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Q: What role, if any, do you see Chris Bourque playing for the Pens? So far, he has only dressed for (two games), and with the lack of scoring on the wings, I would have thought he might have been given a better chance to slot in on one of the top lines.

Harold Hecht, Eatontown, N.J.

MOLINARI: You are correct, of course, that the Penguins haven't gotten much goal-scoring from their wingers and the belief here is that they should be able to expect an absolute minimum of 20 from anyone playing alongside Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. (OK, 15 if it's Pascal Dupuis.)

At the same time, they are 6-1, and it is folly to measure almost any player's contribution solely on the basis of his offensive statistics. Winning involves a lot more than just scoring goals.

Given Bourque's size and skill set, he almost has to fill a top-six role to be valuable in this league. Coach Dan Bylsma doesn't seem inclined to break up the Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Bill Guerin line, but it doesn't seem out of the question that Bourque could get an opportunity alongside Malkin at some point. (The No. 3 line has been too effective to mess with.)

If Bourque, who played on the fourth line while logging nine minutes and 22 seconds of ice time during the Penguins' 3-2 shootout victory Wednesday night at Carolina, does get an audition for a top-six role, he'd be well-served by taking advantage of it quickly. He has yet to prove that he can be productive in this league -- remember, he has appeared in just 14 NHL games -- and he shouldn't expect to be given an indefinite period to show that he is worthy of steady work on the top two lines.

Q: Will the Pens' new arena have above-average ice? Can the technology of today combat the warm and humid conditions of Pittsburgh in the spring?

Chris Heintzelman, St. Clairsville, Ohio

MOLINARI: Where the ice at the Consol Energy Center will rank on a league-wide basis is impossible to predict at this point -- after all, the place won't open for nearly a year -- but Penguins officials do expect it to be better than the playing surface at Mellon Arena, for a couple of reasons.

One is obvious: The ice-making equipment in the new building will be new, which means it won't have the malfunctions and leaks that are inevitable with a system that's been in place for more than four decades.

What's more, people associated with the team say that some of the money being spent on the new arena was designated specifically for the equipment to minimize the impact of high temperatures and/or humidity. With the kind of talent the Penguins have now and the type of skill-oriented game they play -- and presumably, would like to continue to do in the future -- that's a prudent investment.

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