Old Skoula - 9-30-09

That might be the lamest headline we've ever come up for a post. Sorry.

Anyway, Martin Skoula (right) and Dan Bylsma talked today about the former Wild defenseman joining the Penguins.

-Skoula on being cut by the Panthers and Blue Jackets this preseason:

"The whole thing was kind of strange. First I went to Florida for a tryout. They brought in two defensemen. Then I went to Columbus. Basically they released me because they traded for another defenseman. It was a strange training camp."

-Skoula on being healthy enough to have appeared in no fewer than 79 games in a season during his nine-year NHL career:

"I would just say I try to stay in shape and take care my rest and everything else. Mainly I guess it’s just luck."

-Bylsma on why the team pursued Skoula:

"I think when you look towards an 82-game season with a condensed schedule with the Olympic year, adding a veteran defenseman, a guy who has played in 700-plus NHL game adds a different dimension than looking to a younger guy or an inexperience guy to come up and play some games. I think as a team you’re looking at eight, nine guys that are going to play for you during the year. You have to anticipate that. So with that anticipation, adding a veteran guy is a very, very good opportunity for our team to add some depth in that position. "

-Bylsma on demoting defensemen Derek Engelland and Nate Guenin to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton:

"I certainly think that as a younger player you’re in the process of learning and growing. That’s tough to do when you’re not playing a lot of games. So playing more games in an environment where they’re still going to log 20 minutes-plus as a defenseman is a chance to continue to grow as a player. Nate and Deryk earned the right to be here. Earned the right to play some games this year with what they did here in training camp and our anticipation is that if they continue to work hard and do what we think they’re going to do, that they’ll probably get a chance to play here. This isn’t an indication that that’s not what we feel. We feel they earned the right to play here and they probably will. "

-Bylsma on Skoula's durability and other traits:

"We at times had tried to sign a veteran guy in the summertime. It didn’t work out. And those players aren’t the age and don’t have the track record of Martin who has been playing a lot of games in a season. It certain was part of the equation when we talked about getting a guy with 700-plus games, experience in the league, a Stanley Cup winner and a guy who plays 75-plus games running year-to-year. So that’s a pretty valuable asset to be able to add to an already good defensive corp."

NOTE: Skoula will wear No. 41 with the Penguins.

NOTE TWO: Sidney Crosby practiced today and is optimistic he'll play in the home-opener Friday.

(Photo: Rick Stewart/Getty Images)