PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins were back together Tuesday, even though it seemed as if they left town only a few weeks ago.

That's because they did.

"It was a short summer," captain Sidney Crosby said.

The shortest offseason in Penguins history — it was little more than three months ago they lost Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals at home to Detroit — will be followed by their shortest training camp. They begin practicing today, will play their first exhibition game on Saturday and, in 10 days, will leave for Europe and their final preseason game and two games in Stockholm to open the season.

The Penguins now will test the theory that reaching the Stanley Cup finals one season makes it even more difficult to get back because of the wear and tear endured during a six-month season and two months of playoffs.

"We have to move on a little bit," goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "It's a new season and there's new games we have to focus on. But every guy knows that we missed it not by a whole lot, so everybody wants to go again."

Not everybody, and that might be the Penguins' biggest worry as the new season nears: replacing Marian Hossa.

Hossa proved to be the missing piece the Penguins needed to become a Stanley Cup finalist, but he signed a $7.45 million, one-year deal with Detroit.

The Penguins may move center Jordan Staal to Crosby's line to compensate for Hossa's missing production, but they also must replace forward Ryan Malone, who had 16 points in the playoffs. Malone, the son of one-time Penguins player and executive Greg Malone, signed with Tampa Bay as a free agent.