Penguins Win The Atlantic Division

That's right, the Penguins are your 2007-08 Atlantic Division Champions and I for one couldn't be happier. This is a Penguins team that two years ago barely had more than half of the points that they did last season or this season, now they've made the playoffs two years in a row, with last year being their first appearance since 2001, and now this year they capture their first ever Atlantic Division Title and are one win away from clinching the conference. The future certainly is bright for this Penguins team. I will certainly be shocked if Michel Therrien doesn't win the Jack Adams Award as Coach of the Year this year. With the all the adversity the team faced this season with injury(278 man games lost due to injury), Therrien and his staff still found ways to lead this team to victory, even without star and team captain Sidney Crosby. If this were any other team, or the Penguins of a few years ago, their season may have been over a long time ago, but other players stepped up and worked as a team. Plus, you can't forget the addition of three new players in Marian Hossa, Pascal Dupuis, and Hal Gill that have only had a little over a month to get used to the team and the system, and they've been playing very well nonetheless. It will definitely be even more exciting if the Pens clinch the conference this Sunday. Even if both the Pens and Habs win their last regular season game, the Pens would still clinch the conference because they have the tiebreaker over Montreal with more wins. Now the question is, who will we play in the first round? Right now, it looks we could be playing the Capitals, and wouldn't that be exciting? The NHL's marketing team would certainly have a field day with this matchup, and I certainly hope we do play the Caps, but we could possibly play the Bruins or Flyers(if they should win on Sunday).

In other Penguins news, the burning question among most Pens fans is will star Right Wing Marian Hossa re-sign with the team in the offseason? I would say there is a good chance of it since the ownership team said they are willing to spend the money. But at the same time, you have to look at the other players we have to re-sign this offseason:

Marc-Andre Fleury: The team has high hopes for him and it's easy to see why, so I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon. Since coming back from a high right ankle sprain, he's been spectacular in goal, posting a 10-1-1 record with a 2.37 GAA and a .920 Save Percentage, and he won back the #1 goalie position from Ty Conklin.

Ty Conklin: Let's face it, without his stellar performance while Marc-Andre Fleury was injured, we might be further down in the standings than we are, perhaps even on the outside looking in on the playoff race. It wasn't just his play, but the entire teams performance, but without a good goalie, you're not going to do very well. While Dany Sabourin certainly exceeded my expectations in terms of his performance this season, I think it would be a mistake to let Ty Conklin go.

Ryan Malone: He's having a career year with career bests in goals(27) and points(51) and he's certainly stepped up in his leadership role as an Assistant Captain, especially while Crosby was out. He could be the odd man out, but letting him go wouldn't be too smart and would certainly hurt the team chemistry, especially his line with Malkin and Sykora, referred to as "The Steel City Line", which has been one of the better lines in the league recently.

Jarkko Ruutu: Easily one of my favorite players on the team. The fans love him, and why not? He's great at what he does. He agitates the other teams players better than a lot of people, and just seeing him get that smirk on his face when he's getting in the face of another player is classic. He also does a great job of standing up for his teammates, and he drops the gloves when it's needed. He can also score from time to time, and he's also surprisingly good in shootouts. He's a class act and not re-signing him would be stupid.

Georges Laraques: Another key piece to this Pens team. He's also very good at protecting and standing up for his teammates, and he's widely regarded as the heavyweight champion when it comes to dropping the gloves. He's not a big scorer, but he does find the back of the net from time to time. Plus, he does a lot of great things for the community here in Pittsburgh. He's certainly another class act.

Brooks Orpik: He's a gritty, tough defenseman that's certainly been a force on the Pens blueline. He looks out for his teammates, and drops the gloves like some others do. He also makes big hits, which not all the Pens D-men do.

Mark Eaton: He's had some problems with injuries the past two seasons, but he's one of our best penalty killers and one of the best shot blockers we have.

Pascal Dupuis: He may be new to the team, but he fits in well. He's got good speed and can put up points.

Gary Roberts: If he decides to come back for another season, it would be a mistake to not re-sign him. He's a grizzled vet that has playoff experience, and he's a force on the ice. He makes big hits and drops the gloves with the best of them, not to mention he also provides good leadership for a young team.

Plus, you can't forget about contract extensions for Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal, who could become free agents after next season. And there's also players that will need re-signed after next season, such as Daryl Sydor, Petr Sykora, Sergei Gonchar(either next season or the season after) and Hal Gill to name a few. And with the salaries of some of our star players, we won't be able to re-sign all of these players.

So, who do we let go to free agency and who do we re-sign? Feel free to comment.