A A Behrend Beacon nY\
I September 25, 2009
I ■ www.thebehrendbeacon.com JT
NHL
Pittsburgh Penguins begin journey to defend Stanley Cup
NICK BLAKE
sports editor
Three months ago, the Pitts
burgh Penguins were hoisting
Lord Stanley’s O On Oct. 2
CONTRIBUTED PHOI
The Penguins pose with the Stanley Cup after defeating the Detroit Redwings in the Stanley Cup finals.
Young talent may help the Sabres back to the
NICK BLAKE
sports editor
On Oct. 3 the Buffalo Sabres
begin the regular season and
their quest to get back to the
Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Sabres put up a strong
fight down the stretch last year,
but finished tenth in the East
ern Conference and missed the
playoffs for a second straight
season.
The Sabres have a group of
young, solid forwards return
ing this season that will hope
fully get the Sabres back to
playoff form.
Last year, Thomas Vanek
scored 40 goals in 73 games.
The 25-year-old Austrian has
averaged 36 goals per season in
his first four NHL seasons.
to defend their title as Stanley
Cup Champions.
The offseason for the Pen
guins was one of celebration as
each member of the team spent
his individual time with the 35
Vanek did miss about a
month of action last season due
to a fractured jaw. If he can
stay healthy and play all 82
games this season, he will be a
great influence on his team
mates.
Jason Pominville finished
second to Vanek in scoring on
the team last year, and at the
age of 26 is an integral part of
Buffalo’s young team.
The Sabres also have a great
goaltender in Ryan Miller, who
will be entering his fifth season
this year.
Last year, Miller set career
highs in save percentage with
.918, and GAA with 2.53.
Miller posted a 34-18-6 record
for the Sabres.
Like Vanek, though, Miller
had an inury last season that
The offseason also brought
the departure of two of Pitts
burgh’s most important team
members.
Defensemen Rob Scuderi
and Hal Gill left the Penguins
kept him out of 13 games
The Sabres had a record of 4-
7-2 without their star goal
tender.
A very important factor for
the Sabres to be successful this
season will be keeping Spacek
and Miller healthy.
Like the Penguins, the
Sabres also lost two of their
key defensemen in Jaroslav
Spacek and Teppo Numminen.
Spacek signed a three-year
contract worth $11.5 million
with the Montreal Canadiens.
Numminen retired after 20
seasons in the NHL.
Buffalo signed veteran de
fensemen Steve Montador
from the Boston Bruins and Joe
DiPenta, who played in the
Swedish Elite league last sea
son, to help replace Spacek and
different teams.
Scuderi wanted to remain a
Penguin, but could not refuse
the four-year $13.6 million con
tract offered to him by the Los
Angeles Kings.
Gill signed with the Montreal
Canadiens for a paycheck of
$2.5 million over two years.
The Peguins signed Jay
McKee from St. Louis to help
replace Scuderi.
The Penguins also worked to
re-sign veteran forwards Bill
Guerin, Craig Adams and Rus
lan Fedotenko.
Guerin signed a one-year
contract to remain with the
Pens, and will most likely retire
following the upcoming season.
Fedotenko also signed a one
year contract to stay with Pitts
burgh and Adams signed a
two-year contract.
All three players took pay
cuts to remain on the team.
“1 think it says a lot about Bill
Guerin, Craig Adams and Rus
lan Fedotenko to want to come
Numminen,
The Sabres opened camp on
Sept. 8 with an hour long prac
tice and a 45 minutes inter
squad scrimmage.
Head coach Lindy Ruff is
having his team scrimmage a
little more in this camp, than he
has in the past.
“It’s a better way to evalu
ate,” Ruff said. “Having the
week to get the young guys up
to speed with the system, we’re
still going to give them one
practice with each team.”
Buffalo is 3-0-1 so far in pre
season games with two remai
ing.
The Sabres will begin their
regular season against the
Canadiens on Oct. 3.
back here and be part of this
group,” general manager Ray
Shero said.
The players took pay cuts to
make room for forward Mike
Rupp, left the New Jersey Dev
ils and signed with tthe pens.
The Penguins opened train
ing camp on Sept. 10, their first
step in the quest for the fran
chise’s fourth Stanley Cup.
Forward Tyler Kennedy
opened camp with the team’s
second line in place of Max Tal
bot.
Talbot had shoulder surgery
in the offseason and is ex
pected to miss the first few
months of the regular season.
Kennedy knows his role on
the team and play his part, no
matter what it is.
“I’m just taking it day by
day,” Kennedy said. “I’m not
asking questions, I’m just going
to be out there playing the
game.”
The Penguins will also have
to replace forward Petr Sykora,
Ryan Miller had career highs in save percentage and GAA last season with Buffalo.
orts
who signed a one-year contract
with the Minnesota Wild as a
free agent on Sept. 17.
Sykora is one of only three
players who have scored 20
goals per season over the last
ten seasons.
The Pens are 1-3-1 so far in
preseason play, with one game
remaining on Sept. 27 against
the Detroit Redwings.
The Penguins are also
preparing to play their final
season at Mellon Arena.
The Consol Energy Center is
nearing its completion next
door to the Mellon, and will be
the new home of the Penguins
come the 2010-T1 season.
The Pens open the regular
season at home on Oct. 2
against the New York Rangers.
The 2008-09 Stanley Cup
Championship banner will be
raised in the Mellon Arena
rafters as part of a pregame
ceremony.
playoffs
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO