I'm sure it doesn't come as any major surprise, but the Penguins' home opener on October 6th against the Ducks sold out. I was lucky enough to get my tix, but it didn't come without some hard work. In fact, I found myself a bit nervous when Ticketmaster kept crashing and all of the phone lines were tied up. Regardless, I'm sitting in Section B1 for anyone who may be going.
The boys had a bunch of open ice practices this week, the last taking place this morning. Earlier this afternoon they shot off to Montreal for preseason action tomorrow night.
Out of the 14 prospects asked to join vet camp, 10 were sent down to Wilkes-Barre Scranton today. I wasn't exactly surprised to see Joe Jenson go despite the hype around his presence with the vets, but I don't doubt he'll make his presence known after one more year of WBS work and some rigorous offseason training.
The Pens sent down Aaron Boogaard, Kurtis McLean, Kyle Rank, Joe Jensen and Mark Letestu. As for defensemen Paul Bissonnette, Mark Ardelan, Deryk Engellenad and Jonathan D’Aversa and finally goalie David Brown.
Remaining as prospects are:
FORWARDS
Jonathan Filewich *
Tyler Kennedy
Ryan Stone *
Tim Wallace
Dustin Jeffreys *
DEFENSE
Kris Letang *
Ben Lovejoy
GOALTENDERS
John Curry
* - Denotes player I feel will make the cut
I'll be the first to admit, I don't have much on Filewich or Ryan Stone. I know they played for WBS and there has been a lot of buzz about them in camp, (especially Filewich) but it's certainly something I'll have an eye on tomorrow night against the Habs.
Dustin Jeffreys came up big in the rookie tourney against Ottawa and apparantly he's doing the same in camp. I've had my money on this guy for a while now and would love to see him break in on the line. I think one of the biggest things the Pens have going for them right now is obviously an already existing breed of young players. However, in that pre-existing breed is the ability for new guys to relate and jump on board with more ease than would probably be the case on a team with an average age of 29/30.
He played a few games for us last year, and I expect for him to play more this season. Kris Letang, the right-handed defenseman, has shown more maturity on D. Last year he was over committing a bit too much, ultimately putting him out of position and having himself out of position and causing a lot of odd man rushes. This year however, word has it Letang has learned to stay at home and work the outset, keeping the player out instead of just the puck.
Curry will probably see some playing time tomorrow night, but I don't think he'll be making the cut. Sabourin stepped up big last year behind Luongo in the playoffs. If you recall, Sabourin was asked to start in overtime against the Stars while Luongo dealt with some stomach problems before the puck dropped. He stuck to his guns and held his own between the pipes, a position I feel warrants him the #2 spot behind Fleury. The fact that Dan Brown was cut before Fleury however (and appointed to WBS) makes me feel as if Curry will be sent down to the Nailers and Brown will have the #2 spot behind Conklin on WBS. Only another week or so will tell for sure.
Preseason is only a day away and I couldn't be more stoked. I'll touch base again tomorrow after the game.
