In the season prior to the NHL lockout, Penguins fans saw their team set numerous unfavorable… In the season prior to the NHL lockout, Penguins fans saw their team set numerous unfavorable records, including a league-worst 18-game losing streak. Their sub par play, coupled with the impending lockout, resulted in a great loss of interest and sparse home crowds.

That being said, few could have anticipated what has occurred over the last month. Luckily though, General Manager Craig Patrick was one of them.

Before the lockout began, Patrick preemptively acquired former Penguin Mark Recchi. By taking one of the Flyers’ top scorers, Patrick proved to the NHL and to Pittsburgh fans that the Penguins were serious about improving, and quickly. The lockout would soon follow, but only to the Penguins’ advantage.

When it had concluded, the resulting collective bargaining agreement immediately make financially strapped clubs, like the Penguins, into potential contenders. The salary structure of the agreement included a team payroll range between $21.5 million and $39 million for the first year.

The protracted lockout also resulted in the largest free-agent pool in NHL history.

More than 600 players flooded the market, including more than 250 unrestricted free agents who were able to sign elsewhere without their former teams receiving compensation. The names of free agents initially on the market greatly resembled the rosters of past All-Star teams rosters.

The situation elated the management of the Penguins who, despite being in the midst of rebuilding, were suddenly in position to add some big names to the team. As if that wasn’t sweet enough, the Penguins were blessed with more good fortune by winning the NHL draft lottery, allowing them to take the man who sports writers have dubbed the “Next Great One,” Sidney Crosby.

Since the draft, everything has fallen into place for the Pens. In less than two weeks, the team added defensemen Sergei Gonchar, Steve Poapst and Andre Roy, as well as right-winger Ziggy Palffy, former Flyers’ All-Star John LeClair and goaltender Jocelyn Thibault. The Penguins also managed to re-sign some of their own young talent, most notably right-winger Konstantin Koltsov and defenseman Josef Melichar.

Crosby, LeClair, Palffy and company have produced the kind of “hockey buzz” in the Steel City that had only been created once before, in the days of the Penguins’ back-to-back championships. The lockout has not turned Pittsburghers off; but rather reinvigorated their enthusiasm. Most surprisingly, all of the fervor has been generated during the start of the Steelers’ preseason and has fueled legitimate talk of not just a playoff run, but also a shot at the Stanley Cup.

In the season before the lockout, the Penguins started mostly inexperienced youth and rookies. This prompted team officials to dub the club the “X-Generation,” emphasizing their youth as the future of the team. The young team struggled to a 23-47-8 record and poor finish. Promising young right-winger Ryan Malone led the team in goals. However, defenseman Dick Tarnstrom led the team in points, proof of their anemic offense.

This season, the roster looks considerably different. The Penguins have shored up almost every position and have many reasons to be optimistic. Mario Lemiuex, when healthy, is still one of the league’s premier players, and he now has extraordinary goal scorers on both the offensive and defensive ends to assist him. The Penguins’ future also looks strong with Marc-Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby (the team’s last three No. 1 picks) highlighting a very talented young core. While the Penguins have grown stronger, the NHL’s best have been weakened. The former powerhouses have suffered greatly due to free agent losses, further helping the Penguins.

The Penguins’ front office believes it can win this year as well, and the signing of Jocelyn Thibault is proof of their belief. Why would the Pens sign a veteran goaltender when they already have two able goaltenders in former No. 1 pick Fleury and Sebastian Caron who are eager to start? It is true that Thibault’s signing was intended to help assist and nurture Fleury as he strives to become the starter. More importantly, however, Thibault was offered a contract to help the team win this season.

Having said that, there are also reasons as to why the hype may not translate into the wins. If the young players from the “X-Generation” fail to take their games to the next level, the team will struggle. The team has a new look, but many of the young members of the 2003 team will be asked to fill the holes of the 2005 team. Therefore, the Penguins’ ultimate success hinges on the performance of their youth.

The Penguins also currently lack a play-making center, which they ironically have in their system in the form of last year’s No. 1 pick, center Evgeni Malkin. Unfortunately, he remains a question mark due to the Russian Federation’s refusal to sign the International Ice Hockey Federation transfer agreement. This hold up could prevent Malkin from playing in Pittsburgh this season. The Penguins’ veterans must also remain healthy, something unlikely to occur, considering the team’s star player, Mario Lemiuex, is to the Penguins what Ken Griffey Jr. is to the Reds. Any combination of these reasons would be enough to keep the Penguins out of the conference and Stanley Cup championship series.

The whirlwind of events that have resulted from the collective bargaining agreement have significantly changed the fortunes of hockey in Pittsburgh for years to come. In mere weeks, the Penguins have gone from “X-generation” to the “NOW-generation.” Patrick’s spending spree has provided the Penguins the essential weaponry necessary for returning the team to the playoffs for the first time since the 2000-2001 season. According to head coach Eddie Olczyk in a Tribune-Review interview however, making the playoffs is the least of their ambitions.

“Our expectations are much more and higher than just making the playoffs,” he said. “We’re thinking bigger than that.”

Joe Balestrino is a senior staff writer for The Pitt News.