#malkin lore

A year younger than everyone, Malkin did every drill right at first try

SV: When you show kids a drill, you ask them to repeat it. And Zhenya always got it right the very first time. In all my years as a youth coach, I never saw anything like it. That takes not just focus, coordination, and a lot of other qualities. It takes mental composure. Plenty of kids get shy and freeze up. When you stand in front of everyone, you have to do it correctly, meet the coach's expectations, and keep your nerve in front of the other boys. And he was a year younger than everyone else.

Was Malkin sociable or withdrawn as a child?

SV:I think he was sociable in his own world, with the other kids. But with coaches... those kids still had that Soviet mentality back then. Only a handful of them talked with coaches, the ones who read a lot, who'd learned poetry... But if you asked them the right questions, you got the right answers.

When you were running a practice, they'd stand in a semicircle. And with little Malkin, you'd see his mouth open and his ears practically sticking out to the sides. He was listening so intently! That's why he'd get everything right on the very first try.  (Awwwwwww)

Malkin’s fitness; being good at tennis 

SV: With Zhenya, everyone talks about talent, and that's beyond dispute. But there's more to it than that, for instance, the fitness standards. Zhenya used to run 3km under 12 minutes, while his older brother Denis couldn't get under 16 minutes. At around 13 years old he was already beating me, his coach, at tennis! 

Malkin got yelled at by another team's coach

SV: I worked with him every day and saw how the guys on the second team* played, and what kind of potential he had. Even though Zhenya was skinny at the time and the others were bigger, more solidly built, he had character. He was coordinated, he held his own in the battles, he went into puck races and collisions without hesitating. (*I think the second team mentioned above is Metallurg-2)

I remember we played the 2002 final in Yaroslavl before graduation and finished second. Zhenya was making such progress! And there was another incident there with Yuri Isaev, who came along to keep an eye on the second team. We're up 3–1, and we go on a counterattack. Zhenya took his stick in one hand and picked the puck off the boards. Two of his linemates were already at the blue line. I thought to myself: he'll feed it forward now and it's 4–1.

Something went wrong. The puck slided off his blade, and the opponents scored. Later,Zhenya sat down on the bench quietly, understanding everything, head down. And then Isaev, who wasn't even working with the team, came over to him, saying "Listen here, you…”, and he was swearing! I had to go over and made this clear, “You listen, shut your mouth and don't you ever get near this kid again."

Coach Michel Therrien came up with a plan to get Malkin out of his comfort zone.

“I don’t know if it helped him or hurt him, but Geno was plunked between myself and Max Talbot in the dressing room. So he had us dummies in his ear all the time,” Armstrong said, chuckling. “You know when you talk to a dog and their ears perk up and their head turns sideways? We got a lot of that from him.”

Armstrong messed with Malkin, like when he pointed at his own chest while trying to teach him the word “legend.” Teammates walked by shaking their heads.

SV: I still have this everyday scene in front of my eyes. The Malkin family lived about 500 or 700 metres from the rink in Magnitogorsk. Every morning, the father walked out front, holding Zhenya's hand. His mother walked behind them, holding Denis’s hand. By the time I started working with Zhenya, they'd already left the gear in the locker room instead of hauling it home.

Vladimir: the hockey school was still in its early stages when Zhenya was young. Back then equipment wasn’t provided the way it is for kids today. His mother had re-stitch the gear so many times because it kept tearing. Most of the time they wouldn’t fully dry between practices. The leg guards and padding were patched over and over.

Natalia: Our Zhenya didn't get any C's at all. Only when he moved to another school in the eighth grade so that he could devote more attention to hockey, he got into a computer science class which they didn't teach at his previous school - that was his only C. Other than that, he got all A's and B's. His behavior had always been fine, too. All other kids are running around the school like crazy, but our son left all of his energy in hockey. Practices always started very early, so (by afternoon) he was pretty exhausted.

There’s also a story about Evgeni falling asleep with his helmet on and a stick still in his hands. Was he even thinking about anything besides hockey?

Vladimir: You’d have to ask him that yourself. Of course he had other thoughts too, but mostly he thought about hockey. And when he fell asleep in his helmet, honestly, I was surprised he could even breathe in there, funny.

Was Evgeni an emotional kid? How did he handle losses or failures?

Vladimir : He reacted very intensely, both as a kid and now. If he played well, he’d be in a great mood, joking around a lot. But if it’s bad, he’d go quiet, walk around irritated, and have trouble sleeping. He’d just turn on the TV.

Did Evgeni cry often?

Yes, often. Up until he was 17.

Dmitry Bulykin, who visited the Sports.ru office three weeks ago, talked about how passionately he loves motorcycles. What’s your relationship with two wheels?

Evgeni: Whenever I see motorcyclists, I get a little jealous. I really want to learn how to ride. But at the same time, I know it’s not exactly safe, so I’m holding off. I do have the chance to learn, but it’s one of those “I want to, but I’m scared to” situations. So for now, I’m sticking with my four-wheeled friend.

And what do you drive right now?

Evgeni: A Porsche Cayenne. Range Rovers are popular in America. A lot of our guys have one, I used to have one myself. And our enforcer Eric Godard drives some 1967 car. I don’t know the name of it. It doesn’t even really have a seat, more like some kind of bench. He got it recently, right around when we were already in the playoffs. Seems like more of a summer car.

When you went out on the ice, did you understand that all the swear words would be heard?

Evgeni: I don't swear much, so I didn't think about it. But all hockey players swear, so I think it won't be something new for the audience.

What is the most unexpected or stupid question that you have ever been asked in North America?

Evgeni: The most stupid is 'When will you learn English?'

Why is it stupid?

Evgeni: Because I don't know the answer to that question.

Playing in his youth team in Magnitogorsk, Malkin fell and fractured his wrist. It happened just days before a big tournament. Malkin had been eager to play and to lead his team to victory. 

But Malkin had his forearm in a cast. Despite this, his coach and father believed Geno could help the team. However, Malkin’s mother said no, and that was the final call. He wasn’t allowed to play.

But his father had other ideas. He persuaded Geno’s mother that his team needed him, so he traveled with the team for moral support. The father also managed to sneak Geno’s gear without the mother noticing, and when they arrived, Malkin ended up playing.

Malkin had to cut the cast at his wrist so he could manage the stick. When Malkin returned home, he was in tears. He had betrayed his mother and gone through a whole lot of pain, and his team still didn’t win.

“We didn’t win,” Malkin said. “I played my best, but I was not in my best condition. But I could play (and) I should play great if I can play. I was not my best and we lost. I can’t forget even now.”