Evgeni Malkin
By Karen Price
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Last season, whenever Sidney Crosby was asked about the possibility of winning the Calder Trophy for the NHL rookie of the year, he usually would tell reporters the same thing.
He wanted to finish the season the best he could and that it wasn't something he would think about until after everything was over.
Teammate Evgeni Malkin, the favorite to win the award this season, isn't quite so coy.
"If I'm going to say I don't want to win, that wouldn't be the truth," Malkin said through an interpreter. "Yeah, I would love to win. It would mean a lot, because I'm trying to do my best. I'm trying to play my best and help my team. It would be great if I won the Calder Trophy."
He most likely will.
With six games left in the regular season heading into tonight's game against the Washington Capitals, Malkin leads NHL rookies in many statistical categories.
The 20-year-old center has the most points with 80 in 72 games. The closest player behind him is the Colorado Avalanche's Paul Stastny, 21, who has 69 points and likely will be Malkin's biggest competition for the award.
Malkin also has more goals (32), assists (48), game-winning goals (six) and power-play points (16) than any other rookie and is second among rookie forwards in ice time behind the Los Angeles Kings' Anze Kopitar, 19, by just over a minute per game.
But it isn't just the stats that lead NBC hockey analyst and former Penguins assistant coach Pierre McGuire to believe Malkin's going to win.
It's the dramatic circumstances under which Malkin left his Russian team to come to the NHL and that he's had to learn a new culture and a new language while playing and excelling on the Penguins' top two lines and top power play unit.
"Malkin has overwhelmed people with his adaptability and being able to come to a new culture, play center or wing," McGuire said. "Not only is he learning to play in a new league, he's learning a new culture, and that says a lot. I'd be shocked if Malkin didn't get rookie of the year."
One player threatening to take a few votes from Malkin is teammate Jordan Staal.
Jordan Staal (left) with Michel Ouellet
The 18-year-old native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, is one of the top young defensive forwards in the game and is chasing Malkin in goals with 29, second among rookies. He leads the NHL in shorthanded goals with seven and has a league-high 25.4 shooting percentage.
"(Staal) will get some votes, and he should," McGuire said. "Anytime you're leading the league in categories as an 18-year-old and pushing 30 goals, that's an amazing accomplishment. I really think if Malkin didn't come over this year, you'd have an amazing race between three guys - Staal, Stastny and Kopitar. But the Malkin factor's huge."
Staal said he hasn't really thought about the possibility of the Calder race coming down to him and Malkin.
"That's the last thing on my mind, really," Staal said. "But the way Geno's playing, I think it's pretty much locked up."
Coach Michel Therrien wasn't about to name his choice for the award.
"I don't have to vote," Therrien said. "Malkin, he's an elite player. Jordan Staal surprised a lot of people. Those are two great candidates."
Voting is conducted by members of the Professional Hockey Association at the end of the regular season.
Karen Price can be reached at kprice@tribweb.com or 412-320-7980.
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