PSR Showdown
Are the playoffs a realistic goal for the Penguins?
By Joe Starkey
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

`Anything Is Possible``

Are the playoffs a realistic goal for the Penguins?

Ask yourself another question: Is Halle Berry a realistic dinner partner this Saturday?

Actually, that's not fair. The Penguins have every right to think playoffs. For starters, they have Mario Lemieux and nobody else does.

They're also playing in a league where teams not significantly more talented than themselves have reached the playoffs in recent years. The magic formula appears to be a defensively sound system and good special teams.

Anybody can do that.

Seriously, it wouldn't be a huge shock if the Penguins found themselves in the middle of a mediocre pack fighting for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.

But a lot of things would have to go right.

Scratch that. EVERYTHING would have to go right.

Given the lack of organizational depth, everybody would have to stay healthy. The odds aren't good. Injuries have crushed this franchise the past two years.

Lemieux, who turns 38 on Oct. 10, would need to play 70-75 games. Martin Straka would have to return to his pre-traumatic injury self. Key defensemen Josef Melichar and Michal Rozsival both of whom were battling injuries in camp would need to become dependable, every-night players.

The defense, even if healthy, is not going to intimidate anybody.

Goaltending is another huge question, but Sebastien Caron was better than Johan Hedberg in the final months of last season.

And then there is top draft pick Marc-Andre Fleury. It's terribly unrealistic to believe he'll be a franchise goalie this season, but his talent is tantalizing.

'He's the best (young) one I've seen in a long time,' Lemieux said.

Who knows? Maybe the Penguins will catch lightning in a bottle with their 18-year-old goalie. The beauty of training camp is that all things are possible. Every team is a Stanley Cup contender.

Some, we know, have no hope. But any team with Lemieux at least has that.

Bet on the Penguins finishing 12th to 14th in the East, but don't be totally shocked if they're in the playoff race.

Stranger things have happened.