Get well soon, G!

The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Florida Panthers 3-1, but the win was bitter sweet.

Evgeni Malkin fell into the boards awkwardly during the third period after a hit by Erik Gudbranson. The back of Malkin’s head hit the boards as his neck snapped back.

If you want to, here’s the video. Warning: it is a little scary to see him down like that, so watch if you want

The Panther’s opened up the scoring, but the Pens responded quickly with a Chris Kunitz power play goal. Matt Niskanen scored the second goal, and Dustin Jeffrey added in a third for good measure.

While a win is great, we’re all really concerned about Geno. Coach Bylsma said that he will be evaluated and we’ll know more tomorrow. Sigh. Let’s hope for something good.

You and me could write a…

Here’s your daily “awwwww” news of the day.

In a new interview with RT.com, Evgeni Malkin admitted that he misses Sidney Crosby while he plays in the KHL for his hometown team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

““Playing with such as Crosby as a partner is a pleasure. He’s the best hockey player in the world. Of course, I miss him and Pittsburgh. I can call this city my second home. But it turned out that I’m playing here now. It’s a joy for Russian players to compete in their own land at their favorite arenas, making the fans happy.”

All together now: awwwwwwwww.

Geno also told the website that the KHL is eagerly awaiting Sid’s arrival to play there. Whether he actually plays in the KHL or not is not known yet.

“Everybody’s waiting for him here,” Malkin said. “I know that his agent called [Metallurg’s general manager, Gennady] Velichkin. But no decision has been made yet. Crosby has pretty big insurance. I don’t know how they’ll resolve this issue.”

Are you one of those people, Geno? I bet you are!

PS: check out RT.com’s interview. They spell Evgeni Malkin a couple different ways, and spell Geno “Jeno”. Hmm, which way is right?

Even off in Russia, Geno still finds ways to chirp other players.

This afternoon, Paul Bissonnette of the Phoenix Coyotes, DM’d Geno on Twitter, and tweeted the short but hilarious exchange.

» Continue reading “The Joy That Is Geno Strikes Again”

Forget People magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” issue. The Russian edition of OK! magazine released their list of most eligible bachelors and look who topped the list. Our very own Evgeni Malkin!

Now, I don’t understand Russian, so I don’t really know what else the issue is saying. All I know for certain is that Geno is considered the most eligible bachelor in Russia by a tabloid magazine.

It’s been a breakout year for Geno. 50 goal season, Art Ross winner, Hart and Lindsay award winner, and now the most eligible bachelor title. I wonder how he’ll rank this with those other honours.

Geno isn’t the first Penguin to make a list like this. Back in 2009, Sidney Crosby was named one of Hello! Canada’s Most Beautiful Canadians. He was also chosen as one of People Magazine’s Surprising Hottie’s of the Winter Olympics. Don’t look at me, I didn’t come up with that title.

Happy 26th birthday to our Russian Prince, Evgeni Malkin! Let’s hope that he takes a break from training like a beast to celebrate with friends and family and cake!

In honour of the MVP’s birthday, here’s his most MVP worthy goal from the past season. Let’s hope for a few more of these next season!

Evgeni Malkin will join a bunch of other NHL stars in an exhibition game dedicated to the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl hockey team.

Last year, the entire team was killed when the plane they were in crashed.

Geno will be joined by Ilya Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, Zdeno Chara,  Ilya Bryzgalov, Sergei Gonchar, Alexander Semin, Alexei Kovalev, Alexei Yashin, Sergei Fedorov and Sandis Ozolinsh. 

The team will play against the Kolten Flyers of the Swiss National League, and will be called “Memory Night”. It’ll take place on August 4th.

This isn’t the first thing Geno has done to honour the memory of the players lost on that tragic day. On October 13, the game against the Washington Capitals was a charity game to help raise money for the families of the players. He also hosted a fundraising auction to help.

I AM WIN

Huge congratulations go out to Evgeni Malkin (pronounced Ehv-geh-nee). At tonight’s NHL Awards, Geno won both the Ted Lindsay Award and Hart Trophy, naming him the league’s MVP for the 2011/2012 season.

He can add those to his Art Ross trophy, as the leader in points during the regular season.

Malkin beat out New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist and Tampa Bay Lightning forward Steven Stamkos for both awards.

When he took the stage to accept his first award, a visibly nervous Malkin thanked Penguins co-owner Mario Lemieux and GM Ray Shero from a speech he had already prepared. Later on, backstage, Geno said that he was grateful for the support of his parents, and for his mom’s home cooking.

But the most heartwarming moment came when Geno took the stage again to accept his Hart trophy at the end of the night. With no speech in hand, he dedicated the award to former Penguin,  and current  Ottawa Senator, Sergei Gonchar.

“I remember when I come, two years, six year before, it’s different language, I not speak lot, you know, different life and different game, and not easy, and one guy who always support me, whole six year, and still best friend, and I want give this trophy to him, his name, Sergei Gonchar. He is my best friend now, always together, one day, and I’m glad one day, I meet him.”

You could pretty much hear everyone’s hearts grow three sizes during that speech.

Malkin and his linemate, James Neal, were also named to the first NHL All Star team. Geno was named top forward, while Neal was named top right winger.

It was absolutely wonderful to see Geno, who hasn’t always been comfortable with talking to the media, take the stage and speak with little hesitation. A definite “proud mom” kind of moment.

Of course, it was also wonderful to see such an amazing season rewarded. Geno now joins Sidney Crosby, Mario Lemieux, and Jaromir Jagr as the only Penguins to named NHL MVPs. Good company to be in, no?

All in a day's work

The NHL awards are still a couple of weeks away, but Evgeni Malkin is already collecting up the hardware.

The MVP nominee was awarded the Kharlamov Trophy, which is awarded to who is deemed the most valuable Russian player in the NHL.

Geno seemed to be very touched by the honor, saying “This is very special to me. This is especially because it is voted by my fellow Russian players. It’s special when your teammates and friends, who are sometimes your enemies and foes on the ice, give you the honor of being named the best.”

It’s a well deserved award for Geno, and hopefully just the first of a few for him. Congrats, Geno!

Nice hair, Sid

The season has ended, so it’s time to pick the Penguins superlatives!

Note: These don’t necessarily reflect the season. I was just bored and picked ones I thought suited certain Penguins.

Without further ado, here are you 2011/2012 Pittsburgh Penguins Most Likely To’s!

» Continue reading “Pittsburgh Penguins Superlatives!”

Geno with the trophy after winning gold

Congratulations are in order for Evgeni Malkin. Team Russia won the gold medal at the IIHF World Championships.

Geno, who scored once in Russia’s 6-2 win over Slovakia, was named the World Championship MVP and also walked away with the tournament scoring title. He amassed 19 points over 10 games with his dominating play. He can add that scoring title to his Art Ross trophy from the NHL for most points in the 2011-2012 season.

Malkin is only the second player after Wayne Gretzky to snag both the World Championship scoring title and the NHL scoring title.

Look, there has been some debate over the past few weeks over who the best player in the world is. But with this win to add to all his other titles, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say Evgeni Malkin is the world’s best player right now.

Congratulations to him and to all of Team Russia on their gold medal!