Sidney Crosby Injury: Can the Penguins Win in 2011-12 Without Sid the Kid?

After hearing the pessimism regarding Sidney Crosby's reported setback today in recovering from a concussion late last season, Pittsburgh Penguins fans all over the country are banging their heads on the wall. Recent reports from CTV News—which have since been refuted by Crosby's agent—state that it "appears unlikely that Crosby will attend the start of training camp next month."

So now the burning question is, if the report is true: Can the Pittsburgh Penguins win in 2011-12 without Crosby?

Can they make the playoffs?

Yes.

The Stanley Cup?

It'll be a lot harder, but maybe.

The Penguins posted the second-highest point total in their history last year; they missed Crosby for half of last season. They finished fourth in the Eastern Conference and if it weren't for a hot Dwyane Roloson, they would've advanced to the second round.

This was all without Evgeni Malkin, too.

The Penguins get Malkin back this year. Let's not forget that James Neal will enter his first full season with the Penguins and this should help the Pens a lot. 

So the Penguins can still be a highly competitive team. They have great goaltending, a potent defense and still have legitimate scorers. If Evgeni Malkin resembles the player he was in 2009, the Penguins should be able to dominate during the regular season and perhaps even win the division. 

As for winning the Stanley Cup, it might be a bit more difficult, but it's possible. 

The Boston Bruins proved last season that teams don't need a star player to take over a team and win the Stanley Cup. They did it with great goaltending, a stingy defense, physicality and clutch scoring. 

The Penguins have all of those ingredients even without Crosby. Sure, having Crosby makes it a lot easier and puts them over the top. But they have Marc-Andre Fleury, a world-class, proven goaltender in net; a great defensive corps featuring Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, Kris Letang and Zbynek Michalek; and a healthy Evgeni Malkin. 

The Pens also have a lot of grit with grinders like Craig Adams, Matt Cooke and Arron Asham. 

Championships aren't won by a single player.

Back in 2009 when the Penguins won the Cup, Crosby missed more than half of Game 7 against the Red Wings. Guys like Max Talbot, Bill Guerin, Ruslan Fedotenko, Sergei Gonchar, Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi were key members of the team who contributed in huge ways. They did it with a stingy defense that was able to contain the Red Wings forwards in the Stanley Cup Final and Alex Ovechkin earlier on. 

Let's not forget that the Penguins have one of the best, if not the best, bench bosses in the league. Dan Bylsma has coped with adversity and succeeded numerous times throughout his time in Pittsburgh. He'll be looking to do the same again this season.

The Penguins arguably have a better defense going into this season than they did that year. Fleury is just entering his prime and he's elite—and Malkin is finally healthy. 

Will ratings drop? Possibly. But who cares? The Penguins can still make a great run at the Stanley Cup. 

They still have a top-10 forward who can lead the team and, more importantly, a solid organization committed to winning.