Time doesn’t stop. It seemed like only 20-year-old Zhenya Malkin made his NHL debut with Pittsburgh. And how, directly from the goal! After that, he scored six more games in a row. And he was even able to repeat the record from the 1920s!
He showed the best start in NHL history…
…now Evgeniy is already 38 years old. And he’s looking at younger partners, for example, 26-year-old Drew O’Connor and 25-year-old Jack St. Ivany. They were still children when Malkin became a Pittsburgh icon. Now they share the same locker room.
“Time flies,” Malkin says, shaking his head, in an interview with The Athletic.
“Malkin, of course, doesn’t fly like he used to. Malkin, now 38, knows he doesn’t have much time left in his illustrious career. His legacy is secure and he will one day be immortalized in the Toronto Hockey Hall of Fame. But his great physical abilities have inevitably begun to erode, and he knows it,” writes journalist Josh Yohe about Gino.
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“It’s disappointing. Yes, I can’t always control the course of matches, like in my youth, when Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin were my only teammates and my physical capabilities sometimes surpassed them,” Evgeniy continues.
Malkin still remembers that first goal. His first goal in the NHL was scored on October 18, 2006 in a game against New Jersey.
“Of course I remember that moment. Moments like the first goal, the 500th and 1000th point, the Stanley Cup are always memorable. It was 18 years ago, but I remember scoring a slightly ridiculous goal in the second half. Martin Brodeur couldn’t hold the puck, so I pushed it between his legs with my stick. Under current rules, such a goal might not have been counted. And now I have 500 goals in my account. It’s been a long journey. I have to thank my colleagues, without their help I would not have reached this point. Many of them have already retired, but I continue playing,” says Malkin in an interview with RG.org.
“And, you know, I’m not done yet.”
Malkin, who made his mark early and brilliantly from the moment he arrived in Pittsburgh, shows no signs of stopping complaining about it.
“Malkin will always be Malkin: sometimes he will dazzle and sometimes he will confuse”
Over the past few seasons, Malkin has shown that he is still a good player by NHL standards. The forward has scored 27 goals in each of the last two campaigns. In the 2022/2023 regular season he scored 83 points in 82 games, while last season his overall performance dropped to 67 points. The reason, however, was largely due to the Penguins’ historically poor power play.
“I hope people still understand how good it is. “I still think he’s one of the best players in the world, and I’m not the only one who thinks that way,” said Michael Bunting, Malkin’s bruiser and left winger.
Evgeny Malkin
Photo: Nam Y. Huh/AP/TASS
Of course, Gino knows better than anyone that, unfortunately, he can no longer compete to be the best player in the world. He is still feared and revered, but he is nearing the end of his career. This led Malkin to speak with Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan during training camp.
“Sally and I talked. We discussed some changes in my game,” Malkin shares in a conversation with The Athletic.
“Gino is delightfully impulsive on and off the ice. When the penguins are in trouble, he tries to dance his way through the five opponents. When he gets angry, he can play even more physically. When the crowd at PJP Paints Arena breaks out into one of their signature “G-No” chants, their energy level doubles,” Yohe notes.
It was precisely this impulsiveness that had to be dealt with.
“I have a lot of experience and I need to show that if you are a good player, you learn to change your game over the years. I have to do this. We talked about the fact that maybe we shouldn’t try to beat people one on one every turn. Sometimes when you just hit the ice, yeah, do it. But I want to learn to be more patient, play through the extremes more, observe what happens and not try to beat my opponents all the time. If my shift is 30 to 40 seconds, I need to play smart hockey,” Malkin says.
Eugene admits that he can’t imitate Crosby or use him as a reference: “Sid is incredible. “He’s still the same.”
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So instead, Malkin watched clips of another old buddy playing.
Ovechkin remains productive, but visually he has declined in recent years. His skating is deteriorating noticeably. Malkin, in a sense, can understand it.
“Now I see Ovechkin play a lot. He no longer plays one on one. But he plays closer to the goal and grabs rebounds. Look at where the goals are coming from in the league right now. From the door area. “I want to play there more, score more dirty goals,” he said.
As The Athletic notes, Sullivan and other Penguins coaches want him, too. As for Pittsburgh’s much-maligned power play, Malkin plays low more often. His lack of foot speed has sometimes made him a problem when stationed at the blue line, but in front of and in front of the net, few can match Zhenya.
“I don’t know if people realize how strong he is. If you try to move it… well, good luck with that,” Bunting said.
“Malkin will always be Malkin, that is, sometimes he will dazzle and sometimes he will confuse with a stupid elimination or a risk after which everything will go wrong. It’s in their DNA,” Yohe writes.
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However, as Gino himself said before the start of the season, to improve his team and his own game, he will change. Serious changes are coming.
“I’ll still try something (laughs). But I am the oldest player on this team and I need to play smarter hockey,” says Evgeniy.
His colleagues still value him as a person.
“I remember I wasn’t in the top 100 in the NHL. It was fun then and it is fun now. But those of us who are here know how good it still is. I hope everyone else knows that too,” defenseman Marcus Pettersson said.
