Penguins' Last Public Training Camp Practice Today

Fans Lined Up Before Dawn On First Day

UPDATED: 7:42 am EDT September 19, 2008

PITTSBURGH -- Friday is the Pittsburgh Penguins' last open practice at Mellon Arena before the preseason starts. The team will be on the ice from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and fans can watch for free.

Some fans -- armed with cameras and wearing team sweaters -- lined up as early as 6:30 a.m. when the Pens' shortened training camp started on Wednesday.

To watch Ashley DiParlo's report, click here

"We saw Sid (Crosby). He waved. It was awesome, we were screaming the whole time," Alexis Humes said.

The players were also anxious to get back to work.

"There’s always a little anticipation," said Crosby. "You never know what you’re going to feel like exactly. To just get out there, play a game, get bumped around a bit – to get that feel back is certainly nice.”

On Wednesday, Crosby skated with new teammate, Miroslav Satan, and Pascal Dupuis.

Center Evgeni Malkin skated with Jordan Staal and Petr Sykora.

Max Talbot also centered a line with Matt Cooke and Ruslan Fedotenko on the wings.

It seems last season's Stanley Cup finals has many people fired up. Even after the Pens let the Cup slip away last season, with a loss to the Detroit Red Wings in game six, Debbie Froehlich said she can't wait for the season to begin.

"I looked online and saw that the practice was going to be open to the public today, and I said we have to go. I've been in withdrawal from the season," Froehlich said.

With single tickets up for grabs this Saturday, Ryan Anderson said he's already making plans to make the game.

"Friday night we'll be camping out, waiting for Saturday morning. So we'll see how that goes. Hopefully we'll be lucky to get a ticket," Anderson said.

The Pens will put about 1,000 tickets for each home game on sale this Saturday at 10 a.m. If Wednesday's crowd is any indication of how popular these tickets will be, fans will likely see a repeat of last season when those tickets sold out in just a matter of minutes.

"It was a short summer," said Dupuis. "It's going to be a short training camp. We'll fly over to Sweden to get the season started there. I think it's going to be a good thing -- just something different."

The first home preseason game is Sept. 20 against Tampa Bay. The regular season starts Oct. 4 against the Ottawa Senators in Stockholm, Sweden, and the home opener is Oct. 11 vs. New Jersey.

Pittsburgh lost two big scorers -- Marian Hossa and Ryan Malone -- in the off-season, but the Pens are bringing back Crosby, Malkin and most of the top players from last season, when they made it to the Stanley Cup final and were beaten by Detroit.

Season ticket holders got their 2008 tickets in the mail last week. One lucky person -- Dave Disney, who has been a fan since the 1960s -- got his tickets personally delivered by Crosby.
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"If someone's not a hockey fan, they probably don't understand this, but when you're a hockey fan and you've got the greatest player in the game delivering your tickets for year 41, it's a pleasure," Disney said.

A few other Pens fans were also chosen to receive personal ticket deliveries from players, including Staal, Talbot, Marc-Andre Fleury, Sergei Gonchar and Brooks Orpik.

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