On August 7th 2006, one week after the deadline,
Penguins fans around the world shuddered as the news came in that Evgeni had
just renegotiated his Metallurg Magnitogorsk contract, and would be playing
another year in Russia. Evgeni had negotiated his remaining two years contract
down to a one year deal for about 3.8 million dollars US, but to many this
seemed as though Evgeni chose to stay in Russia for yet another year. Under
Russian labor law anyone can give 2 weeks notice to resign from their job, which
is what many expected Malkin to do, but renegotiating a contract for which he
supposedly wasn't going to play out anyway, seemed if anything, contradictory.
(click to enlarge)
Evgeni Malkin celebrates after
a team Russia goal - Russian Hockey Digest
The next day, (August 8th,2006) Evgeni informed his Metallurg coach Dave /King that he made a mistake in signing the contract. It was later alleged by Evgeni himself that he had signed the contract out of duress. He stated that officials from his Metallurg Magnitogorsk team had went to his house in the middle of the night and were pestering him about signing a new contract. Malkin recalled that he ended up signing the contract at around 3 o'clock in the morning, and did so only because he was tired and sick of the men constantly pressuring him to sign the deal.
On August 12th 2006, Evgeni arrived with his RSL team at the Helsinki-Vanaa airport in Finland to partake in some pre-season training and conditioning. A few hours later, his coach Dave King spoke with reporters and said, "Somehow, we lost him. He's gone. He's gone to North America."
Apparently Metallurg team officials had been withholding Evgeni's passport from him for the previous month or so. His only chance to get his passport back
would be when he passed through immigration at the airport. Evgeni's agent J.P. Barry met him at the airport and the two quickly exited the building and wound up a Helsinki apartment
awhile later, awaiting Evgeni's visa clearance form the US Embassy. On Tuesday, August 15, Evgeni
Malkin formally gave Metallurg Magnitogorsk his 2-week notice. Officials from the Russian Super League and Evgeni's Metallurg Magnitogorsk team were incensed, and went so far as to accuse the Pittsburgh Penguins and the NHL of "Sports Terrorism." The next day, the visa arrived and Evgeni and his agent were off to California.
On August 17, after 5 days of the hockey world
wondering where in the world Evgeni Malkin was, he surfaced in Los Angeles, and
was practicing at an El Segundo ice rink, along with other a few other NHL
players. After more than 2 weeks in Los Angeles, Evgeni boarded a flight
to Pittsburgh to sign his first NHL contract, but first he would have dinner
(lobster and filet mignon) with the owner of his new team, (Mario Lemieux) and a
fellow teammate and young superstar. (Sidney Crosby) Afterwards, Evgeni
would get acquainted at his new residence, with his new housemate Sergei Gonchar,
and Sergei's family as well as Evgeni's translator Besa Tsintsadze . The young Malkin will need some guidance and help as he adjusts not only to a new city, but a new country, culture, and language. Gonchar will be of great help to Evgeni as he adjusts to his new
surroundings.
On September 5, 2006, at about 10:00am, the Pittsburgh Penguins held a news conference to address the signing of 20 year-old Evgeni Malkin, another bright light for a franchise which seemed dark for far too long. In the end, his contract wasn't of much consequence, at least in terms of dollars. (he
ended up signing for the rookie maximum, which is just about 1 million US per season + performance bonuses) The truth is that Evgeni Malkin probably would have made more money had he stayed in Russia for the 2006-2007 season. Evgeni came to the NHL because he wants to be the best in the game, and he knows that to
be the best, he needs to play with and against the best players in the world.
At the press conference he remarked through an interpreter, "I've always been very open in my desire to come to North America and be one of the best here."
While the possible legal wrangling between the Russian Super League, the NHL,
and the Pittsburgh Penguins may be far from over, Evgeni Malkin will suit up as a
Pittsburgh Penguin this season. This year the young Russian
will play with a highly-talented and young nucleus of players in Pittsburgh,
and maybe help the Pens to compete for a long-awaited playoff spot. With
young forwards including Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, Colby Armstrong,
offensive-defensemen Ryan Whitney, and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, the Penguins
boast raw, top-flight talent like no other team in the NHL. If this team can gel
early, expect the young Penguins to not only compete for a playoff spot, but
perhaps a
spot in the Stanley Cup Finals in June.
Although Evgeni suffered a shoulder injury in his first preseason game, he was
ready to play the Penguin's fifth game of the season against the perennial
Stanly Cup contender New Jersey devils, where he registered his first NHL goal.
Six games into Evgeni Malkin's young career, he is already putting up some
extraordinary numbers. Malkin scored 7 goals in his first 6 games,
including a goal every game,
and in doing so, he set the modern-day NHL record for the longest goal-scoring
streak to start a NHL career. Quite a remarkable feat considering no one
had done it since the NHL's inception way back in 1917.
Evgeni Malkin was awarded the NHL rookie of the
month award for October despite playing in only 6 games. Assuming Evgeni plays the rest of the season relatively healthy, he's the
odds-on favorite to win the Calder trophy this year as the best player of his
rookie class. Should Evgeni Malkin perform to his almost-unlimited potential during his
NHL career, hockey fans around the world can expect him to add some other
trophies to go along with it.
(click to enlarge, then right
click and save as or set as desktop background)
1280x1024
1280x1024 1024x768
1024x768
Here's the first four of what will hopefully be a series of original Evgeni Malkin wallpapers as done by yours truly.
First click on the images and then right click to save as, or set as desktop
background.
*If you choose to use the wallpaper for your site,
please give a link back to Evgeni-Malkin-Fansite.com.
