Malkin Looks to Enjoy the Ride

During this year’s season ticket delivery, one family told Evgeni Malkin they had been watching him since the beginning of his career in Pittsburgh, as they’ve had their seats for nearly three decades.

“Good people, yeah?” Malkin said after. “28 years, they follow hockey.”

There has always been a special bond between Malkin and Penguins fans, going back to his NHL debut on Oct. 18, 2006 against New Jersey. Prior to that first game, Malkin had dealt with an injury after dislocating his shoulder in the preseason. Compounded with his departure from Russia, it had Malkin, then 19, questioning everything. But the reception Malkin got at Mellon Arena helped him feel better in his new surroundings.

“When I step on ice, everybody stand up,” Malkin recalled. “I'm like, wow, it’s amazing for me. It’s cool, yeah. They gave me, like, more power.”

And Malkin has given them so much in the years since, as the second overall pick in 2004 is a three-time Stanley Cup Champion with Pittsburgh. He has won six individual awards, including a Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, and ranks third in Penguins history in both goals (514) and points (1,346).

Now, Malkin is entering the final season of his most recent contract, a four-year deal signed in the summer of 2022.

“I think a lot about this the whole summer, almost,” Malkin said.

He felt like the emotional investment they needed as a group wasn’t quite there last season, and it has changed Malkin’s mindset going into this year, his 20^th with Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.

“I understand it’s maybe last year, maybe two more years. I need to just play fun,” Malkin said. “Because I play my whole life, why not just two more years? It’s so much better when the team wins. The last three years, we missed playoffs, it’s the worst feeling, you know? If me, Sid and Tanger play together, play one time in playoffs, like, one more time – who knows if we win, lose, just play together one more playoffs run – I love this.

“I think just start first game. Just play to have fun, try to help the young guys a little bit, because you don’t know how many years are left.”

I brought up how the captain said on the 32 Thoughts podcast that he was just going to try to take it all in, and enjoy each and every day together.

“Yes!” Malkin exclaimed in agreement. “I talk to guys who are retired, they still miss hockey. They still remember good memories. I can retire now, but I’m still feeling like I can play. I’m still feeling I'm like, hungry. I still want to score goals. I want to help the team win. Same with Sid. Just enjoy every day, remember your memories after, you know? And it’s like, Flower back, maybe more exciting, be around with team. He's back, I think it's right. We still have good team. I watch rookies. We have great guys.”

Chatting with Malkin in the car as he made stops in Valencia and Butler, it was evident that right now, he is in a good headspace. In fact, it was probably the best and most open conversation we’ve had in 15 years of working together. Malkin was his usual funny and candid self, and was willing to answer any question I had for him along the way. Here’s some of what we talked about outside of his visits.

CRANBERRY TO VALENCIA

We left from UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex after unsuccessfully recruiting Boko Imama to join us. Since we were driving around the community, we began by talking about life in Pittsburgh. Malkin has lived in the same home he bought in Sewickley after the first Stanley Cup win in 2009. It’s close to where he lived with Sergei Gonchar during his early years in the league.

While Malkin will occasionally go to restaurants with friends or attend events at PPG Paints Arena, like a concert or wrestling match, he’s a homebody at heart. He likes that Pittsburgh isn’t too big or fast-paced. “I’m not a big fan of doing something every day, you know?” he said. “Like, we have great practice today, delivery, and after, I relax all day. I have a guy coming to my house to do a massage. You focus on hockey, and you rest after games.”

Crosby was recently asked, after a big game, what’s your favorite treat to wind down and celebrate? And he said that cold beer tastes good when you win. I posed the same question to Malkin.

“I like beer. I drink a couple, for sure,” Malkin said. “But I mean, if we play at home, we like sitting in the locker room a little bit. We talk about game, we watch maybe one period if another team plays from the West.”

It’s hard for Malkin because he has trouble falling asleep after games, especially when he’s not happy with how he played. So that means a lot of naps, pregame and post-practice.

The conversation then turned to cars, and the story of Malkin driving his on the tarmac at the airport years ago.

“It's not me, it's me and Gonch, we're together,” Malkin said. “I bought a new Porsche 911, small one, and it’s fast. We did not drive close to plane. We drive from parking lot, but it's still dangerous, people think. I drive like two seconds, but just one guy see... I don’t know where he's sitting on top. He’s like, you can't do it that close to plane. We just do it one time. It’s okay. Because you know, it’s exciting, you buy a new car, you can drive here so fast. But you need to drive somewhere where you have room.”

Crosby had brought that up as one of his favorite Malkin stories, so I asked Geno if he wanted to share one about Sid.

“My story about Sid, he uses same car forever!” Malkin said. “Because he talks about my cars, but every year he drives same car, Range Rover. Like, it's unbelievable.”

After talking about how Sid likes to wear the same black sneakers with white soles – “he’s so consistent! We laugh, but it works for him” – the topic of the NHL eliminating team-mandated dress codes came up. While Malkin does like wearing suits and ties to games – “it’s looking nice, professional” – he doesn’t mind the opportunity to show off his own sense of style more often. Malkin’s practice and off-day fits are usually head-turning.

“If you see NBA, people talk about what they wear,” Malkin said. “When you wear only suits, people don’t talk much. But we see Toronto, people start talking about Matthews, Marner, what kind of shoes they wear. I think we need to do a little bit more. Get people to talk a little bit more about style.”

VALENCIA TO BUTLER

After we got back in the car, Malkin started talking about how passionate Penguins fans can be. “I see tattoos of Stanley Cup, Penguins logo, I see couple of my face, you know? It’s crazy!”

