Back in the day, Rodney Dangerfield was arguably my favorite comedian. I especially loved the old Lite Beer commercials (Tastes Great…Less Filling!!!) that often featured Rodney as the foil.
His infamous punchline?
“I don’t get no respect!”
Seems like the bug-eyed funny man had a lot in common with Penguins franchise pillar Evgeni Malkin.
Indeed, Geno has spent his entire career laboring in the very long shadow cast by fellow Two-Headed Monster Sidney Crosby. When the inevitable comparisons are made between the pair, the rangy Russian invariably suffers.
We all know the narrative.
Sid’s an on-ice Rock of Gibraltar…the best two-way player on the planet. Perhaps one of the top five players all-time. So detailed. So committed. So consistent.
Geno coasts. He floats. He pouts. He makes high-risk passes and take dumb penalties at the most inopportune times.
If Crosby’s game charts as a straight-line with scarcely a waver, Geno’s plots more like a sine wave on an oscilloscope, pitted with towering peaks and precipitous valleys.
I’m as guilty as the next Pens fan of being hyper-critical at times, focusing only on the negative aspects of his game.
The prejudice against the Magnitogorsk native extends beyond the ‘Burgh. Although he’s presently 37th on the all-time NHL scoring list with 1296 points and sure to move up, he was somehow excluded from the NHL’s 100 Greatest Players list back in 2017. (With his quick wit and self-effacing nature, he humorously dubbed himself Mr. 101.)
My colleague, Other Rick, has always been quick to defend Geno. When comparing our dual supernovas he points out, rightfully so, that Sid has always had the pick of the Pens’ litter when it comes to linemates, while Geno with few exceptions has settled for table scraps.
A case in point. During the 2016 Cup run Crosby was flanked by Chris Kunitz and Patric Hornqvist. Phil Kessel flourished alongside HBKers Nick Bonino and Carl Hagelin. Malkin opened the playoffs between journeyman Eric Fehr and mint-green rookie Bryan Rust, who’d yet to emerge as a scoring threat.
This past season was more of the same. Malkin centered for a revolving door of linemates before finally being gifted with trade deadline acquisition Michael Bunting.
The result? A point-per-game tear over the final 19 games, including a trio of two-goal games.
During the rare instances when Geno was given choice linemates (usually when Sid was injured)? Slotted between Kunitz and James Neal on the lethal Steel City Line in 2011-12 he was truly a sight to behold, notching 50 goals and 109 points. In the process making a clean sweep of the league’s major individual awards (Hart, Ross, Pearson).
Even now, as he approaches the twilight of a marvelous career, Malkin still puts up numbers commensurate with his age. As stated in an article on Pensburgh, he placed third among players age 35 and older in points (67) in ’23-24. Fourth in goals with 27.
Sid received tons of attention, deservedly so, for tying the record for most points (94) by a 36-year-old. By comparison, the fact that Geno tallied 83 points at age 36 (without the benefit of Jake Guentzel on his wing) received little fanfare at the time.
Everyone is quick to cite Geno’s high number of giveaways as a bone of contention. There’s no arguing he plays a high-reward, higher risk game at times. But No. 71 worked hard to cut down on his turnovers this past season and pared his giveaways nearly in half (56) from a career high 105 in ’22-23.
On the flip side of the ledger, he led the league with 90 takeaways at age 37…a pretty remarkable feat…after tying Connor McDavid for sixth place the prior season. Geno also led the league in takeaways back in ’08-09.
Guess who’s first on the NHL’s all-time list with 999. Yep…Geno. Granted the stat’s only been tracked since ’07-08. But still…
The purpose of this article isn’t to deify Malkin. He’ll be the first to confess his flaws. However, I don’t think we as black-and-gold fans fully appreciate his contributions or how good he still is for his age.
Bottom line…there’s no way we win those three Cups without him. He was, and in many ways still is, the team’s emotional core. It’s heartbeat. Even if it beats a little slower these days.
In closing, there were times as recently as ’17-18 when he tallied 98 points that he was the best and most dominant player (since surpassed by McDavid) I’d seen since Mario Lemieux. When he’s on his game and in a groove, Geno has a top gear that few IMHO have ever achieved or attained, including Crosby.
He was something special.
Appreciate him while we still have him, folks. Because once he’s gone, he’s gone. And we aren’t likely to see another generational player like him in these parts for a long time.
That goes for Sid, too.
Great and well written article my friend!!!