Pittsburgh Penguins schedule - pre-season edition

There's not much out there for the Penguins, but we at least have the pre-season schedule.  And rumor has it - full schedule by the end of today.

In addition to disclosing each team's home opener, the NHL identified Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay and Philadelphia as the three Eastern Conference teams the Sharks will play twice next season - the first using a new format that boosts the number of non-conference games from 10 to 18.

Mercury News

Kudos to that clip.  That's the one that got me thinking - "Well, if the Pens don't have a schedule out by today, at least I can start to check off dates from others teams."  I expect to see something though on the Pens' site by mid-afternoon, as it has been announced on the team's site. 

But in the event nothing is up by the evening, I'll take the "hunter/gatherer" approach to making it myself by hitting up other team sites.

Here's what we have so far from the Pens camp:

Pre-season

Well, we get to see the "new" Lightning right off the bat for two games in a row, so that should be interesting to say the least.  Then the Leafs for two more, which is more or less like watching the entire first round of draft picks on ice when you consider their off-season moves.

Then on October 2, the Pens go international and play the Finnish team Jokerit.  In case you've never seen their logo:

At least they don't take themselves seriously.

The best thing to come of this international move, next to watching some overseas action, is that the players can adjust their clocks to get set for the season opener in Sweden against the Senators.

Former Penguin Jani Rita plays forward for Jokerit.  He had 3 goals and 4 assist for 7 points in 30 games with the Pittsburgh club back in the 2005/06 season.  Prior to Pitt, Rita played for Edmonton and scored 3 goals in 21 games.  But once he returned to Finland the guy lit up again in that way that makes you wonder whether he was really a good player who couldn't make it in the NHL or if he's just better with slimmer competition.

NHL totals

53 GP, 6 G, 4 A, 10 Pts

Finland totals since leaving the NHL

56 GP, 32 G, 20 A, 52 Pts

Impressive.  Where were you in 2005?

And finally, October 11 is the scheduled home opener against none other than the division rival Devils.  Last year's home opener was against the Ducks, a game I thought was a prime way to open up the season.  You only see them once a year (if at all with the old schedule).  But opening against the Devils?  Bah - been there done that. 

Keep checking back - schedule to come later. 

If you find it and want to post it up as a fanshot really quick, then go for it - but you may also see it posted via the link at the top of the page labeled "schedule."  This is still a new feature we're adapting to on Pensburgh so their might be a slight delay.