Pittsburgh is the team I kept my eye on all of last year. I was able to watch their games on NHL Center Ice before I left to go to Ducks home games or before Ducks road games came on TV that night.

I knew they wouldn't do well but Sidney is a playmaker, Colby Armstrong is talented and funny (they had him mic'd one game), and I am hoping Marc-Andre Fleury will eventually develop into the star goalie he was expected to be.

With the addition of Evgeni Malkin hopefully this year, they should be fun to watch.

I know Crosby is only in the sophmore class of players, but he DESERVES more than 850,000. That may not be possible but that's what he deserves.
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General manager Ray Shero and coach Michel Therrien must decide whether 19-year-old Sidney Crosby - the team's best player and the face of the franchise - should wear the "C" as the team captain at the Oct. 5 opener against Philadelphia.

Other possible choices include forwards Mark Recchi and John LeClair. But they are not the big scorers they once were, and both have spent most of their careers with other teams.

He should have never received the "A" for being a leader for the Pens.  PERIOD!!!  That was the most retarted move by the organization and I'll bet he'll be the captain next year.  Oi I hope Malkin is ready for some whinnyness in P-town...
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When presented with the opportunity to serve as a guest instructor at the hockey school, Crosby couldn’t pass it up. He flew to Pittsburgh at his own expense because he knows how much of an impact the experience is for youngsters.

“It’s fun. I can remember being 6 or 7 and Brad Richards taught me at a hockey school and now I am playing against him,” he said. “It’s kind of funny how things work like that. You always remember those times in your life when you meet people like that. To be able to do it here is nice.”

I like how he pays for it himself, but magically a Pittsburgh photigrapher shows up.

I dislike Crosby.
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They signed Thibault?
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There had been speculation that Sidney Crosby may be given the job in just his second year in the NHL.

But coach Michel Therrien says the team has decided instead to go with a group of alternates that have not yet been named.

Penguins won't have a captain
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"We talked after (head coach Michel Therrien) announced that yesterday," Crosby said Tuesday after practice at the Moncton Coliseum. "They just made a organizational decision and that's fine by me.

The Penguins signed the 18-year-old centre to an entry-level contract Monday. A strong training camp and an injury to 20-year-old rookie centre Evgeni Malkin opened up a roster spot for the native of Thunder Bay, Ont.

Staal and 19-year-old defenseman Kristopher Letang, who also signed a contract with the Penguins yesterday, can be sent back to their junior teams before they play in their 10th NHL game without it counting as a year on their contracts. They'll join Sidney Crosby, 19, to give the team three teenagers on the roster.

When Gonchar, a defenseman, returned from Russia shortly before training camp, he had a wife and daughter. Shortly thereafter, he picked up a 20-year-old son of sorts, when Malkin moved in.

.....

"It's very quiet at home," Gonchar said. "He watches movies and plays computer games. And now he has a car, so he has a chance to go out and entertain himself."

While Malkin is asked to respect a few basic guidelines -- "No girls in the house," Gonchar said, smiling. "I have enough" -- he has given Gonchar no reason to consider imposing new ones.

"He's very good," Gonchar said. "He's done everything the right way. He's quiet and nice. No complaints from me."

Malkin to make NHL debut Wednesday

"I'm a little bit nervous before every game, but I'm not going to be too much more nervous before the first one," the Pittsburgh Penguins center said through a translator after practice Monday. "But we will see how it goes."

Malkin, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2004 NHL Draft, will make the NHL season's most highly anticipated rookie debut for the Penguins when they host the New Jersey Devils Wednesday at Mellon Arena.

Mark Recchi dares to mention Evgeni Malkin in the same sentence as the one player in Pittsburgh Penguins history to whom almost no one is ever compared.

Yes, No. 66.
...
"He's really good. He's going to be scary good," Recchi said Tuesday. "I hate to bring up this comparison, but I don't think we've seen anybody with his size who can skate like him and do as much as him. He's as close to Mario as we're going to see for a long time."

One day after New York Islanders coach Ted Nolan accused Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby of diving, the 19-year-old star and his coach brushed off the comments as gamesmanship.

“Jordan has earned his spot on our roster and deserves to play at the National Hockey League level,” Shero said. “We all knew about his skill level when we drafted him, but his work ethic, maturity and consistent effort have enabled him to make what is normally a difficult transition for a teen-ager.”

Evgeni Malkin should have many assists during his NHL career.

However, his biggest assist may have come off the ice.

Malkin, the 20-year-old Penguins rookie, helped facilitate a much-needed surgery for a 6-year-old girl in Magnitogorsk, Russia, in September.

Dasha Tusaeva was born without a left arm and her mother, Natalia, hoped she could one day improve her daughter’s life.

"We were hopeful that this was going to come to a conclusion any day," Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer said Friday night during a news conference at the arena.

"All we know is that he and the league couldn't come to an agreement and he chose to give us a notice. The price and the terms, there was no problem there."

''We were shocked and offended that Mr. Balsillie would back out of such an important deal at the last minute - and less than a week before a decision on the funding of a new arena that will have far-reaching implications on our franchise, our city and our region,'' Lemieux said in a statement Monday.

''As a result, we intend to retain Mr. Balsillie's deposit because we believe him to be in breach of our agreement. We can say unequivocally that the deal with Mr. Balsillie is dead.''

"Despite recent difficulties, I continue to be very interested in the team and in working towards an arena deal that is a benefit to the team and to the City of Pittsburgh," Balsillie said.

Gov. Ed Rendell announced the agreement Tuesday at the Pennsylvania Gaming Congress. He said money from the state's new slot machine parlors would help fund the arena.

The Penguins had threatened to leave Pittsburgh if they couldn't secure a new rink. Their lease at 46-year-old Mellon Arena, the oldest facility in the league, expires June 30 and the team is free to leave after that.

Mario Lemieux didn't win a scoring title until his fourth NHL season and, despite his enormous talent and on-ice presence, couldn't lead the Pittsburgh Penguins into the playoffs until his fifth season.

Sidney Crosby did both in his second season. At age 19.

The NHL hasn't seen anything like this since a 19-year-old Wayne Gretzky's first NHL season with the Edmonton Oilers in 1979-80 -- a teenager being greatly responsible for carrying his team into the post-season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will announce tomorrow that Sidney Crosby will be named the team's captain.

At 19, Crosby will become the youngest captain in NHL history.

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In my opinion talent and skill don't equal leadership and at 19 that's just a brutal burden to put on a player and a bad decision ... but hey, what do I care what happens to them ?