We then delved deeper into his NHL debut, where Malkin scored his first goal, against Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur.

“It’s weird. Like, I think people think when you score, you think how to celebrate. But when I score, I have NO idea,” Malkin said with a laugh. “That night, I go to corner. I celebrate myself. Everybody tries to hug me, but I fly to bench, give everybody knuckles. But it's still cool. It's so many nerves about first game, but it’s crazy, I remember almost everything. It’s still best memory, because it’s against best goalie of probably all time, Martin Brodeur.”

Malkin still celebrates goals with the same level of passion despite the amount of time that has passed. When I remarked on how endearing that is, he said, “We need more goals! We need more excitement!” he said. “Last year, not many goals, like 16.”

Malkin did have 16 goals, 34 assists and 50 points in just 68 games at age 38, entirely respectable numbers.

“It's not bad, but you always want more,” said Malkin, who turned 39 on July 31. “You know, we're human. We’re never happy. It’s good, because if you're happy, you’re probably not doing much. But we need to be hungry all the time.”

The competitive fire still burns bright in Malkin, Crosby and Letang, a big reason that they’ve had so much success together. This will mark the first time in the history of the four major professional sports (NHL, NFL, NBA, MLB) that a trio of teammates has reached 20 years together as teammates.

“It’s so rare,” Malkin said. “I think we're all in history already, you know? It’s like, I’m lucky to play with Tanger and Sid together. I always say, it’s dream to play with same guys together, forever, you know? I like how Sid and Tanger, they love hockey so much. I'm trying to do my best. They try to do their best. And we're lucky to just play with the same team.”

“You ask me how cool is it you all play together. For me, it’s natural. I play with Sid forever, and I’m like oh, I see you tomorrow. I’m not thinking (any) other way. People ask oh, 20 years... for me, it’s like, 20 years, it’s quick, first of all. Time just flies. But for me, we’re always together.”

Crosby has described the dynamic between them as ‘family.’ Letang said they’re all different, that he is quiet and intense, Malkin is loud and funny, and Crosby is the one who drives the ship. So, how would Malkin put it?

“First of all, they like me so much,” Malkin said. “I’m like middle guy. I’m always between them. Because you know Sid mad, Tanger mad, I come and talk to them [laughs]. No, we are like family. We know we're good friends. But you can’t be nice every time. Sometimes you’re feeling you angry, you’re not happy, you show emotion, but it's fine, it's good. But next day we're like, sitting and talk, ‘okay, we do this, this. We do it wrong. Okay, let's go back and play it better.’ Show emotion, I think it's good. I like to show emotion.”

“Shows you care,” I said.

“Yeah, you're right. When you show emotion, you show you care. And I think this is what we want, we need. This year, more emotion,” Malkin said. “Sixteen straight years make playoffs, some days, it's like, you missed a couple years of playoffs. You can't play forever. It's still a good run. Now, time to (go) back. Everybody step on ice in locker room, we need to support each other, be excited.”

BUTLER TO CRANBERRY

Malkin’s summer consisted of four weeks in Miami (two after the season and two before), with the rest spent at home in Russia. There, he picked up a new sport: padel.

“It's so popular in Moscow right now!” he said. “Everybody plays – hockey players, soccer, tennis – and we have so much fun.”

The sport is described as a blend of squash and tennis, and is played 2v2 on a court with glass walls that are part of the game. Malkin teamed up with his good friend, retired NHL star Ilya Kovalchuk. They even took part in a couple of tournaments, and did well.

Last week, his former teammate and new assistant coach Nick Bonino invited Malkin to play with him and assistant GM Jason Spezza. “I say okay, I’m coming, but what time? They say, 8 AM. I say, what? It’s my day off!” Malkin said with a laugh. “Bonino plays very good.”

Malkin likes having something on the line, like lunch or dinner. If it’s up to him, they’re probably going to McDonald’s. Which tracks, as Crosby recently brought up how Malkin ate only hamburgers during his first month or so in the league.

“That’s what he’d order all the time. I was just like, do you eat anything else? You’re unbelievable,” Crosby told Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas with a grin. “Like, you’re flying out here. But all you’re eating is hamburgers. So, I started ordering hamburgers too. I don’t think it worked as good as him.”

Malkin’s absolute favorite is a Big Mac. He is usually aware of when the Big Mac Attack is announced on the videoboard during home games, and we joked how scoring during that time could be some extra motivation for him.

“Everybody like In N’ Out, Five Guys... I’m like, no! McDonald’s. It’s only Big Mac. Double cheeseburger, I never eat. I only like Big Mac. I try everything,” Malkin said. “Here, McDonald’s is not like a restaurant. It’s fast food. In Russia and in Europe, it’s a restaurant, people are sitting.”

Geno then pointed out that Sid has his favorites as well.

“Same foods... chicken parmesan, Caesar salad, and SHRIMP COCKTAIL,” joked Malkin, who shook his head thinking about all of the details that Crosby remembers. “His memory is unbelievable. Mine, it’s worst ever. He tell me stories from 2010, 2011, I’m like how do you remember? I don’t remember what’s last year! He talk about Sweden, and said remember when we were flying, and landing, and you did this... I’m like, how do you remember 2008 IN SWEDEN?! I’m like, wow.”

As we neared the rink, I had to bring up Marc-Andre Fleury, who will be putting on the black and gold one last time.

“He's back, I think it's right. Playing his last game in Pittsburgh, because everybody knows he won three Cups here. He’s always a Pittsburgh Penguins guy,” Malkin said.

“You see his smile all the time, he joke around.”

Just like Geno.