He's back... again.

The moment we knew was coming has arrived. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that Sidney Crosby will be back in the lineup this Thursday in New York against the Rangers. What a game for the retun of Sidney Crosby. With the Pens fighting to catch the Rangers in the standings and Crosby's return, this game will surely be one not to miss. The Pens need to win both remaining games against the Rangers if they want to have a great shot at overtaking them for first in the Atlantic Division and first overall in the Eastern Conference.

While a good amount of people in the media and hockey world have been saying that with the addition of Crosby back in the Penguins lineup, the Pens are the favorites to win the Stanley Cup this year, I will not make any such comment. I will not take a chance in jinxing the team and one just never knows what will happen in the playoffs.

First, I would just like to see Crosby back in the lineup and stay in the lineup. I do not want a repeat of what happened last time, just like everyone else.
Though, I have to admit, we have an amazing team without Crosby playing, as we have seen as of late and with the addition of Crosby back... this team can be scary.
The potential of this team has me just as excited as I am at the start of a new season. In a way, if things turn out well and Crosby stays in the lineup with no symptoms, this can be like a new season in a sense.
Evgeni Malkin will hopefully stay at the same pace with Crosby back in the lineup and this team would be any other team's nightmare. Let's face it, the Pens can come out strong and knock a team down and when the Pens go down by a few goals, its not necessary to panic either because they have come out of holes to win some great games. While I will not say how deep this team will go in the playoffs, (And what does my opinion or lack thereof mean anyways?) I have to say that I am extremely excited to watch this team move forward and I hope that it is all what we are expecting. There's even a chance it will be better than we have been expecting.

With the sun shining and this warm weather, only the optimism is emerging, the glass is half full and all I am seeing are the endless great possibilities. The what ifs seem to go away; only worry about those if they happen. Now, it's time to think about this Pens team with Sidney Crosby back in uniform and adding him to an already stellar lineup. Right now, it's time to think of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin rising to the occasion. It's time to think of this Pens team and all that they can accomplish from here on out. I don't know about you, but I am pretty excited; Thursday can not come soon enough.