James_Taipei: Do you think Alex Ovechkin will be able to get the Art Ross trophy away from Malkin and Crosby this year?

Shelly Anderson: Sure, he could. Washington whiz winger Alex Ovechkin had three-point nights in each of his first two games. He won the Hart Trophy as league MVP last season, but he watched Evgeni Malkin win the Art Ross trophy as regular-season scoring champion and the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP and watched the Penguins win the Stanley Cup after they knocked off the Capitals in the second round. Those two and the Penguins' Sidney Crosby are as talented and as competitive as they come in the hockey world, so assuming they all stay healthy, they figure to all make a run at each of those trophies.

James_Taipei: Do you see the Penguins continuing their fast start?

Shelly Anderson: No reason they can't. One thing that's noticable early on is that the Penguins seem to have adjusted to the pace of the regular season after the frantic pace of the playoffs. After Wednesday's game against non-playoff team Phoenix, the Penguins have the first of their extended road trips of the season, starting in Philadelphia. If they can get at least, say, five points from those four road games, they will be in good shape for the first couple weeks of the season.

iupkid: It seems to me that Sid has taken another step up in his play. Could it be that winning the Cup last year has taken some of the burden off of his shoulders and allowed him to "just play?"

Shelly Anderson: First, know that Sidney Crosby puts a lot of pressure on himself. That's not likely to change. But he certainly seems to have found a good balance between being relaxed at times off the ice while remaining just as intent on the ice. It might just be that winning the Stanley Cup with so much of his career ahead of him has convinced him to strap himself in, enjoy the ride on the way to potentially more championships and control what he can along the way. There's always that new stick, too. The one-piece model he switched to seems to give him a harder shot.

Shelly Anderson: OK, so it was a slow start. Perhaps you readers have a Stanley Cup hangover and will come up with more questions as the season moves along. In the meantime, here's something you all should consider. Three days ago, the Post-Gazette launched a Penguins blog, called Penguins Plus, on our new pay portion of post-gazette.com, PG-Plus. Dave Molinari and I have been posting numerous entries every day. For instance, you could have been the first to learn that Ruslan Fedotenko was not at practice today and that Chris Bourque took his place alongside Evgeni Malkin. Please consider joining. We don't have room in the print edition for everything we would like to bring you, and the blog fills that void, and then some. And it costs less than one yucky fast food meal per month. There are links to join throughout our Web site.

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.