The Pittsburgh Penguins held one more celebration for their title-winning season Thursday prior to their home opener, having captain Sidney Crosby carry the Stanley Cup out for the players to huddle around while watching the franchise's fourth championship banner being raised to the rafters.

Mike Sullivan is returning with a virtually unchanged roster, but as challenging as it's become to repeat as champions in the salary cap era, it has to be considered next to impossible if the Penguins don't have their captain in the lineup.

Crosby was diagnosed with a concussion just days before the start of the season, knocking considerable shine off the events of opening night.

Copyright © 2016 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.