“FSN Pittsburgh and the Penguins are coming off our highest rated regular season and playoff year of all time on the network. We look forward to celebrating the opening of the arena, this new era in Penguins hockey and more record breaking ratings with the team, our partners and the fans this fall,” said FSN Senior Vice President & General Manager Ted Black.

All 82 of the Penguins NHL games will be televised with a minimum 71 games regionally on FSN Pittsburgh. Versus plans to carry seven games nationally highlighted by the season’s home opener on October 7. In addition, the Penguins can be selected for up to four regular season games on NBC, including the 2011 Winter Classic at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. The NHL will offer flexible scheduling again this season for NBC.

Paul Steigerwald and Bob Errey return as the voices of Penguins Hockey on FSN. Before every game, FSN will feature Penguins FACEOFF Presented by Trib Total Media with StarKist Penguins Postgame wrapping up the live event telecast. FSN will continue the popular Penguins Instant Replay, a two-hour replay of the game, as well as the 30-minute Penguins Rewind for most games this season.

Pens Full Regular Season Schedule

Here’s a look at some of the best debut seasons ever by players who made their debut as 18-year-olds or in the first season immediately after turning pro:

Sidney Crosby
Birthday: Aug. 7, 1987
Drafted: No. 1 in 2005 by Pittsburgh
2005-06: 39-63-102

Crosby was the most heralded junior player in decades, and the Penguins won a lottery after the work stoppage to obtain the No. 1 pick in the 2005 Entry Draft they used to take him.

Crosby quickly showed why he was so highly regarded, becoming one of only seven players to reach the 100-point mark in his rookie season — and only the fourth to do so as an 18-year-old (the third to do it in his first season after being drafted). Given the reduction in scoring that had taken place since the 1980s, it can be argued that Crosby’s rookie season was the most impressive by a first-year player of any age in the 40-plus years since expansion.

Though the Penguins had finished last in the overall standings in 2003-04 before landing Crosby, they were only marginally better (29th overall) with him in the lineup. But three years later, Crosby and the rebuilt Penguins finished their season as Stanley Cup champions.

The Pens also posted some new wallpapers and other stuff at the official site.

This time, it was Sidney Crosby who was star struck.

In town on other business, the shinny star got to meet one of his sporting heroes Sunday when a Tennis Canada connection arranged for Crosby to sit down with Swiss ace Roger Federer for a 10-minute tete-a-tete between national icons.

The grand plan was for Crosby to hit some balls with Federer at York University’s Rexall Centre, where the world’s No. 3 ranked player will begin play in the Rogers Cup on Tuesday night.

However, the rainy weather altered practice schedules so, instead, Crosby settled for helping to serve up a birthday cake to Federer who turned 29 Sunday. Crosby celebrated his 23th birthday, quietly he said, on Saturday.

“I’m older, you can tell right?” joked Federer as the cameras rolled.

Crosby, who was to also meet world No. 1 Rafael Nadal, said he is a big tennis fan and takes to the court himself whenever possible during the off-season, though “nothing too competitive.”

“Getting the chance to meet Roger and a few of the guys is something I want to take advantage of here,” said the Pittsburgh Penguins captain. “I follow (tennis) a lot…so this is a pretty neat experience for me.”

Crosby related to Federer how he’d watched him in person – the Canadian was on hand when Federer won his fifth consecutive U.S. Open in 2008 – and admired his play. The classy Federer congratulated Crosby on Canada’s gold medal win at the Vancouver Olympics.

“He mentioned that he watched the Olympics and stuff like that. I’d mentioned that I’d seen him play in the U.S. Open. Pretty general talk,” said Crosby. “I think it’s pretty neat, being athletes and being able to relate to certain things, it’s always fun to understand and learn what he may go through.”

Crosby – dressed in shorts and tennis shoes – sounded disappointed that he didn’t get a chance to trade volleys with one of the world’s greats.

“We were planning on it but the weather’s kind of put a damper on that,” he said. “Just getting a chance to meet some of these guys is enough but I’d love to be able to hit around (with one of the big stars).”

As for Monday’s anticipated ruling from an arbitrator on whether Ilya Kovalchuk’s 17-year contract with New Jersey is valid, Crosby said he had no idea what to expect.

“Its uncharted territory. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “It’s obviously in someone else’s hands now. It’s going to be a difficult decision either way.”

July 29, 2010: 105.9 the X with Mark Madden

Winter Classic Press Conference

I also added a couple more to the Mario & Sid gallery from the Consol Arena.

Commissioner Gary Bettman discusses 2010 Winter Classic

Sidney Crosby & Mario Lemieux skating at the CONSOL Energy Center

Winter Classic: Crosby & Knuble talk rivalry

Raw video from the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic media conference where players tried to shoot pucks through Heinz Field goal posts

When Lemieux and Crosby simultaneously hit the ice at 2 p.m. they were greeted by an audience of construction workers who had congregated to the far side of the arena’s main concourse level with cell phone cameras in hand to document this arena first.

Needless to say, having the chance to watch arguably the franchise’s two biggest icons sharing a slab of together for the first time since December of 2005, especially in such a private setting and milestone event, was something each construction worker felt privileged to be a part of.

“I mean who else would you pick to do this?” said Kurt Amundsen, one of the arena architects for Populous. “It’s pretty obvious who the best choices were. It’s nice getting to see the past, present and future of the team all wrapped up in two guys. This is a historical moment for the city and the team and it is an honor to be a part of it.”

“With something as big as this arena, and with everything Mario has done and with the excitement Crosby adds to this city, it was the perfect touch,” said George Diamond of U.S. Security Associates. “The atmosphere was great for this. Being a part of this was something to behold.”

Just watching Lemieux and Crosby do anything on an ice surface usually leaves something to behold, but Lemieux made sure to make the construction workers really feel like they were a special part of the day’s festivities almost immediately upon hitting the ice.

Lemieux skated over to the far boards closest to where the construction workers were gathered and playfully delivered the following message:

“Get back to work!”

Diamond and one of his fellow co-workers, Jordan Hall, got a real kick out of that.

“It was pretty funny when Mario came out and jokingly told all the workers to get back to work when they were all standing there,” Diamond said.

“I loved that interaction with the crowd,” Hall added. “That really helped to make us feel a part of this special moment.”

In the eyes of the men who helped create the spectacular facility that is CONSOL Energy Center, having the chance to watch Lemieux and Crosby was just another way the team has shown its appreciation for the hard work and long hours the workers have put in the past three years to make the team’s new home such a first-rate facility.

“This is just one of many great things the Penguins have done for the construction workers who made this building possible,” Diamond said. “In a couple weeks all of the men who made this arena possible are going to come in for an open house to see their completed product.”

“I just landed into town and I thought this was going to happen (Monday) night, so I was very happy to be able to be a part of it (Tuesday),” Amundsen said. “It was very cool to get to see the ice in use after a three-year project. It’s a culmination of a lot of people putting in a lot of time.”

Besides the joy each felt watching Lemieux and Crosby skate around the ice, both Hall and Amundsen believe what really made the event so special was allowing a small group of youth hockey players to join the players on the ice.

“You can just see that youth hockey means so much to the Penguins,” Amundsen said. “I think you are going to see even more of that moving forward with some of the art work, screens and some other things that are going to go in the concourse that will highlight youth hockey.”

“Just to see these two guys interact with the kids and giving back by letting them be on the ice that close to them for something like this is just awesome,” said Hall.