Originally Posted by
Carolyn /img/forum/go_quote.gif Ok ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rumble!!!!!
The NHL is just about to start. Any predictions?
I predict that the Toronta Maple Leafs are going to take the cup.
And I'm hopeful that Sid and I will skate off together...
WRoooooooooooooNG... Penguin's beat the Leafs in 6 games for Lord Stanley's cup!!! Sid the Kid and company are going to skate circles around everyone else!!! and they just signed a long term lease which keeps thm in the "burgh" till 2029!! Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaa
Will Sidney bring Stanley to Pittsburgh?
A lot of people were already touting the
Pittsburgh Penguins as Stanley Cup contenders — and then they went and signed
Petr Sykora! One of the NHL’s best offenses added another weapon.
The Penguins' 47-point improvement last season — fourth-best in NHL history — put them in the thick of the Atlantic Division race and earned them a playoff berth. The Penguins were led by
Sidney Crosby, who won the Hart and Art Ross Trophies and became the first teenager to lead a major North American professional league in scoring. Second-line center and No. 2 scorer
Evgeni Malkin won the Calder Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie, narrowly edging teammate
Jordan Staal.
Sergei Gonchar was No. 2 in scoring among NHL defensemen last season, but teammate
Ryan Whitney, in only his third season, may be rapidly overtaking him as the Penguins’ best blueliner. The Pens also strengthened their defense with the free-agent signing of
Darryl Sydor, a two-time Stanley Cup winner whose side job may be to groom talented youngster
Kris Letang, a scoring juggernaut in Canadian juniors.
Wings
Mark Recchi and
Gary Roberts also return, in part to help guide this young team, and its 20-year-old captain, Crosby. But that's not all they're there for. Recchi was the Penguins’ third-leading scorer behind Crosby and Malkin, while Roberts adds strength along the boards, a veteran presence in the locker room and another player who can put the puck in the net.
Georges Laraque, an enforcer who can also play good hockey, is there to protect the talented young 'uns.
Goalie
Marc-Andre Fleury came into his own last season. As impressive as his statistics were, it was his easy confidence that he belongs in the NHL that seemed to seal the idea that the Penguins have a goalie they can win with..
And add in the newest draft pick - Angelo Esposito....