NHL Penguins Jersey, Wow, it\'s hard to believe that summer is almost over and NHL clubs are ready to get back on the ice and start making their respective bids for the 2010 Stanley Cup. It seems like no time at all has passed since the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team shocked the hockey world, beating the defending champion Detroit Red Wings at home in game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals to take home the coveted prize.
However, with the parity in the league today getting back to the top of the mountain might be even more difficult than doing it the first time was. Do the Penguins have what it takes to repeat as champions? Let\'s take a look at how this young team is shaping up.
In order to evaluate the mettle of a team one needs to start with the most important player on the team. In the case of a hockey team, that player is the goaltender. No other player, regardless of how much skill they have, can have as big an impact on a game as a goaltender can. When NHL Penguins Jersey a goalie is on top of his game a team NHL Penguins Jersey can get completely dominated and still skate away with two points. The opposite is true as well. If a goalie has an off night then often no matter how well his teammates play in front of him the result will be a loss.
Pittsburgh is blessed to have one of the best goaltenders in the NHL tending the pipes for them. Sure, Marc-Andre Fleury has had confidence and injury issues in the past. However, with his Stanley Cup winning run in 2009 Fleury proved to the hockey world that he has put his demons behind him, and his game 7 Stanley Cup clinching victory against Detroit was as clutch as any performance ever turned in by Patrick Roy, Terry Sawchuck or Martin Brodeur. Providing Fleury can maintain that level of poise and confidence the Penguins should be looking good in net for the upcoming season.
Besides Fleury the Penguins enjoy the luxury of having not one, but two superstar forwards on their roster. In fact, it could be argued that Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are the two best forwards in the league. Of course, Alexander Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Jarome Iginla and others are going to figure into that particular conversation, but Crosby and Malkin certainly have the credentials to merit consideration as number one and two in the NHL. Both in their early twenties Crosby and Malkin are only getting better, and if they can improve on the stellar campaigns they enjoyed last year opposing teams are going to have fits trying to shut them down.
So they have a great goalie, and a pair of superstars. So far so good. But do they have the supporting cast to repeat as champs? Last I checked it takes more than three players to bring home a Stanley Cup. The good news for Penguins fans is the Pens roster is almost identical to the team that hoisted the cup last spring. Crosby and Malkin will enjoy a supporting cast that features Jordan Staal, Chris Kunitz, Bill Guerin and Ruslan Fedetenko up front. On the back end the blueline will again be anchored by veterans like Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik as well as future star Kris Letang.
And finally there is the leadership of the team to consider. Coach Dan Bylsma performed a miracle last season, taking over a Penguins team that was floundering and in danger of missing the playoffs altogether, quickly getting the ship righted, and taking his young Pens on a charge through the playoffs that saw them victorious when the dust settled. Can he repeat the feat? There is every reason to believe so. Though the honeymoon that so many coaches seem to enjoy will be over, Bylsma, and more importantly, his systems, will be more familiar to the players, and they should be able to execute even more efficiently than they did in their incredible playoff run last season.
With all this taken into consideration the Penguins have to be considered a favorite to hoist the Stanley Cup next spring, however the road won\'t be easy. There is a young Washington Capitals team that bears a striking similarity to the Penguins that they will have to get through on their way back to the top. An envious Alexander Ovechkin will be hungrier than ever and would love nothing more than to bask in the glory that rivals Crosby and Malkin are enjoying right now.
The Caps aren\'t the only obstacle to a Pens repeat either, not by a long shot. The Bruins will be a force to be reckoned with, and teams like the Philadelphia Flyers and the New Jersey NHL Penguins Jersey Devils will certainly cause the Penguins plenty of headaches along the way. And don\'t forget that one of several powerful Western Conference teams will be waiting should the Pens manage to capture the Eastern Conference for a second consecutive season.
It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. As closely matched as NHL clubs are these days it is very likely that the dynastic dominance we saw from teams like the Canadiens, Islanders and Oilers may never be seen again. No doubt the Pittsburgh Penguins will be keen to prove that particular theory wrong.
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