Head on a Swivel Pens Preview, Part III: New Faces

This is going to be a weird season, and not just because it's only going 48 games. Losing Jordan Staal, one of my all-time favorite Pens, stung, and it will feel strange to watch the Pens play without his crooked-nosed face out there.  But as the old saying goes, out with the old and in with the nucleus.  Let's see the players we can look forward to meeting this season.

Tanner Glass - LW

We pick Glass up from the Jets way back in July.  Not much to say about him: he hits, he fights, and apparently he can skate.  He'll probably be bros with Matt Cooke.  Most importantly, he's already got a cool nickname: Mr. Glass.  Get used to it.

Spoiler alert

Tomas Vokoun - G

I was of two minds when we traded for and signed Vokoun in June. On the one hand, I've always wanted him on the Pens; I was always terrified of him when we faced the Panthers, and he was perennially one of the leagues most underrated star goalies. When the Caps signed him last year to a one year, $1.5 million contract, I thought it was a great move. On the other hand, he underperformed for the Caps, and they were more than willing to get rid of him. I was happy to have him, but pretty blown away by the terms of his contract; 2 years at $2 mil per is a pretty hefty raise for someone who just had an off year and just turned 36. But I recognize that this was a move to shore up the back-up spot behind Flower. His no-show in the playoffs has been widely dissected, and his hefty workload was pointed to as a contributing factor. In the end, Vokoun has the chance not just to back up Fleury, but to challenge him, and to be remembered as a better Ken Wregget.

Brandon Sutter - C

I couldn't be more excited for Sutter.  Have you ever heard a movie described to you that was so perfect that you don't want to see the trailer, or read reviews,  because you want to enjoy it in its most pure form, unencumbered by any preconceived notions?  Like "David Cronenberg is directing an adaptation of a Dom DeLillo book starring that dude from Abduction," or "The kid from Third Rock from the Sun is a bike messenger and he gets chased around on his bike."  I loved those movies before I ever saw them; in fact, I still haven't seen either of them, because delaying my gratification will make finally watching them that much better.  When the movie Shooter (2007), starring Mark Wahlberg, came out, all you needed to tell me was that there was a movie, called Shooter, where Mark Wahlberg played the world's best shooter, who has retired.  That's it.  I love that movie, sight unseen.  It took me a full four years to actually see it, when it hit basic cable, and sure enough, it was everything I thought, nay, knew it would be.

That's how I feel about Sutter.  When I heard we'd traded for him, a defensive center, stand up teammate, and underappreciated talent, I decided he was my new favorite Pen.  I didn't even bother looking at highlights or stats for him.  I'm going to savor watching him play without any other knowledge to sully my palate.  Hell, I might even shut my eyes when he's on the ice for the first few games, so I can put off that moment where I first see him play and realize the feelings that I had conjured up months before, on Draft Day, just like I persuaded myself not to rent Premium Rush from the Red Box the other day, so that when I ultimately do, it will be all the sweeter to my eyes. Brendan Sutter, you are my Premium Rush.