So, that was pretty much a standard season for the Pittsburgh Penguins.Sidney Crosby had five points in October, they fired their coach and won 18 of 23 down the stretch under new head coach Mike Sullivan. Then, with a rookie goalie who had spent most of the season in the American Hockey League, they never looked back, beating the San Jose Sharks in six games to win their first Stanley Cup since 2009. As for Crosby? All he did was finish third in NHL scoring with 85 points and then dominate the playoffs at both ends of the ice en route to a Conn Smythe Trophy win as playoff MVP. He enters this season fresh from an MVP turn at the World Cup of Hockey, where Canada went undefeated and Crosby led all players in points.So, whats the problem? History. And history tells us that it really doesnt matter how good you are after winning it all, the rest of the field always catches the defending champion. No NHL team has won back-to-back championships since the Detroit Red Wings did so in 1997 and 1998. And history tells us its virtually impossible, even if youre as good as the Penguins. Are they any more poised to defy history? Well, thats part of the adventure of the coming season.Best new facesDoes goalie Matt Murray count as a new face? Murray, 22, will start the season on the injured reserve list but will push Marc-Andre Fleury for starts after Murray gets over his broken hand suffered playing for Team North America at the World Cup. Other than the departure of top-six defenseman Ben Lovejoy, who signed with the New Jersey Devils, the lineup will essentially be the same one that celebrated at the Shark Tank in San Jose after Game 6. While many Cup champions do turn over a big portion of their lineup, its worth noting the Penguins relied heavily on rookie forwards Tom Kuhnhackl, Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust throughout the playoffs, even though they had spent considerable time in the AHL last season. So in some ways, they too can be considered new faces. Defenseman Justin Schultz, obtained from the Edmonton Oilers before the deadline, and Trevor Daley, who came over from the Chicago Blackhawks midseason and then missed the latter part of the playoffs with a broken leg, count as new-but-not-new faces.Biggest unknownsHow does Phil Kessel rebound from a hand injury that bothered him in the playoffs? (Though he still finished with 22 points in 24 games). Can the rookies carry on their evolution after answering the call so ably in the playoffs? Can Brian Dumoulin continue his impressive ascendancy as a top-four defender? But no unknown will be more persistent than how GM Jim Rutherford handles his goaltending. The pressure is off to start the season with Murray on the shelf. But at some point, Rutherford is going to have to determine whether he rides out the season with Murray and the much-loved Fleury sharing time in the hopes the tandem can bring home a second straight Cup, even if it means potentially losing Fleury in the expansion draft in June. Or does Rutherford try to maximize the asset by moving Fleury midseason?Sure thingsIs there anything more sure than Crosby? Seems funny to think that people were prepared to write off Crosby after his tepid start to the season. Yet by the end of the playoffs, its fair to say he was playing as well as he ever had, his attention to detail unparalleled. He then followed up with a dominating performance at the World Cup. If there is one leader who might be able to coax a second straight championship out of this group, its Crosby. As for the way this team will play, thats a given too: fast. Dont expect Sullivan or the Pens to take their foot off the gas.PredictionThe Penguins are as close to a lock to go to the playoffs for the 11th straight season as any team, but that still might not be good enough to get them the Metropolitan Division title. Second in the Metropolitan. Cheapest Yeezy 350 V2 . The 17-year-old native of Marystown, N.L., pulled out of Skate Canada International last month in Saint John, N.B., with the same problem. Cheapest Air Force 1 . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. http://www.cheapestairmaxstore.com/nike-basketball-shoes.html . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Yeezy 350 V2 Store . Datsyuk will miss Tuesdays game against New Jersey and could be sidelined longer, while Cleary will likely miss at least the next three games. Its been an injury-plagued season for Datsyuk, who has suited up for just 39 games. Yeezy Boost 700 Store .ca NFL Power Rankings, overtaking the Denver Broncos and remaining ahead of NFC competition San Francisco, Carolina and New Orleans. LINCOLN, Neb. -- If Nebraskas Michael Rose-Ivey and teammates want to kneel during the national anthem again, their next opportunity will be the Nov. 5 game at Ohio State.Rose-Ivey, Mohamed Barry and DaiShon Neal each took a knee on the sideline as the anthem was sung at Northwestern last week. Their action sparked statewide debate about whether it was an appropriate setting for their protest of police violence and racial injustice, and Rose-Ivey will meet with the states governor next week to discuss the issue.But teams are in the locker room during the anthem at Nebraskas Memorial Stadium, so the next time the Huskers are in a game where players are on the field as it plays will be when they go to Ohio.Unlike in the NFL, where players are on the field for the anthem, the common practice in college football is for teams to be in their locker rooms. Just a handful of schools send teams onto the field for the anthem, limiting the opportunity for the movement to spread as it has in the pros.David Witty, who oversees game presentation as Nebraskas senior associate athletic director for marketing and communications, said for as long as anyone in his department can remember, teams have been in the locker room during the anthem in Lincoln. The only exception was the first game following the 9/11 attacks.At Nebraska, the band plays the anthem on the field and then forms a corridor for the team to run through at the completion of the Tunnel Walk. The tradition started in 1994, with the team shown on the video boards as it exits the locker room and walks through the tunnel to the field as the Alan Parsons Projects instrumental piece Sirius plays.Many schools use smoke machines and other mechanisms as part of their pregame routines to get the team and the crowd fired up. To pause a couple minutes after a dramatic team entry could be a buzzkill.With our whole pregame atmosphere and Tunnel Walk, theres just never been any kind of talk about changing it, Witty said.In the Big Ten, eight of the 14 schools have the teams on the field for the anthem. All Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference teams are in their locker rooms during the anthem before home games. Boston College and Pittsburgh are the only Atlantic Coast Conference teams that are on the field for the antheem at home games.ddddddddddddost schools are wise enough not to play the national anthem while players are on the field, Kansas State coach Bill Snyder said. I concur with that; always have.Big Ten teams Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Penn State and Wisconsin are in their locker rooms during the anthem at home games; Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State, Purdue and Rutgers are on the field.The anthem protests started in August, with San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick taking a knee before preseason games. Other professional and amateur athletes followed by kneeling or otherwise protesting to call attention to unfair treatment of blacks in the United States.Protests came to the fore in college games after a week that had riots in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the killing of an unarmed black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma.Michigan State players Delton Williams, Kenney Lyke and Gabe Sherrod held their right fists in the air while standing on the sideline in East Lansing; Michigan Wolverines Khalid Hill, Mike McCray, Devin Bush, Elysee Mbem-Bosse and Jourdan Lewis did the same before their game in Ann Arbor.The Wolverines have been on the field for the anthem since 9/11, and spokesman David Ablauf said they request the visiting team do so as well. Ablauf said most have agreed.Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said the team has discussed social issues in meetings, but no player has approached him about staging an anthem protest.Buckeyes quarterback JT Barrett said he doesnt see himself protesting but wouldnt have a problem with a teammate who did.The main concept behind it is just shedding light on an issue thats happening in our home, the United States, Barrett said. Its a real issue. I think thats all (Kaepernick) is trying to do, just shed light on it and let people realize that this is whats happening and we can change it. It takes everybody, too, and I think thats the main thing hes trying to get at.---AP Sports Writers Dave Skretta in Manhattan, Kansas, and Mitch Stacy in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.---Online:AP college football website: http://collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '