By Kevin Allen, USA TODAY
Now three years into the salary cap era, the NHL has become a salute
to parity. Every summer, the player deck is reshuffled and every team
adds fresh talent and embraces new-found optimism. More teams have a
chance to win the Stanley Cup than at any other time NHL history. But
only one will be crowned champion, and our pick is the Pittsburgh
Penguins, a team that two years ago was the worst team in the Eastern
Conference.

Ten reasons why the Penguins will win the Stanley Cup this season:

1. The Crosby factor: Crosby is ready to lead the Penguins. At 20,
Sidney he is already the NHL's best pure player. He sees the ice like
Wayne Gretzky, carries the flag like Mark Messier and drives to the
net like Gordie Howe. He's mature beyond his years, and he's driven to
win a championship. Not many are ready to captain a team at 20, but
Crosby appears to be. As probably the league's most important arrival
since Mario Lemieux, Crosby has faced heavy pressure, exceeded
expectations, and done so with humility and style. He seems to always
make the right play, and say the right words after the game.

2. Oilers Syndrome: The Penguins boast offense beyond Crosby, much
like the young Edmonton Oilers were more than young Gretzky in 1984.
The Oilers had Messier and Jari Kurri and the Penguins have Evgeni
Malkin and Jordan Staal, two of the best young forwards in the game.
Staal could end up being a more dangerous player more than his
brother, Eric, who helped the Carolina Hurricanes win a Stanley Cup.
Malkin could be among the top five or six NHL scorers this season.
This team has proven war horses Mark Recchi and Gary Roberts, and
popular, gritty role player Colby Armstrong. The addition of Petr
Sykora also makes the offense more dangerous.

3. Power of parity: The timing is perfect for Pittsburgh to rise up.
The Eastern Conference is probably more wide open than at any point in
league history. Two of last season's top teams in the East — the
Buffalo Sabres and New Jersey Devils — both suffered heavy losses
through free agency. The Penguins have thus far kept their talented
stars together.

4. Fleury of saves: Former No. 1 draft pick Marc-Andre Fleury has the
potential to do for the Penguins what Martin Brodeur did for the
Devils. At 22, he has played 138 NHL games and already posted a 40-win
season. He had periods of inconsistency, but it was also evident why
many scouts believed Fleury was going to be the next superstar goalie.
He is nearly perfect technically and has uncanny anticipation. If the
Penguins perform as well as expected, Fleury could flirt with a 50-win
season.

5. Getting defensive: The Penguins are close to putting their
defensive game in order. Near the end of the 2005-06 season, coach
Michel Therrien became so incensed over the Penguins' defensive
deficiencies in one loss that he said he had started to believe "their
goal is to be the worst defensive squad in the league." The defensive
outlook is far different today. Ryan Whitney has developed into a
first-rate offensive defenseman, and his defense work is better than
anticipated. Sergei Gonchar's performance level has picked up now that
he's surrounded by talent. Stay-at-home defender Mark Eaton has added
stability. Darryl Sydor gave the team one more veteran. And everyone
is excited about the potential of puck-moving defenseman Kris Letang.

6. Roberts Rules: When Roberts re-signed with the Penguins, it was an
important endorsement for the franchise. Every other team would gladly
take Roberts, who offers an enticing blend of fury and finesse. His
competitiveness is molten, and he wants badly to win the second Cup
that has eluded him since 1989. The unrestricted free agent had
indicated a desire to go home to Ontario, but he chose the Penguins.
Consider that a vote of confidence for this team's championship potential.

7. Fireproof coaching: Therrien seems to know which buttons to push.
When general manager Ray Shero took command of the Penguins, the
prevailing wisdom was he would follow history, eventually fire
Therrien and bring aboard his own man. But Therrien got the team
playing so unexpectedly well last season that he forced Shero to give
him an extension.

8. Steel City support: Pittsburgh gets behind a winning hockey team.
When the late Bob Johnson coached there, he enjoyed going to local
taverns to watch hockey. Patrons would cheer him, and he would order
Iron City beer and a sausage, sit down with the guys wearing hard hats
and say, "Let's talk hockey." Johnson understood Pittsburgh fans love
the sport and can provide the team an emotional boost. The NHL
understood that, too, which is why nobody wanted to see the Penguins
leave town, even at the lowest points in the battle to secure a new
arena. If the Penguins look like they are marching toward a Cup as
they did in the early

9. Unknown hero: Some yet-to-be-identified veteran player is going to
help the Penguins in the playoffs. Maybe it will be a scoring winger
for Crosby or a tough, physical defenseman. The fact that a new arena
has been approved will allow the Penguins to be more aggressive at the
Feb. 26 trade deadline. If they believe they are a defenseman or
forward short, they will acquire him. Count on it.

10. The father's son: Shero learned the game from his Stanley
Cup-winning father, Fred, whose coaching style was two parts tactics
and three parts motivation. "Success is not the result of spontaneous
combustion," the late Fred Shero used to say. "You must first set
yourself on fire." He believed that winning was about heart as much as
talent, and he could watch a youngster take two shifts and know
whether he had the passion necessary to be a NHL player. Ray Shero has
his father's old school intuition, but he's also a college graduate
with a modern professional approach to management. When he was hired
in Pittsburgh, he took over a franchise that was trying to play 21st
century hockey with a 1980s-style infrastructure. He has upgraded
their technical support, modernized the scouting structure and
revamped their training methods. The Penguins have gone from being the
league's most ill-prepared franchise to one of the best prepared. He
knows talent when he sees it, evidenced by his decision to add Eaton,
Sykora and Roberts, among others. Plus, Shero will know what to do if
the Penguins are close. He has his father's passion. He can tell the
Penguins players and coaches what his father told the Philadelphia
Flyers when they were on the verge of winning the Stanley Cup in 1974:
"Win together today and we walk together forever."