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Good morning one and all,
The Pens had an informal skate yesterday at the UPMC/Lemieux complex in Cranberry, after which Crosby and Malkin departed for the NHL media tour in Toronto. The linked podcast has a full recap of player interviews from day 1. [USA Today]
Halfway through the Pens skate, the most anticipated acquisition in recent memory showed up, as Phil Kessel stopped by to watch his future teammates skate. [PPG]
Geno predicts 50 goals for Kessel at least if he and Crosby form the kind of chemistry that he thinks they can have. [National Post]
Ben Lovejoy is ready to put last season behind him and focus on what he needs to do to be a contributor and a leader on the team. [Empty Netters]
Episode 9 of the Pens Garage League Podcast is available. (audio) [SoundCloud]
Experts doubt that Bill Peduto's bid for a cut of the Penguins sale will be a successful one. [Pittsburgh Post Gazette]
From the media tour, an extensive Q&A with Henrik Lundqvist and what he expects out of the upcoming NY Rangers season. [NHL.com]
A grand jury in NY state was scheduled to review the Patrick Kane case yesterday, but the proceedings were postponed for unknown reasons. It could still be reconvened later. [Chicago Tribune]
As the Lightning camp looms, Steven Stamkos is at peace with not having a new contract and hearing about all the trade rumors. [Canadian Press]
Anze Kopitar is optimistic about his own contract talks and reiterates he would like to stay with the Los Angeles Kings. [USA Today]
Peter Chiarelli will serve as a GM for the North American Young Stars team at the World Cup of Hockey. He's gonna trade the whole team for Andrew Ference and Chuck Kobasew. [Canadian Press]
Well he did draft Connor McDavid, whose arrival has reignited the Edmonton Oilers fanbase. [USA Today]
In the end, for all the laughs, watch Marc-Andre Fleury and Dan Potash reprise the classic scene from Slap Shot, in which Denis Lemieux explains finer points of hockey to Jim Carr. Slap Shot was filmed in Johnstown, PA, which was recently voted Kraft Hockeyville USA and will host a Penguins preseason game against the Lightning on September 29. [NHL.com]