and Kennedy moves up for a bit, he may put up some decent numbers. The other play you should keep an eye on is Matt Cooke. He'll get plenty of penalty minutes, one would guess, but with his offensive streak, he should be able to put up some decent numbers too, especially if he's going to be pulling third line duties with Maxime Talbot and Fedotenko, as projected. This could prove to be a career year if things go well for him. Bottom Line Penguins may win the division, with the Rangers giving them the biggest fight for it.

The Detroit Red Wings have made some heavy improvements this off-season, no one can argue that (except the occasional Penguins fan driven mad by the Hossa situation). They also managed to retain the majority of their Stanley Cup Champion team. Pretty much every pundit out there is picking Detroit to make it back to back league championships. However, I think it's really too early to say that no one can get in Detroit's way.
I won't disagree that Detroit has a phenomenal team. Another great team I remember is the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins. Any Penguins or Islanders fan who followed hockey at that point in time remembers the game 7 upset of the Presidents Trophy (And league champion the past two years) Penguins by the Islanders in the second round. The Penguins were expected by almost everyone to three-peat, having absolutely dominated hockey for the past three seasons, and maintaining the majority of their team, but they were stopped by a team that made the playoffs for the first time in six years.
It's hard to say exactly what happened, but either way, a team considered easily the best in the NHL was upset and sent home sooner than anticipated. It likely wasn't coaching that led to this happening, as at the time, Pittsburgh was coached the Legendary Scotty Bowman.
And of course, don't forget that Detroit didn't exactly have smooth sailing to the finals. They were taken to six games in three of four rounds. Who's to say that some team won't emerge as a giant killer in the playoffs? Who's to say that a team no one sees coming (or even one that people do see coming) won't get a lucky bounce in game seven and send the Red Wings home sooner than planned.
Now I'm not saying that the Red Wings don't have the chance to repeat. Every team in the NHL has a chance at the cup until they are eliminated from playoff contention. And Detroit certainly has built a powerhouse that gives them a great chance of hoisting the chalice again after next season. However, don't give it to them yet just because they have a great team.