Pens are (the way too) early favorites to win the cup

[Gaucho]

Phoenix 40/1

[steelhammer]

Perfectly reasonable to rank the Pens as the favorites. Despite the first round embarrassment last season, our lineup is pretty ridiculous with top-end talent and several players on bargain contracts. The addition of Vokoun will put us over the top. Full confidence in 2012-2013 team.

[CERV96]

Perfectly reasonable to rank the Pens as the favorites. Despite the first round embarrassment last season, our lineup is pretty ridiculous with top-end talent and several players on bargain contracts. The addition of Vokoun will put us over the top. Full confidence in 2012-2013 team.

YES?

[steelhammer]

Perfectly reasonable to rank the Pens as the favorites. Despite the first round embarrassment last season, our lineup is pretty ridiculous with top-end talent and several players on bargain contracts. The addition of Vokoun will put us over the top. Full confidence in 2012-2013 team.

YES?

YES! YES! YES! {AJ smiles in approval}

[CERV96]

Perfectly reasonable to rank the Pens as the favorites. Despite the first round embarrassment last season, our lineup is pretty ridiculous with top-end talent and several players on bargain contracts. The addition of Vokoun will put us over the top. Full confidence in 2012-2013 team.

YES?

YES! YES! YES! {AJ smiles in approval}

[itissteeltime]

If I were a betting man, I'd take Washington at 25/1.

[offsides]

Perfectly reasonable to rank the Pens as the favorites. Despite the first round embarrassment last season, our lineup is pretty ridiculous with top-end talent and several players on bargain contracts. The addition of Vokoun will put us over the top. Full confidence in 2012-2013 team.

Kind of the same way I felt about the 2011-2012 team. Lots of bad stuff will happen during the season, always does. Don't go counting your chickens before they are hatched.

[steelhammer]

Perfectly reasonable to rank the Pens as the favorites. Despite the first round embarrassment last season, our lineup is pretty ridiculous with top-end talent and several players on bargain contracts. The addition of Vokoun will put us over the top. Full confidence in 2012-2013 team.

Kind of the same way I felt about the 2011-2012 team. Lots of bad stuff will happen during the season, always does. Don't go counting your chickens before they are hatched.

You can say that about any team in the league. It's true for 29 teams every season. On paper the Pens have the best team, period. How their luck will turn out is anyone's guess. I'm not going to hold it against them though.

I kind of like that counting the chickens strategy. Perhaps I will place a significant bet and then immediately spend my future winnings on something I have always wanted like a copy of the million dollar belt? Again, full confidence in myself wearing that belt someday.

[Ossa]

Lockout 3/1

[BurghersAndDogsSports]

Why does everyone say on paper we are the best team? Only at center.
Even if our goaltending comes back strong we have major issues at wing, size and grit checking line, 4th line and at least 3 or 4 of our d men.

our top end talent is sick. and gives us a shot no matter what. But these teams hat went deep in the playoffs rolled 4 lines and had no major holes on defense.

Just saying. we have some work to do this summer if we want to be favorites.

[steelhammer]

Why does everyone say on paper we are the best team? Only at center.
Even if our goaltending comes back strong we have major issues at wing, size and grit checking line, 4th line and at least 3 or 4 of our d men.

our top end talent is sick. and gives us a shot no matter what. But these teams hat went deep in the playoffs rolled 4 lines and had no major holes on defense.

Just saying. we have some work to do this summer if we want to be favorites.

Horsefeathers. None of what you listed is a major weakness and many of those are actually strengths. Our scoring was actually quite deep last season as noted with the wingers Neal, Kunitz, Dupuis, Cooke, Sullivan (he still put up a decent amount of points) and Kennedy (good enough). There aren't many teams with that kind of scoring at the wing. Perhaps you could name some?

Size and grit? Are these mutually inclusive? We have plenty of grit. Size would just slow them down.

4th line? I'm sure it will come together. The fact is that it is entirely possible the Pens only roll 3 lines with 2 extra forwards if Staal stays. Not sure how many teams are ultimately held back by their 4th line.

Our defense as a whole is still very strong. Spare me the exaggeration that we need to replace as many as 4 of them.

Again, we ARE the favorites and it's not just us thinking so. People in Vegas who put millions and millions of dollars on the line put a lot more thought into this than you or I ever could.

[Gaucho]

I don't see any major issues at wing either.

