From now through the start of the NHL season on Oct. 4, TSN.ca
presents '30 Teams In 30 Days,' a quick glimpse at each NHL club as
the 2008-09 campaign approaches. Get the lowdown on every lineup,
storylines to follow and Scott Cullen's fantasy analysis. It continues
today with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins' ascension to the upper echelon of the National Hockey
League appeared inevitable, but few anticipated it occurring this
quickly. Thanks to a run to the Stanley Cup Final last year, the bar
has been set extremely high for this young team.

With Sidney Crosby coming off a Hart Trophy-winning campaign, Michel
Therrien capturing coach of the year honours and Evgeni Malkin getting
the nod as rookie of the year, expectations were high for the 2007-08
season. The team added some veteran leadership in the form of Petr
Sykora and Darryl Sydor, a pair of players with three Stanley Cup
rings between them. They also took care of the future of the
franchise by signing Crosby to a five-year deal with a slight hometown
discount.

Despite a great deal of optimism, the Pens were very mediocre to start
the season, struggling around the .500 mark into December.

Interestingly enough, the turning point appeared to be when No. 1
goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury went down to an ankle injury, leaving the
duties to Ty Conklin and Dany Sabourin. Instead of crumbling, the
team rallied and went on a tear, winning eight straight games in late
December and early January. Included in that stretch was a shootout
victory over the Buffalo Sabres on New Years Day in the Winter Classic.

Everything appeared to be going fine until Crosby badly sprained his
ankle in a 3-0 loss to the Lightning. Many predicted the Penguins to
go into the tank without their best player, but what could have very
easily been their death rattle turned in to a blessing in disguise.

With Crosby out, the entire team raised the level of their game - none
more so than Evgeni Malkin, who put the team on his broad shoulders.
After scoring only 15 goals through the first three months of the
campaign, Geno exploded for 32 goals in the final three months of the
season. Riding shotgun to Malkin, Ryan Malone also enjoyed a breakout
campaign, setting career highs in goals, assists, plus/minus and
penalty minutes.

The team then made a huge splash at the trade deadline by landing
Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis from the Thrashers for Colby Armstrong,
Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a first-round draft pick. By the
time Crosby and Fleury returned to the mix, the Pens were a well oiled
machine, firing on all cylinders and capturing their first division
title since the 1997-98 season.

Full of confidence entering the playoffs, the Pens ran roughshod over
the Ottawa Senators; took out the New York Rangers and eliminated
their cross-state rival the Philadelphia Flyers.

But there was no storybook ending for the Penguins against the Detroit
Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Final. The team was to stretch out the
series to six games, but it was apparent that the Wings were the
better team. While the loss may have been heartbreaking, what the
Penguins were able to achieve throughout the season was quite remarkable.

General Manager: Ray Shero (3rd season)
Head Coach: Michel Therrien (4th season)
2007-08 Record: 47-27-8 (2nd in Conference)
Points Leader: Evgeni Malkin -106
Goals Leader: Evgeni Malkin - 47
Assists Leader: Evgeni Malkin - 59
PIM Leader: Georges Laraque - 141
Plus/Minus Leader: Sidney Crosby - 18
PP Goals Leader: Evgeni Malkin - 17
SH Goals Leader: Ryan Malone - 2

What they did: The Penguins ensured that their core would be around
for a long time as they signed Malkin, Fleury and rugged rearguard
Brooks Orpik to multi-year extensions. The team also secured head
coach Therien's services for another three years. They also took a dip
into the free-agent pool picking up a pair of new wingers for Crosby
in Miroslav Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko, along with agitator Matt
Cooke. But the team's success meant that they were unable to keep
several key pieces. The Pens were hurt deeply by Hossa spurning their
multi-year offer and taking a one-year deal for less money with the
team that eliminated them from the finals - the Red Wings. Conklin
also defected to the Wings after a career year to back up Chris
Osgood. The Tampa Bay Lightning - backed by an ambitious new ownership
group - decided to set up a Penguins-South franchise, acquiring the
rights to Malone and Gary Roberts and signing Adam Hall. The team also
lost Georges Laraque and Jarkko Ruutu to the Canadiens and Senators
respectively.

What to watch for: The question on the minds of many people is
whether or not the Pens can overcome the hangover that seems to affect
every team that loses the Stanley Cup. Though it is extremely
unlikely that the Pens will miss the playoffs altogether, could an
Ottawa Senators-type drop from last season be in the cards? A full
season of Crosby and Malkin should ensure that the Penguins will be
competitive, but the secondary scoring and depth of the forwards took
a big hit with the loss of no fewer than five regulars. The Penguins
are hoping for Jordan Staal to rebound after the dreaded sophomore
slump grabbed a hold of him early in the season and refused to let go.
The talented two-way forward saw his goal production drop from 29 in
his rookie season to just 12 last year. There has been talk of
shifting him to the wing on one of the top two lines in an attempt to
jumpstart his offensive numbers.

Pittsburgh also took a chance by signing both Satan and Fedotenko away
from the Islanders. Neither enjoyed particularly good seasons, but
neither player skated on a line with Crosby, either. That fact alone
should be good enough for a major jump in production.

The newly signed Matt Cooke should provide the aggravation to
opponents lost when Ruutu moved to Ottawa, but the team may miss
Laraque more than they would like to admit. Eric Godard will replace
Big Georges' penalty minutes but the does not have the same presence
in the locker room nor does he have Laraque's ability to take a
regular shift without taking a bad penalty.

The Pens' blueline took a significant hit when they discovered that
Ryan Whitney would need surgery to repair a chronic foot injury,
sidelining the promising defenceman and power play quarterback until
at least January. The injury to Whitney means that the Pens will be
depending more than they would like on greenhorns such as Kris Letang
and rookie prospect Alex Goligoski, who have a combined 66 NHL games
between them. Softening the blow a little is the presence of Sergei
Gonchar, but he injured his shoulder over the weekend and could miss
time. Gonchar worked significantly on his play in his own end and is
considered one of the top two-way threats from the back-end in the
entire league.

Players and management all breathed a sigh of relief when Orpik agreed
to a six-year extension with the team. The bruising rear guard was a
revelation for the Penguins in their run to the Final, leading the
league in post-season hits and blocked shots. Sydor, Hal Gill and Mark
Eaton will all add veteran experience.

Between the pipes, this could be the year that Marc-Andre Fleury
elevates his status to the upper-echelon of starting goaltenders in
the league. Fleury's game is all about confidence and a deep run in
the playoffs should give him the tools he needs mentally to be among
the league's best this season. The Pens will no longer have Conklin to
lean on if Fleury gets injured or struggles. Sabourin will serve as
backup, but if Fleury develops the way the team hopes it will be very
unlikely that Sabourin starts in the 24 games he did last season.

Parting Shot: Thanks to a young, exciting team and an extended
playoff run, the Penguins were able to shift the focus in Pittsburgh
away from the Steelers for a couple of months. For the first time
since the glory years of Lemieux and Jagr, hockey is a big deal in the
Steel City once again. But with that excitement come a lot of
expectations. The fans want the team to win now and management
believes they have assembled a lineup good enough to capture the Cup.
If they are able to do so they would be the first team since the
1982-83 Edmonton Oilers to accomplish the feat after losing in the
Final the year before.

Scott Cullen's Fantasy Analysis: As long as the Pittsburgh Penguins
have Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, they will be one of the most
appealing teams in fantasy hockey