What's Your #1 Concern about this season?

[cojac]

My biggest concern, besides Gonchar's injury is the lack of toughness we'll have. Losing Malone, Roberts, Ruutu, and BGL worries me. Out of those 4 players, Malone may be our biggest lost; he stood up for Sid and Geno at the drop of a hat. Also if BGL is still here, does Koci take a run at Gonchar Saturday night? That's a question we'll never know the answer to. Cooke is a better player than Ruutu, and brings the same nasty style that Ruutu brought. Godard will fight all the heavyweights, which BGL tried to do, but lacked takers. We haven't replaced Malone and Roberts toughness which is why I'm worried.

[Pitts]

How far back the competition will be by March. What do say...20 points?

[meecrofilm]

Also if BGL is still here, does Koci take a run at Gonchar Saturday night? That's a question we'll never know the answer to.

Actually, yes. Yes, he would have. And that wasn't necessarily a run. He went out of his way to finish a check, but a lot of players do that (especially ones fighting for roster spots).

[JoseCuervo]

Having a better season than last year.

They should be able to, but will they do it?

[Idoit40fans]

another significant injury

[Henry Hank]

Not worried about toughness... like you say, they brought in Cooke and Godard. Stone's in the running to make the team. The thing about toughness is that it's not just fighting. This isn't a soft team that backs away from physical play. In that sense, there is team toughness that pervades the entire lineup from Crosby to Malkin to Staal to Talbot to Fedotenko to Kennedy to Orpik to Gill, etc. These are guys that will play for each other and stick up for each other.

I struggle to find anything that really concerns me. I think they're good in all areas and they've got depth in all areas. Even with the injuries on D, they're seven deep in NHL defensemen if you're counting Goligoski, and they've got several guys in the AHL who are capable of spot duty in the NHL. The possibility for injuries to wreck the season is the only thing I'd worry about, but that's kind of a fluke thing that can happen to any team... and when you look at how this team performed last year despite significant injury losses, it's kind of hard to even worry about that. I'm not worried about a letdown because the leadership is too strong here.

[Guido]

Right now? I'm worried about the health of our blue line.

[Three Stars]

My biggest concern is how long the Pens will languish at .500 at the beginning of the season, like they always do, before rocketing up the standings.

[demangone]

I'm worried that I'll have new, annoying, loud people sitting next to me at games. I'm also worried that I'll spend way too much money on Pens merchandise. But my biggest concern is deciding whose jersey to buy.

[maudineormsby]

Right now? I'm worried about the health of our blue line.

Yeah, what will we do if we lose Orpik or Letang? We'd be in a bad spot.

In that sense, there is team toughness that pervades the entire lineup from Crosby to Malkin to Staal to Talbot to Fedotenko to Kennedy to Orpik to Gill, etc. These are guys that will play for each other and stick up for each other.

Love this assessment. Totally on target - "tough" isn't created by two forwards (Roberts, Malone) and an enforcer. We've got Orpik, Gill, Talbot, and Fedo who all play with a lot of grit, Godard, who isn't above actually fighting someone (Thx PittsburghJoe for pointing that out) and a few gritty players in Cooke, and Kennedy. Heck, "tough" is why Dupuis makes sense on the top line if you think about it - because he fights for pucks in the corners.

If you're afraid of people taking runs at Sid or Geno because of a lack of enforcer, I say Empirically Denied. Nobody's done it in the past, and nobody will now, especially since we've got a half crazy person as our enforcer. If you're worried about this team being bullied around on the ice because of lack of size, I would point out that with Fedo, Staal, and Cooke, we've got more size in the top 9 than we did last year where we had...Malone...and...Staal...

[Hawkeynut]

My #1 concern is how they come out of the gates. I hope they do not have the fabled "hangover" that some teams have after a long run.

[newarenanow]

I hope they don't come out stagnet. Sometimes, teams that achieve a lot the previous year will start off slow since they know the grind they have to go through to get back to where they were.

[LeopardLetang]

my number 1 concern is whether or not they can beat Det if they play them in the finals.

also, anyone think Staal will pick up his fighting game this year? he could, right?

[Eismann]

The stability of Sid's line, which impacts and is impacted by the productivity of his wingers.

[Why So Serious?]

my number 1 concern is whether or not they can beat Det if they play them in the finals.

also, anyone think Staal will pick up his fighting game this year? he could, right?

He won't fight. And there is absolutely zero reason for him to do so.

[penny lane]

Injuries, something we cannot control. Sid and Evgeni on the PK will add another feature for the opposing team to plan for, but I worry about those slapshots from the point towards them.

what this team of players hasn't had after Therrien arrived was a long losing streak, I have faith they will laugh at talk of playoff hangover.

[shmenguin]

i'm worried about the red wings. that's all.

[bhaw]

1. Injuries and that Gonchar's may be more severe than we think right now.
2. Someone like Orpik who now has a big role reverts back to early last season form, making our depth look less deep.

Not major concerns right now, but could be...

[beerman]

Biggest concern is injuries for me. The team is good enough to rebound and get to the playoffs if they come out of the gates and stink it up. The major thing that worries me is what happens if Sid or Fleury go down again, what if it's Malkin this time or if Gonchar misses significant time. All those things are totally out of anyone's control and sure they didn't really miss a beat when Sid and Fleury went down last year but I don't think you can realistically expect that kind of performance again if some of your top players go down.

[drtofu66]

I'm mostly concerned about the short offseason, the short pre-season, and playing in Stockholm. It seems like the Pens are getting rushed into the regular season with more things to get settled/figured out than they have a reasonable amount of time for. Like last year, inconsistency until Thanksgiving wouldn't surprise me at all.

Then when Whitney gets back and Gonchar has had time to heal, they could take off again like last year.

[K2]

my biggest concern is deciding whose jersey to buy.

Same here

Honestly, my biggest concern is the backup goalie situation

[Kovy27]

Matt Cooke jersey. End of story.

[PenguinSteve-o]

1. my biggest concern is health for 87 and 71 and probably MAF.
2. start of the season and playing with a short few months rest (playing physically and mentally)
3. crosbys linemates.

[KG]

I hope they don't come out stagnet. Sometimes, teams that achieve a lot the previous year will start off slow since they know the grind they have to go through to get back to where they were.

I would agree with this...Little Stanley Cup hang over...Although they didn't win it, so they shouldn't be hung over from anything!

[ShaPe]

I would say Dupuis (or anyone else FedEx, Cooke etc) not being able to take advantage of the chances Sid and Satan will create for him(them).