* Pascal Dupuis took another step in his return from a blood clot in his lung when he and several teammates skated for the first time at the Penguins' new practice and training facility. Dupuis, who missed all but 16 games last season, was joined at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex by forwards Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz, defensemen Ian Cole, Rob Scuderi, Steve Oleksy and Adam Clendening, and goaltenders Marc-Andre Fleury and Jeff Zatkoff. Dupuis' last game was Nov. 15. He will attempt to play this season on the blood thinner Lovenox.
"Being on the ice with teammates, and being allowed more than myself and the trainer [on the ice] here in Pittsburgh, it's a first in basically 10 months. It felt great to be out there. I know my conditioning is going to be there, I know my legs are going to be there and my skating is going to be there. It's a matter of timing for me, a matter of repetitions in every aspect of the game. Obviously, I was told for six months to stay away from everybody and to not get cut, but now that I am allowed to, I am forcing myself to get in there and create traffic and get in people's way so it becomes second nature again."* The Penguins' setup at the facility is identical to the one at Consol Energy Center. Sidney Crosby has been arranging informal on-ice workouts for players who are in Pittsburgh.
"Guys were pretty excited about getting back here. Having this place definitely adds to that, and is one that we can get comfortable in. We'll be spending a lot of time here. You see that they went above and beyond to make sure we were taken care of [new complex]. I think as long as you can get around and [the facility] has everything you need, that's what you look for. This definitely has that."
* After the Penguins scored eight goals in five games during their Eastern Conference First Round loss to the New York Rangers last season, they acquired high-scoring forward Phil Kessel on July 1. One player happy with the move is goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who won't have to face Kessel anymore.
"[Kessel is] very talented, very fast. One less guy I have to worry about playing against. It'll be good to have him with the group of guys that we have and maybe make practice a little tougher with all these guys that we have up front. The way that he can score goals; I think he maybe hasn't been playing with the best teams the past few seasons and he's still racking up lots of goals, lots of points. It'll be good to watch him to play on our side now."
Kessel was traded to the Penguins from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a six-player deal that involved three draft picks. In nine seasons with the Boston Bruins and Maple Leafs, Kessel has 247 goals and 520 points in 668 games, including seven 20-goal seasons and five 30-goal seasons. Kessel has 11 goals in 32 games against the Penguins, most of those coming with Fleury in goal. Kessel should spark an offense that was 19th in the NHL in goals last season (217).
* The Penguins made several other moves during the offseason: They acquired forwards Nick Bonino, Eric Fehr and Matt Cullen and lost defenseman Paul Martin and forwards Brandon Sutter, Steve Downie, and Blake Comeau.
"There's been lots of changes, that's for sure. Sometimes it's a little sad to see so many buddies go and leave the team, but it's part of the game. And it shows that [general manager] Jim [Rutherford] and the organization are ready to make changes to improve the team and give us a chance to win at the end, and that's what he's doing."
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