Friday, January 18, 2013

Penguins talk season-opener in Philly

Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma on beginning the 2013 season where his club ended their 2012 course:

“It’s going to be exciting. I think you’re going to find out really quick exactly how exciting it is. It’s going to start right off the hop in terms of the pressure and the importance of every game. You’re going to see that right through the schedule. Every division game is going to be fever-pitched. You’re going to see that with the 48 games.

"I know talking about our first game versus the Philadelphia Flyers, I think every fan in Pittsburgh and Philly is going to be tuned in to how important and how big this game is, given last year, given the divisional matchup and given that there’s 48 games, a lot of them are going to be vs. the division and the first one’s against Philly. We’re going to feel that rivalry right off the hop when we get to Philadelphia and when we get on the ice for warmups. It’s a big game. It’s the start of the season and it’s a divisional game vs. Philly. I think every player, new or guys that have been on this team for a while, know that rivalry, know what it is and are going to experience it."

And Crosby on recalling that first-round series:

"I remember at different points, just kind of being in shock. A lot of different flashes go through my mind when I think about the series. Basically, what it came down to was, we didn't deserve to win. We didn't play well enough, all the way through."

According to the club's website, the Pittsburgh roster will look like this:

Forwards: Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Eric Tangradi, Matt Cooke, Tyler Kennedy, Brandon Sutter, Tanner Glass, Joe Vitale, Craig Adams

Defensemen: Matt Niskanen, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Deryk Engelland, Simon Despres, Rob Bortuzzo, Ben Lovejoy

Goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury, Tomas Vokoun

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