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A lot of us wondered how it would work. Two, sorta, alpha dog guys, top two picks. Did you envision it, where you guys would become as close as you were and sort of establish yourself in the fabric of the city as a tender.

Malkin, who turns 38 on July 31, signed a four-year, $24.4 million contract with the Penguins on July 12, 2022. Crosby, who turns 37 on August 7, has one season remaining on a 12-year, $104.4 million contract he signed on July 1, 2012.

"Now I can't imagine myself on another team, although two years ago when I signed my current contract, I had different thoughts," Malkin admitted. "We had tough negotiations. Many players changed teams—even Wayne Gretzky. Steven Stamkos recently did it. There aren't many players who've spent their entire careers with one team. Now, I can't imagine going anywhere, but there was such a chance two years ago."

Malkin said that he would only be ready to play until he's 45 in one case: if Crosby signs an eight-year contract with the Penguins.

I want to play for another two years. As for another one, we'll see after that. 

"It will be hard, of course, but I have to," Malkin said to RG.org. "I hope I won't play until I'm 45, actually. I want to play for another two years. As for another one, we'll see after that. I still want to spend time with my family. Family is a very important part of life. Many say they want to return to hockey soon after they retire. But I think my body will tell me when to stop. Maybe it will be expressed in a loss of desire to play. Or I'll start wondering if it's time to retire. Probably, it will happen like this: I'll wake up one morning and realize that I don't want to play hockey anymore."

“I think forget sports … I think we’re in a society now that people do come out,” he said.

There’s no doubt there have been gay players in the NHL before and that there are some today. But they obviously don’t feel comfortable coming out publicly in a league that still has a well-earned reputation for being an “old boys’ club.”

About 25 years ago, Tom Harrington was a CBC sports reporter and host of the Sports Journal magazine show. He was researching a story about an NHL player who was gay while working with a go-between who ran a support group in Toronto that helped professional and amateur athletes who were gay. Harrington was told there was a “prominent” NHL player who had been thinking about coming out.

During the next year-and-a-half, Harrington said he worked with his go-between trying to convince the NHL player to do an interview, but the player was “extremely reluctant and afraid he’d be exposed.” Harrington tried to arrange a phone interview or a meeting with the player, who asked if his voice could be disguised in a phone call in case Harrington recognized him. Harrington promised the go-between he would never reveal the player’s identity unless he permitted it.

“It was a step closer to the beginning of something, but it was also a window into just how terrified he was, and it said a lot about the culture at the time in professional male sports, where players didn’t feel they could even take the initial step to come out, let alone reveal themselves,” Harrington said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Harrington said the player eventually decided not to come out, saying he was too scared of the impact it would have on his family, hockey career and his life after hockey.

“I remember saying at the time (to the go-between): ‘You know, there are a lot of people who would be very supportive of him. There would be businesses lining up to sponsor him to have him as a spokesperson. I’m telling you, there’s an untapped market for someone like this … the Jackie Robinson of gays in sports.’ But, ultimately, it failed.

“I never knew who the player was and to this day I still don’t know who it was,” added Harrington, who retired last year after almost 44 years at CBC.

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