A couple of elbows raised a bit. Players endured punishment to hold position in front of the net. Legs churned furiously as skaters moved to get open. Shots were hard and accurate.

"The execution level on the power play, that was the best I've seen the power play since I've been in Pittsburgh in practice," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said yesterday about the long drill toward the end of the team's lively workout at Southpointe.

That was important to Bylsma not only because it gave him hope that his team could fare better than the 17.2 percent success rate it had on the power play to rank 20th in the NHL last season, but also because it gave him a sense of his team's psyche going into its 2009-10 season opener tonight against the New York Rangers.

"We're ready," he said. "Our practice [yesterday], I think they're eager to get going on a new season. They were sharp."

Tonight, before any more elbows come up or any whistles are blown, the Penguins will raise their championship banner at Mellon Arena and celebrate one last time with the Stanley Cup they won 112 days ago.

It's one of another emotional peaks that included beating the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of the playoff final, cheering with hundreds of thousands of spectators at a parade through Downtown, holding individual celebrations as players got the trophy for a day during the summer, being feted by President Barack Obama at the White House, and getting their mammoth, diamond-laden rings earlier this week on a night when they saw their engraved names on the Stanley Cup for the first time.

"Lots of emotion and guys will have fun," center Evgeni Malkin, the reigning NHL scoring champion and playoff MVP, predicted of the pregame festivities.

At the same time, Malkin was part of a widespread belief in the locker room that the Penguins will be thinking more about the Rangers and the games to come than the ceremony and the past 16 weeks.

"We had a good summer and a good training camp," he said. "I'm ready, and I think everybody's ready to start the season."

It's not that the players aren't looking forward to the pregame activities. The final season at Mellon Arena begins tonight. The building that opened in 1961 as the Civic Arena will be replaced by Consol Energy Center, which is under construction across the street from the outdated Igloo. This also will be the only occasion for the Penguins to celebrate the 2009 title on their home ice, because they clinched it at Detroit.

For Malkin and many of the other returning first-time champions, the push to win a league title had always been so paramount that it obscured the series of celebratory events that follow.

"You don't think about all those things that go along with it; you just think about winning it," team captain Sidney Crosby said. "It's not just the Stanley Cup that's special, but all these things that come along with it are just added bonuses."

Bonuses that will find their way to shelves and memory banks once tonight's game gets under way.

"It's something that's great to be a part of, but it's not something that we should think about as far as being a distraction," Crosby said. "If anything, it should be a motivation. ... It's the last opening night in the Mellon, and the banner's going up."

The Penguins don't expect to become overwhelmed as some did June 12.

Moments after he skated around Joe Louis Arena holding the Cup that night, center Jordan Staal -- the youngest member of the championship team -- said he was surprised at his difficulty in keeping his emotions in check. He promised that won't be the case for him or his teammates tonight.

"It's a hockey game," Staal said. "It really is. It's the home opener. You really can't think of it as anything else. It's a new season."

That idea is important enough that the players have been making a point of talking about it, defenseman Mark Eaton said.

"There are some steps to the process, but this is the final step," he said. "This will be the last hurrah with last year, just seeing the banner go up. As soon as it goes up and the puck drops, it's time to start writing a new chapter."

The Rangers, who have a revamped lineup keying on highly skilled winger Marian Gaborik, will have to wait until the end of the ceremony and no doubt would be more than happy to exploit a slow start by the Penguins -- if the Penguins allow their minds to linger on the celebration.

NOTES -- Crosby said his groin injury has healed so well that he didn't think about it during practice. ... The Penguins will have the first of five student rush nights Wednesday against Phoenix. Students with identification can buy $20 tickets one hour before game.

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