[penny lane]

When last seen on ice, the pens crumbled after they let 1 goal in. 2011, game 7 ended because they couldn't score a goal on roloson. They have problems competing when it means the most for everybody.
I'm not looking for a pretty team through out the season. I want a snarly team, hungry to be a champion again.
cup favorites; I'm a doubting diane.

[SCrosby87]

Pens are the best team in the league on paper hands down. Who can compete with our 4 lines? Even our D on paper is one of the best.
I don't care that the Pens lost in round 1 to the Flyers. We just weren't mentally ready. We will be this year with a 100% Sid and Geno playing at this level.... look out

[BurghersAndDogsSports]

Sorry I cant take any replies seriously that say on paper our defense is good or our wings are not a weakness, or we can just simply take car of the 4 th line. Or we have enough grit. I heard all these same things before the playoffs began too, dismissing what was going on on the ice.

We just got destroyed in a series in which our offense could not cycle, our defense could not stop the cycle, our pk was historically bad.

And ps these were issues thelast month of the season, we weren't not mentally prepared to play. We have great high end talent but we won't win the cup with our surrounding talent right now.

I can't believe anyone thinks that.

[Pitts]

Sorry I cant take any replies seriously that say on paper our defense is good or our wings are not a weakness, or we can just simply take car of the 4 th line. Or we have enough grit. I heard all these same things before the playoffs began too, dismissing what was going on on the ice.

We just got destroyed in a series in which our offense could not cycle, our defense could not stop the cycle, our pk was historically bad.

And ps these were issues thelast month of the season, we weren't not mentally prepared to play. We have great high end talent but we won't win the cup with our surrounding talent right now.

I can't believe anyone thinks that.

So, you're saying they need a coaching change then? Because, everything you point out leads directly to coaching.

[sil]

I think the pens are 1 or 2 shut-down d-men...a bottom-6 bruiser...and a couple leaders willing to backcheck away from being real contenders. Those things can be fixed.

[BurghersAndDogsSports]

Sorry I cant take any replies seriously that say on paper our defense is good or our wings are not a weakness, or we can just simply take car of the 4 th line. Or we have enough grit. I heard all these same things before the playoffs began too, dismissing what was going on on the ice.

We just got destroyed in a series in which our offense could not cycle, our defense could not stop the cycle, our pk was historically bad.

And ps these were issues thelast month of the season, we weren't not mentally prepared to play. We have great high end talent but we won't win the cup with our surrounding talent right now.

I can't believe anyone thinks that.

So, you're saying they need a coaching change then? Because, everything you point out leads directly to coaching.

Not being able to cycle or stop a cycle isn't coaching nor is
me saying we have high end talent but not enough around them in grit
or size. We simply couldn't stop or do either. We were way too
perimeter in both ends because that's the players we have.

I think we have some great players of course. We are very lucky. I love watching them play.
But it was clear before the playoffs began that we lacked horses on o
and d. once teams realized that instead of playing passive and being afraid
to push do the exact opposite and you can succeed.

We can win it next year but we need some major roster changes.

Heck jagr said the difference between us and the devils was they weren't able to easily win battles against them as they did against us.

[shafnutz05]

I am most certainly putting $50 on the Flyers at 14/1. Why? Because if they don't win the Cup, I can laugh at them and savor in their precious, God-given tears while I listen to talk radio all day and listen to their sadness. If they win the Cup, I'm $650 richer and that helps soothe the sting of Flyersmania down here.

[NJ5934]

Sorry I cant take any replies seriously that say on paper our defense is good or our wings are not a weakness, or we can just simply take car of the 4 th line. Or we have enough grit. I heard all these same things before the playoffs began too, dismissing what was going on on the ice.

We just got destroyed in a series in which our offense could not cycle, our defense could not stop the cycle, our pk was historically bad.

And ps these were issues thelast month of the season, we weren't not mentally prepared to play. We have great high end talent but we won't win the cup with our surrounding talent right now.

I can't believe anyone thinks that.

I kind of share your point. The Pens were favorites this past season and they were laughed out. If the past year and a half have shown us anything its size and grit matter. The muscled up Bruins literally beat up the far more skilled Canuck team and the far bigger Kings out muscled the faster Devils. If the league is going to continue to slide back toward the obstruction days in hopes of reducing concussions, you better believe size and grit are going to become even more of a factor. Until Shero adds some muscle to this lineup, I don't see even a healthy Pens lineup having an edge on some of the bigger more aggressive teams like the Rangers, Bruins and Blues.

[littlemoonboot]