Pittsburgh Penguins Training Camp Day 1: Welcome back everyone

Today is the day. The offseason is officially over and the boys are back, the Pittsburgh Penguins are on the ice in Cranberry to start preparations for the 2018-19 season.

Here’s how the camp is broken up to start:

Team 1, right off the bat has Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel and Daniel Sprong on the same team and...Well, thousands of internet dreams are coming true right now

Many antsy fans wanted Sprong to be playing in the NHL for the past couple of seasons, the Pens were actually patient with a prospect for once! We’ll see if it pays off, coach Mike Sullivan has recently said he will give Sprong the opportunity to see where he can fit in and help the team, and there’s arguably no better open opportunity in the league than getting a chance to ride shotgun on the Guentzel-Crosby line.

It’s only Day 1, so deep breaths and further patience everyone. There will be twists and turns and probably Dominik Simon there before long for a look. September is for trying new things and seeing what is out there. For now, couldn’t ask for much more, just have to hope Sprong makes the most of what has been presented to him.

Interesting start for Evgeni Malkin as well. He gets his BFF Phil Kessel for opening action, and somewhat surprisingly it’s the $3.5 million dollar man Bryan Rust and not Carl Hagelin on their left.

Based on the lines, this could make a Team 3 group of Hagelin - Derick Brassard - Patric Hornqvist which is a very exciting sounding “3rd” line as well. Team 3 is set to hit the ice later on this morning on their own.

It’s just a brief taste, but hockey is back!

Remember though, things move quickly. The first exhibition game is this coming Tuesday night already, with the Penguins going to Buffalo.

For a complete schedule of training camp events: click here!