My yearly....

[SunCoastSooner]

Post in this forum with the same traditional question I prose to each and everyone of you... Just how bad will Pittsburgh suck by the end of the season this year?

[Shoalzie]

I can see them competing for one of the last playoff spots if they don't suffer any injuries to their young stars. They kind of remind of the Thrashers a little...just less polished. I'm not big on their defense...Gonchar is one-dimensional and the rest of them are decent complimentary guys, no one that strikes fear in opposing forwards...unless they are standing with their back to them, ask Erik Cole. With teams like the Flyers, Bruins and Senators off to slow starts, any of those fringe teams that could sneak into the playoffs in April need to steal as many points now as they can. I don't think Ottawa will be down for that much longer and it's still too early to bury the Flyers or Bruins although they have some work to do to get back with the rest of the pack. I can see the Pens rising up to the 80-90 point barrier this year which probably won't get them in the playoffs but next year could interesting if they can build up that defense in front of Fleury and maybe add some more reliable veteran players around Crosby, Malkin and Staal...the Thrashers have benefited from the leadership and strong play of Mellanby and Kozlov to go with Hossa and Kovalchuk. The Pens are probably a year away from being a real threat in the East.