Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Season Preview, Picks & Odds

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Pittsburgh Penguins 2008-’09 record:
45-28-9, 99 points (2nd in Atlantic, 4th in East)

Pittsburgh Penguins 2008-’09 playoffs:
Def. Philadelphia Flyers 4-2; def. Washington Capitals 4-3; def. Carolina Hurricanes 4-0; def. Detroit Red Wings 4-3

For a team that won the Stanley Cup, the season did not begin well. The Penguins played average for the first half of the season after losing in the Stanley Cup Finals the previous year and coach Michel Therrien was replaced at midseason by Dan Bylsma. The coaching change sparked a massive alteration in their fortunes as the Penguins kicked into high gear with a fun and attacking style. Under Bylsma, they pushed from 10 th in the East all the way to 4 th by the end of the season and Malkin finished the season as the league’s leading scorer.

But the Penguins took things to a completely different level in the playoffs. After slaying rival Philadelphia in the first round, the Penguins won an epic seven game series against the Capitals and Alex Ovechkin to move onto the conference finals. There, younger brother Jordan defeated older brother Eric in the battle of the Staals and the Penguins returned to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second straight season.

The opponent was the same but this time things would be different. After being overwhelmed at points during the previous year’s final, the Penguins more than held their own and ended winning a seven game series, with the clincher coming on Detroit ice. It was a sweet reward for a team which had watched the Red Wings celebrate in Mellon Arena the season before and was made even sweeter as former Penguin Marian Hossa fell short for the second straight year in the finals after spurning the Penguins for Detroit because he felt the Wings were the better bet to win the Cup. It was a fantastic ending to a championship year.

Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Preview

Pittsburgh Penguins General manager: Ray Shero (139-79-28, 4th NHL year, 1st team)

Pittsburgh Penguins Coach: Dan Bylsma (18-3-4, 2nd NHL season, 1st team)

Pittsburgh Penguins Captain: Sidney Crosby

Pittsburgh Penguins Top Returning Scorer: C Evgeni Malkin (35 goals, 78 assists, 113 points)

Pittsburgh Penguins Top Returning Goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (35-18-7, 2.67, .912)

Pittsburgh Penguins Key Additions: C Mike Rupp; D Nate Guenin; RW Chris Conner; Jay McKee; G Brent Johnson.

Pittsburgh Penguins Key Subtractions: G Mathieu Garon; D Hal Gill; D Rob Scuderi; LW Jeff Taffe; C Chris Minard; RW Petr Sykora; RW Bill Thomas; D Philippe Boucher; RW Miroslav Satan; C Mike Zigomanis.

Pittsburgh Penguins Top Line: LW Chris Kunitz, C Sidney Crosby, RW Bill Guerin

Pittsburgh Penguins Top Defensive Pairing: Brooks Orpik, Sergei Gonchar

When you have two of the three best players on the planet, you can expect scoring. Crosby and Malkin are both legitimate threats to win the Art Ross Trophy (both are previous winners) and both cracked the 100 point mark last season. Crosby is typically cast as the playmaker while Malkin is the goalscorer but both scored in the mid-30s last year and their production is relatively similar. With a stronger set of wingers on hand, both have the potential to score 40 or more goals and jump into the 120 point range. Remember, Malkin is the older of the pair at the ripe old age of 24 and both are really just reaching their peak. That’s scary……

But it isn’t just Crosby and Malkin that make the Penguin offense go. Center Jordan Staal is one of the best young players in hockey and gives the Penguins unrivaled depth down the middle. Meanwhile, Bill Guerin, Chris Kunitz, Ruslan Fedotenko and Tyler Kennedy provide solid scoring from the wings and all should see a jump in numbers this season for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, Stanley Cup hero Max Talbot will only add to the team’s depth when he returns from injury this winter. This is a great group of forwards.

The Penguins’ defense was often overlooked because of their firepower up front. However, winning the Stanley Cup changes all of that. The Penguins have a great balance of physicality and strong puck movement on the blue line. Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski are exceptional moving the puck and Brooks Orpik, Mark Eaton and McKee should pair with each to provide a solid pair of defensemen every time the puck is dropped. This is a very good unit.

In net, there will be far fewer questions surrounding former #1 overall pick Marc-Andre Fleury after he backstopped the Penguins to a Stanley Cup. The knock always was that he seemed to allow a bad goal every game while making all of the hard stops. However, after hoisting the Cup and the possibility of an Olympic nod at hand, expect a strong season from the Flower this year and he is really one of the best in the world at his position. Backup Brent Johnson is also a strong 2nd option and should provide solid relief in his first season in Pittsburgh.

2009 Pittsburgh Penguins Goaltending:

Fleury rebounded from dismal Game 5 of the finals to close door and lead Pens to Cup. Won four of last five games in Cup final series, sprawling to make game-saving stop on Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom in dying seconds of Game 7. Athletic butterfly goalie came up with his best work in the biggest games, helping earn seven-year, $35-million contract.

2009 Pittsburgh Penguins Player To Watch:

D Ben Lovejoy. Undrafted free agent from New Hampshire has enjoyed two strong seasons with Wilkes Barre-Scranton (AHL) and could make the jump this season. Led AHL with plus-42 rating last season while working against opposition’s top lines. Mobile blue-liner moves puck well, but lacks a mean streak, despite his imposing (6-foot-2, 215 pound) frame.

2009 Pittsburgh Penguins Offense:

Bylsma took over for fired coach Michel Therrien late last season and installed an aggressive system that woke up the Penguins, vaulted them back into playoff contention and all the way to the team’s third Stanley Cup. The Penguins hope the addition of McKee will lessen the blow of losing key defensemen Scuderi and Gill. McKee has played in 740 NHL games in 13 seasons. He was seventh in the league with 185 blocked shots and posted a plus-11 rating with St. Louis last season. Crosby, the youngest NHL captain of a Stanley Cup champion, has 397 points in 290 NHL games over four seasons. His 1.37 points-per-game average is fifth highest in league history.

Pittsburgh Penguins 2009 Season Predictions

First losing Cup finalist to come back and win the next year since the 1984 Oilers, Pens will be hard-pressed to make three straight trips to the finals, especially with the loss of Scuderi from their defensive corp.

We predict that the Pittsburgh Penguins will finish 1st in the NHL Atlantic, 3rd in East: 101 points.

Pittsburgh Penguins Betting

Pittsburgh Penguins Stanley Cup Odds: +500
Pittsburgh Penguins Eastern Conference Odds: +250
Pittsburgh Penguins Atlantic Odds: -175

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