Pittsburgh Penguins Built for the New NHL

The Penguins have unparalleled strength at center. Successful teams in the post-lockout NHL have to be strong up the middle.2004-2005. The average Joe might just look at these years as a “pretty good time” or “those were the days.” But for the diehard hockey fan, it was seven to eight months of pain and dispair (get ready NBA followers).A full season of what we live for was wiped off the face of the Earth. The National Hockey League had become the definition of bland. Tickets weren’t being sold, there were no players worthy of being called a superstar and ultimately, the product on the ice was to blame.The NHL had turned into the opposite of what it is supposed to be.Fast-paced? It was slow and full of penalties. Violent? Goons such as Donald Brashear and Krzysztof Oliwa took it to a new, unentertaining level. World class skill that could fascinate the casual sports fan? Well, Mario played ten games that year at least.The players were bad, and so was the game as a whole. Winning was...