Photo: RIA Novosti
Evgeni Malkin is Russian hockey’s main hope in Sochi. “Geno” as the US fans call him, recently became the first hockey player in 30 years to match hockey legend Canadian Wayne Gretzky’s record – a feat that got him recognized as the best scorer both in the NHL and the World Cup. Experts are saying that the record-breaking forward will breaking even more records in the 2014 Winter Olympics
Evgeni Malkin was born to a family of hockey fans – his father used to play hockey himself so the first thing as soon as his sons could walk, they were taking to the skating rink. Evgeni started his career playing for the local Metallurg Magnitogorsk, fighting day in, day out to prove to his coaches that he was capable of big things. This was the attitude that got him picked for the Russian team. His debut on the international stage was a big success. With him on the team, in 2004, Russia won the youth World Cup. He and another star of the team Alexander Ovechkin were the first numbers in the NHL draft.But Malkin’s club didn’t want to let a talented hockey player go. As a result, in 2006, during a preseason tournament in Finland, Malkin abandoned the location of the team and a few days later showed up at the negotiations of the US "Pittsburgh Penguins". Russian fans were furious. Today Malkin says he does not regret this decision but says he’s not proud of it either. Malkin: There was a story (and everyone knows about it) when I did not quite leave Russia nicely, after I went to the NHL. And then, in my first official game and injured my shoulder. I thought maybe I was already punished from above for the way I acted. At the time, everything was bad
for me. This lasted for about a month. Then everything fell into place. In 2006 Malkin did triple duty for his national team. He was named the top forward of the 2006 World Junior Championship, bringing Russia to a second silver medal and gold medal game loss to Canada. Less than two months later, Malkin was given one of the final spots on Team Russia for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, where he helped the team to a fourth-place finish with 6 points in 7 games. At the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, he once again led the team in points with 3 goals and 6 points in 4 games. However, Malkin’s efforts didn’t bring Russians gold, they ultimately lost to Canada in the quarterfinals, finishing 6th overall - their worst placing ever at the Olympic Games. No wonder big things are expected from Evgeni in Sochi. After all, the Olympic champion trophy is the only one missing from his collection of awards. Source: Article
for me. This lasted for about a month. Then everything fell into place. In 2006 Malkin did triple duty for his national team. He was named the top forward of the 2006 World Junior Championship, bringing Russia to a second silver medal and gold medal game loss to Canada. Less than two months later, Malkin was given one of the final spots on Team Russia for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, where he helped the team to a fourth-place finish with 6 points in 7 games. At the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, he once again led the team in points with 3 goals and 6 points in 4 games. However, Malkin’s efforts didn’t bring Russians gold, they ultimately lost to Canada in the quarterfinals, finishing 6th overall - their worst placing ever at the Olympic Games. No wonder big things are expected from Evgeni in Sochi. After all, the Olympic champion trophy is the only one missing from his collection of awards. Source: Article
