ATLANTA -- The franchise's future seems to be the topic of almost every conversation in the Penguins' locker room these days, which isn't much of shock.

The surprise might be that the Penguins insist they are able to keep the situation from becoming a distraction during working hours, like when they faced Atlanta at Philips Arena last night.

"Once the game starts, that will not happen," defenseman Ryan Whitney said.

Center Sidney Crosby volunteered that the franchise's uncertain future, "is probably in our thoughts a little bit more, just because it's being brought up," but noted that his teammates are little more than interested observers as ownership explores its options.

"When the news comes out, we follow it," he said. "But it's out of our control."

Whitney said news Wednesday that Isle of Capri's bid for slots license -- and, thus, its pledge of $290 million for a new arena that would have tied the franchise to Pittsburgh for at least 20 more years -- had been rejected by the state Gaming Control Board "was really upsetting" to the players, in part because so many have a genuine desire to see the team stay.

"I've heard pretty much most of the guys in here say they love playing in Pittsburgh, they like living there, they like the city," Whitney said. "A lot of guys have just bought houses, stuff like that, that makes a difference.

"It's a fun place to play, with great fans who pack our building pretty much every game. They're loud. It's just a fun city to play in. I don't think anyone wants to move."

That includes Crosby, who made it clear that the idea of changing cities so early in his pro career has no appeal.

"It makes a big difference, especially for guys who played here before," he said. "There have been some tough times here -- I know last year was a tough year -- but to see people come out and support the team the way they do, they deserve to have a team. That's the bottom line."

Not necessarily the one on which ownership is focused, though.

Centers of attention

Thrashers coach Bob Hartley described Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Maxime Talbot -- OK, he actually called Maxime Talbot Jean-Guy Talbot, apparently confusing him with a longtime NHLer who retired in 1971 -- as "by far, the best young group of centers" in the league.

"It's pretty unbelievable, the speed of those four kids," Hartley said. "It's four thoroughbreds. You can't slow them down. You can't stop them. You can just try to contain them. You hope you're going to have a strong defensive effort against them. They're unbelievably creative.

"They're great young kids. I'm sure they're already the talk of many morning meetings [by opposing teams]. That's where you have to focus. That was the talk of our meeting this morning."

Hossa drawing raves

Atlanta right winger Marian Hossa entered last night's game with a league-high 24 goals, while teammate Ilya Kovalchuk had 18. If they are not the most dangerous 1-2 scoring combination in the NHL, they aren't far from it.

Hossa, acquired from Ottawa for Dany Heatley before last season, said, "I never thought about it," but odds are that most Thrashers opponents have.

But goal-scoring is not all Hossa contributes to his team. Crosby suggested recently that he is among the best players in the NHL, and Hartley doesn't argue.

"Hoss brought lots of stability to this team because of his two-way play," Hartley said. "For me, he's the most complete player in this league right now."

Slap shots

Kovalchuk, who led the NHL with 27 power-play goals last season, entered last night's game without having gotten one in 16 games, a streak dating to Nov. 10. ... Hartley, on the recent performance of his Eric Boulton-Bobby Holik-J.P. Vigier checking line, which had 20 shots in the previous two games: "They're playing very basic hockey. They're effective. They're not fun to play against. They'll take the body, they'll crash the net. They play well as a unit."