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.
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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."
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