A New Season Begins.

Hockey season has begun. Last night the puck dropped for the first time this season for several teams. The Pens season gets underway tomorrow night. Though, yesterday and today, the Pens' season beginning has taken a backseat to another sports story in Pittsburgh. (I will save the tired line, 'The Pirates being in the playoffs, yes you read that correctly, Pirates are in the playoffs,' because it's been a tad overused.) Last night the Pittsburgh Pirates won their wildcard game and will begin their series tomorrow.
I have to admit, I am pretty excited about the Pirates. Last night, I watched some of the game on tv, I haven't done that since... well, ever. I watched less of the Chicago and Washington hockey game than I did the Pirate game. How could you not watch some of that game? The fans' energy was incredible and I found myself wishing I was there. So, good luck to the Pirates!

Now, back to business. With all the excitement over the Pirates and the Duck, I still am excited a new hockey season has begun. Though, this season hasn't even started for the Penguins yet and there are already some big stories. Today we learned that Vokoun will be out 3-6 months due to the blood clot that was found and repaired recently. He'll be reevaluated after 3 months. Though, there's no hiding that this season could be done for Vokoun, if not his career. That is enough to make some Pens fans worry due to the fact that Vokoun helped us last season in the playoffs when Fleury was struggling. However, one should remember that Fleury seems to do just fine and sometimes great in the regular season. It's the past couple postseasons that have been rather disappointing. And there it is. The elephant in the room, well not really. It's no secret and people aren't afraid to talk about it; the Pens have had several straight years of disappointing playoff exits. Each year seems to become more and more frustrating and disappointing. The Pens have some of the best players in the league and we are continually picked to win the Stanley Cup at the beginning of a season or to make it to the finals, but the reality is that the Pens have failed miserably at accomplishing that goal the past several seasons.

Here we are once again; several media outlets picking the Pens to make it to the Finals, some individual journalists picking the Pens as the Stanley Cup winner. Well, that's all guessing, as it is every year, and look how well it's turned out for us.
I would be lying if I said I did not have high expectations every season for the Pens. With a roster like ours, how could you not? This season, I'm going to need some proof. I don't want another early playoff exit. I will try my hardest not to get my hopes up this season because I am tired of the crushing feeling of defeat by these recent playoff exits. I am ready to see the Pens reach their potential in the playoffs.

I am getting ahead of myself though. The season hasn't even started and I'm talking about the playoffs. There are other stories to get to:
Today, the Pens announced they signed Chuck Kobasew to a 1 year contract after he was invited to camp on a professional tryout contract.
Beau Bennet was recalled from Wheeling today and forward Chris Conner and defenseman Harrison Ruopp have been re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Nick D'Agostini was placed on IR, to join Kris Letang on that list.
With Vokoun out, the Pens are starting the season with Jeff Zatkoff as Fleury's backup.

With every new season comes new issues, injuries, players, storylines, and ups and downs. A new hockey season begins full of promise and potential and that's what I love about the start of a fresh hockey season. All the possibilities. We will see the beginning of hopefully a long season tomorrow night at Consol Energy Center against the New Jersey Devils.

A new season, a fresh start. All the things that happened in the past are in the past. This is a fresh start for the team and each player. Therefore, the slates are clean. No preconceived judgements. You just never know where this season will take us. Well, I'm ready...



Also, I would like to wish Cy, aka Malkamania, a quick recovery! Hope you're doing better Cy and hopefully we see you at some games soon!