In a blog post last year responding to the Crosby haters/Ovechkin lovers I wrote that Evgeni Malkin may just be the best of the three, as he combines some of the goal scoring flair of Ovechkin with the playmaking flair of Crosby, along with the great ability to create turnovers. He is not as good a goal scorer as Ovechkin, but he has been better than Crosby, and he is not as good a playmaker as Crosby, but he has been better than Ovechkin. Malkins history in the NHL warrants that type of praise and is as follows:
Malkin was drafted second overall in the 2004 Entry draft right behind Alexander Ovechkin. Though an international transfer dispute delayed his arrival with the Penguins until the 2006-07 season, Geno made an immediate impact. He started by breaking a modern day NHL record by recording a goal in each of his first six games in the NHL, finishing the season with 86 points and winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL Rookie of the Year, as the Penguins arrived in the post season for the first time in awhile.
Malkins sophomore year was even more productive, as Geno 47 goals and 106 total points, finishing second in the race for the Hart Memorial Trophy and helping to lead the Pens all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, scoring 22 points in the playoffs. Who can forget the surge Geno went on when team leader Sidney Crosby was injured for 28 games in mid season. With Marc Andre Fleury also on the shelf for 27 games, most experts thought that the Penguins could have their playoff hopes in jeopardy as a result.......Well Geno put the team on HIS shoulders scoring 44 points in those 28 games and was clearly the best player on the ice for most of those games. The Penguins won the Atlantic Division Title and swept through the playoffs before finally losing in 6 games to the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals!
Geno built on his 07-08 campaign to have a dominant 2008-09 season. Geno won the Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the leagues scoring champion with 113 points and was again the runner up for the Hart Memorial as league MVP, a trophy many thought he deserved. Fortunately for us, Geno had his sights set on bigger hardware as he tore through the playoffs, and in a scoring tear where he was neck and neck with Sidney Crosby, Geno scored 36 points in the post season (14 G and 22 A) while helping to lead the Penguins to the Stanley Cup Championship AND winning the coveted Conn Smythe trophy as the MVP of the playoffs. Geno was a beast throughout the playoffs, but was particularly dominant against Carolina, almost single handedly chasing them from the Eastern Conference Finals with a performance that I, like many others will never forget! Wow, what could we expect from this guy in 09-10, as he was still only 23 years old, and had not peaked yet!
Well, this year has been a different story, and despite having numbers 13 G and 30 assists through 39 games played, that would be very good for some people (projecting out at 27 goals and 62 pts), this is a far cry from the pace Geno had set over the past two seasons, and would land him at roughly the same output he had in his rookie campaign. Add to that the fact that he is turning the puck over consistently at the blue line, taking dumb penalties (often on the same play), losing most of his faceoffs, and generally not dominating games and the fans are in an uproar. It is troubling enough to see those statistics, but add to that the fact that Geno has only 3 goals in his last 12 games, all of them v Ottawa on 12-23 when the Russian Olympic scout was in attendance, and it is frustrating to watch. You can rest assured though, that nobody is more frustrated than Geno.
His talents are undeniable, and his stats prior to this year overall speak for themselves. If you recall, Geno completely disappeared late in the 2007-08 conference Finals and that extended through the Finals, where his lack of production was a key reason that the Pens were unable to beat the Wings. He did however rebound from the rounds of criticism this generated to be thoroughly dominant in the Stanley Cup run, winning the Conn Smythe. This season he has had one dominant game all year, the above referenced game........is Geno saving himself for the Olympics? Is he a legend in his own mind? Is he too immature to deal with the pressure of being a leader? I doubt all of the above..........Only time will tell......One thing is for certain, and that is that a team built to dominate from its center ice position will not go deep into the playoffs if Evgeni Malkin does not find some semblance of the game he has displayed over the past two seasons.............but if he does, and I believe that he will,well then, we have another magical spring time to look forward to..........
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