Pens' not dead w/o Hossa

Yes, he's gone.  Goofy hair, sans playoff beard, in need of some ProActiv, Sidney's right hand man.  Donning the red of the Red Wings, which is about the equivalent of donning the old CCCP jerseys.

And if some "experts" are to believed, the Pittsburgh Penguins chances of having a successful season are too.  A little premature if you ask me.

Consider these facts: Hossa joined the team at the trade deadline but was injured in the first period of his first game in a Pens uniform.  Counting the regular season finale that the Pens "threw", Hossa played in less than a dozen regular season games for Pittsburgh.

Don't forget how Crosby's ills seemed to run parallel to Hossa's and it isn't a surprise to learn they only played a few games together in the regular season.

So one can say that Hossa had little to do with Pittsburgh's 47-win, 102 point regular season in which they were two points away from the East's top spot.

Adding two veterans in Ruslan Fedotenko and Miroslav Satan, both who have some offensive skills but bad 2007-08 stats (who wouldn't have bad statistics playing on Long Island) is a downgrade, yes, but not a sign that the Pens' best years are already behind.

Then there's the progress made from last year.  No one could say at this date last year, with the baby-faced Penguins just happy to have made the playoffs and winning one game against Ottawa, that the team was playoff tested.

But with Evgeni Malkin now truly the second part, or maybe 1A, in Pittsburgh's 1-2 punch and with Marc-Andre Fleury about to step into the NHL's elite goaltending class, the Pens start off better than 2007-08.

Yes, Ryan Whitney is out for at least two months and Sergein Gonchar could miss the first handful of games, severly limiting the defensive corps offensive production (Whitney couldn't get his hands on the Norris Trophy unless he stole it), the Pens still play a rigid system under coach Michel Therrien and have plenty of offensive talent to carry the load.

And a new weapon might be found in Jordan Staal as a permanent fixture on Malkin's wing.  In his 2006-07 rookie season, Staal scored 29 goals, including seven shorthanded tallies.  At 6'1", a beast to knock off his skates plus incredible stick range, Staal could easily replace Ryan Malone on the second line.

That would leave a hole in the third line, but come on, a third line center in today's NHL isn't exactly a gem.  Pittsburgh also lost Gary Roberts, Georges Laroque, Jarko Ruutu, Adam Hall and Ty Conklin, valuable pieces but not irreplaceable.

Roberts was a motivator, yes, but missed four months of the season.  Ruutu, a legendary pest, can be somewhat replaced, especially on the score sheet, by veteran Matt Cooke.  Eric Godard is not the big man in the league like Laroque but he can scrap.  And Adam Hall had a nice face-off percentage but was only a fourth line center.

Plus, another thing to consider is depth at the trade deadline, and assuming the defensive corps stay health there will be a surplus of defensemen, including veteran Darryl Sydor.  Veteran d-men are always trade bait for a plug at the deadline.

Are the Penguins equal to last year's Cup Finalists?  No.  That is also an admission that they stepped back.  But no one in the East took gigantic leaps forward and the Pens are still at least good for challenging for the division title.

And who knows, maybe another run through the postseason.