Now Malkin continues to prove how wrong the NHL was by not including him among the 100 greatest hockey players in league history. The 38-year-old hockey player started the season in truly historic fashion. First, he scored his 800th career assist, then he scored his 1,300th point, and then he reached the 500-goal mark. All this in just six games of the season.
Evgeniy currently shares first place in the season’s scoring race with Artemy Panarin. Both have 11. Additionally, the Pittsburgh forward leads the NHL in assists.
Evgeny Malkin
Photo: Nick Wass/AP/TASS
Malkin admits he was very upset by the NHL’s decision not to include him in the top 100. But think that now it would definitely be on this list.
“If the NHL celebrated its 100th anniversary this year, my chances would probably be a little better. Just a little higher. We won the Stanley Cup in 2017, but the voting happened a little earlier. Now I have three Stanley Cups, 500 goals, 1,300 points… So right now I could probably be 99th,” Malkin told RG.org, smiling.
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Gino has ambitious plans for this season. Well, why not, considering how things were from the beginning?
“It would be nice to win the Selke Trophy.” But the season has just started, it’s too early to think about it. What I really want to think about now is the two goals I managed to score this season. I want to calm down a little and enjoy the moment, because I have come a long and difficult road to reach my 500th goal. Now I can confidently say that I am proud of myself. I’m also really happy for Sid, who scored his 1,600th point. We also won a crazy game in overtime. Now I want to enjoy the evening. I have prepared well for the season, I am in good shape. Let’s see what happens next,” Malkin said, smiling.
“No one wants to end their career”
Malkin only has two years left on his contract. At that time he will be almost 40 years old.
The Athletic notes that Pittsburgh had long assumed Malkin would end his career at this point. By then he will have played 20 seasons and conquered all possible milestones. Considering what his skating is suffering from, maybe then his time will simply come.
“If I play badly, if I’m not very happy with my game, then yes, these will probably be my last two years. But I can’t say for sure that I will graduate in two years. If I play well this year and next year, if I’m happy with how I’m playing, then maybe I’ll play a little more after that. That would be great,” Malkin said.
The difficult road to the NHL did not spare Malkin’s body. He has had surgery twice to reconstruct his cruciate ligament.
“Some days his body hurts more than others,” Yohe writes.
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“My body is not in ideal condition. But my mind… it feels great. My mind and my head are fine. I can say that I still feel as excited and excited about this season as I did when I first arrived in Pittsburgh. I still enjoy working. I changed my focus a little bit in terms of psychology. I’m still more positive than before. “I’m the oldest guy on the team, so I try different things, something positive,” he said.
If these are his final two seasons, Malkin wants them to be special. These days, he’s paying attention and enjoying everything from spending time with his old friends Crosby and Kris Letang to enjoying his favorite trips and helping Pittsburgh get back to the playoffs.
His explanation is simple.
“No one wants to end their career. Everyone wants to play as long as possible, but I know I can’t play for long. These are probably my last two or three years. When it’s your last two or three years, you want to play even more. “I want to play at a high level in my final seasons and help my team,” he said.
Evgeny Malkin
Photo: Jae C. Hong/AP/TASS
Ultimately, Malkin wants to make a good impression before his time comes.
“I really want to do it. And I still have something else. My ability. My stickhandling skills. “My broadcasts,” he said.
“Until then I won’t leave”
Yes, Malkin is thinking about hanging up his skates. But only on your own terms.
And among their conditions is getting into the playoffs.
Could Malkin retire if the Penguins miss the playoffs again in each of the next two seasons?
“100% no,” Malkin said.
He wasn’t joking or smiling when he said this.
“I love the playoffs so much and I love our fans so much! I need to feel this again. I can’t leave if I don’t play in the playoffs again. At least until then,” Malkin said.
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Pittsburgh last made the playoffs in 2022 when they faced the Rangers. While the series is mostly remembered for Crosby’s dominance and the subsequent series-changing injury to Jacob Trouba, Malkin had his own memorable moments. He claimed victory in the first game, a three-overtime game at Madison Square Garden, with a setup that helped break compatriot Igor Shesterkin. With Crosby out before Game 6 and the Penguins trailing 2-3, Malkin intercepted Trouba’s pass and ran into the slot to score, igniting the crowd at PG Paints Arena for the last time.
More than anything else, Malkin is inspired by the dream of another such breakthrough.
Two days later, the Rangers won the series in overtime at Madison Square Garden. Over the next two seasons, Pittsburgh proved unable to return to the playoffs, which Malkin still dreams of.
“I have been very angry the last two years. Missing the playoffs by just one or two points… It’s terrible. We weren’t within 10 points, you know? I’m still furious. “I want to go back,” he said.
Yohe recalls: “As fate would have it, Malkin came face to face this summer with the piece of metal that drives him to this day.”
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Maxim Ivanov, Malkin’s old friend and Florida coach, invited Evgeni to his party in honor of his Stanley Cup victory this summer.
“The cup was there and I touched it. I didn’t celebrate like crazy. I am a penguin. But it felt good to touch it. I was happy for Florida and the friends I have there. But I want to give the Cup back before I retire,” Malkin said.
