Our Thursday morning features aren’t just about stunning good looks. you know. We can appreciate a hockey player with impressive skill and other qualities. We’re starting a new monthly feature to salute these men for these other qualities, even if they may not be the best looking in the bunch.

Just like in beauty pageants, we have our own Mr. Congeniality.  This week it’s the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin.

Evgeni AKA “Geno” is coming off a heck of a season that saw him bring home the Art Ross, Hard, and Ted Lindsay trophies at the NHL awards a few weeks back. When people think of the Penguins, they often think of Sidney Crosby. The argument has been made that Malkin is actually the best player and he’s making a huge argument for this these days.

Outside of hockey, Malkin is a big if a character. He’s still getting a grip on English but that hasn’t stopped him from joining Twitter and joining a long line of Russians who use a lot of  )))))))))))).

And since we normally finish with a Bonus Swede, this week it’s a bonus Mr. Congeniality:

Thanks for being good sports, Ovie & Geno.