The Pittsburgh Penguins will play a five-game pre-season schedule, including two home games at Mellon Arena, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero.  The home games will be Saturday, Sept. 20 against Tampa Bay and Wednesday, Sept. 24 against Toronto.  Both games start at 7:30 p.m.

The Penguins also will play a pre-season game in Europe for the first time in franchise history.  They will take on Jokerit of the Finland Elite League on Thursday, Oct. 2 in Helsinki (11:30 a.m. Pittsburgh time).  The Penguins will open the 2008-09 regular season with games against the Ottawa Senators in Stockholm, Sweden on Oct. 4 and 5.

Penguins players will report to training camp in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Sept. 16 for meetings, physicals and testing.  They will hit the ice for the first time for practice on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at Mellon Arena.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS 2008 PRE-SEASON SCHEDULE
Saturday, Sept. 20	TAMPA BAY	7:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 22	at Tampa Bay	7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 24	TORONTO	7:30 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 26	at Toronto	7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 2	at Jokerit (Finland)	11:30 a.m. (Pittsburgh time)

Pens to Meet Devils in Regular Season Home Opener

The Penguins will play their first regular season home game on Saturday, Oct. 11 against the New Jersey Devils at Mellon Arena (7:30 p.m.).
   
The complete regular season schedule will be announced on Thursday.  The Penguins will play six games against each Atlantic Division opponent, four games against the other Eastern Conference opponents, and one game against all Western Conference teams.  They also will play three additional “at-large” games against Western Conference teams – Detroit, San Jose and Columbus.