Malkin earns Crosby's admiration in a hurry

Wednesday, August 23, 2006
By Shelly Anderson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Having turned 19 earlier this month, Sidney Crosby is too young to remember the days of hockey stars defecting from Eastern Bloc countries to play in the NHL. But he has heard the stories.

The Penguins' star got a sense of the old days by tracking the events surrounding soon-to-be teammate Evgeni Malkin, the hulking Russian center whose trip from Magnitogorsk this summer has been immersed in tension and foreign intrigue.

For Crosby, it provided not only a history lesson, but also some insight to Malkin.

"I can't imagine [going through that], but I know that for anyone who has a dream of playing in the NHL and a passion to play, this is the league you want to be in. For him, that's the way it is," Crosby said yesterday between sessions of the Penguins' youth hockey school, where he served as a special guest instructor at the RMU/Island Sports Center on Neville Island.

"I think when you get that opportunity, you're willing to do whatever it takes and take those risks to get here. It shows that he wants to be here. He went through a lot of adversity to get here, so, when he does come, I think he's going to want it bad and want to play well and expect a lot of himself.

"That's only going to make everyone around him better."

Crosby has the same agent as Malkin, Pat Brisson, and got a little bit of the inside scoop on Malkin's journey -- being pressured late one night into signing a new contract with Metallurg, then slipping away from the team in the Helsinki airport and hiding in that city until he got a visa last week and flew to Los Angeles, where he has been working out.

"It showed a lot of guts for him to go through that and come over here," Crosby said. "I'm just looking forward to having him here and making him feel as comfortable as possible."

Crosby, the top overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft, is a year younger than Malkin, the second overall pick in 2004. Although he had intense scrutiny as a rookie, Crosby led the Penguins with 39 goals, five of them game-winners, and 63 assists for 102 points.

He had advantages Malkin won't have, such as speaking English (and French) and growing up in a North American culture.

Nevertheless, once the Penguins sign Malkin, the two centers could help give the Penguins a couple of formidable forward lines.

"If we're both at our best and if both lines are at their best, it's going to be tough," Crosby said.
Crosby is eager to get into training camp and see Malkin there.

"I can't wait," he said. "I've played against him and seen him play a lot. I'm just looking forward to getting out there and learning from him, too. Hopefully, we can build some chemistry and make some things happen out there. We're going to be a deeper team and a harder team to play against."

"I think the attitude coming into the season is [that] a lot of guys want to prove that we're a better team than last year. We all have high expectations. We know we're young, but I think we're coming in with the right attitude -- to start off strong and win."

Malkin will be one of many new faces, thanks to changes made by first-year general manager Ray Shero after a 58-point season that left the Penguins second-to-last in the NHL standings.
One of the new players is Mark Recchi, who re-signed with the Penguins after being traded to Carolina in March. Recchi and Crosby had a falling out over a locker-room incident. Recchi and Shero have claimed all was well, and Crosby confirmed it.

"Things happen," he said. "We just have to make sure we move forward. That's the most important thing."

Crosby's stop in Pittsburgh will be brief. Under the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, he can't be compensated, so he paid his way here and donated his time at the youth camp.
On the ice, he smiled nonstop while encouraging the budding players ages 5-17.

"I can remember being 6, 7 years old, Brad Richards [of Tampa Bay] taught me at a hockey school, and now I play against him," Crosby said. "It's kind of funny how things work like that. You always remember those times in your life when you meet people like that. To be able to do it here is nice."

He will return to his hometown in suburban Halifax, Nova Scotia, briefly before heading to Rimouski, Quebec, where he played junior hockey and where he and several other pros will work out before training camps open next month.

After playing in the world championships and vacationing in Europe, Crosby felt like he didn't have a terrifically long offseason.

"It wasn't much of a vacation," he said.

(Shelly Anderson can be reached at shanderson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1721. )