Pittsburgh Penguins Center Evgeni Malkin Talks Crosby’s Leadership In GQ
Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin spent some time with Elizabeth Quinn Brown of GQ.
As far as seasons go, the Pittsburgh Penguins are having a rough one. Their vaunted offense has sputtered and their blueline has been a mix of injuries and players both too old or too young to match the forward depth for most of the season. There haven’t been too many bright spots.
Evgeni Malkin has been one of the few.
With Sidney Crosby going through the worst season in his career and the team lacking any sort of identity, Malkin has become the de facto leader for the Penguins on the ice with his play and his hustle.
His contribution will be even more important now that the Pittsburgh Penguins fired their head coach mid-season and replaced him with Mike Sullivan. Sullivan wants to kick start the offense, and Malkin and Crosby have to lead the way for the Pens to rebound.
The truth of the matter is that the two big guns don’t roll the same direction. I don’t know if the new coach can make that difference, but I don’t blame Mike Johnston for that having happened. — Ron MacLean
With the vultures circling former head coach Mike Johnston and the Penguins in general over the past several weeks, the media revived the Crosby versus Malkin narrative.
When speaking about the ills of the Penguins, Ron MacLean stated on Sportsnet that, “The truth of the matter is that the two big guns don’t roll the same direction. I don’t know if the new coach can make that difference, but I don’t blame Mike Johnston for that having happened.”
However, when Brown asked Malkin about Sidney Crosby for GQ, Malkin replied “He’s cool guy. He’s funny. Leadership, good leadership.” The implication being that there is no animosity or rift between Crosby and Malkin…which we already knew.
I believe Ron MacLean must have been watching a different team and different games than myself. The “two big guns” are underperforming, to be sure (and one of them far more than the other), but it’s not the fault of some manufactured rift between players.
I would argue that it is Johnston’s fault due to the restrictive system he shackled two generational offensive talents with.
Beyond Crosby, Malkin also spoke a bit about Alex Ovechkin saying, “I’m happy when he scores, maybe he happy when I’m scoring. We’re good friends.”
However, when asked which trophy meant the most to him over his career Geno made sure to get a little dig in at Ovi’s expense.
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“I think each one is very important for me but if we take one I think it’s the Conn-Smythe because I know it’s the Stanley Cup but my trophy is important, too, because I know I’m first Russian guy who won this trophy.”
Take that Ovi.
And finally, Evgeni Malkin had some endearing comments on winning the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009.
“It’s very important because I lost Stanley Cup finals before and it’s the first final I win and it’s huge and, of course, I’m a little bit crying but it’s happy.”
I think Pens fans cried a little bit too, Geno, but they were also happy tears.
Now could you win another already, please?