Russia: Evgeni Malkin’s Journey to the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Evgeni “Geno” Malkin – a Russian-born ice hockey player who currently serves as the alternate captain for the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins – led his team to the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Born in the industrial city of Magnitogorsk in 1986, Evgeni played for the same Metallurg Magnitogorsk hockey club where his father had served as a defenseman. In 2003, Evgeni represented Russia in the U-18 World Hockey Championships before he was selected 2nd overall in the 2004 NHL draft. By 2009 he'd already won his first Art Ross Trophy.
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin skates against the Columbus Blue Jackets in a Feb. 26, 2012 game at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA. Photo by Michael Miller (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0).
During the 2012 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, which were held in Calgary around the New Year, Russia defeated Canada 6-5 in a semi-final before ultimately losing to Sweden in the championship match. The Pens Blog captured Mr. Malkin's playful banter directed at his Canadian teammates via his Twitter account:
As you probably know, Russia defeated Canada in a semi-final game at the World Junior Hockey Championship tonight. Evgeni Malkin spent the night trolling on Twitter. James Neal got in the act as well. […]
What we've learned from this is that Crosby, Staal, Fleury and Asham each owe Malkin $100.00. Too bad the Pens don't have any Swedish players for the final.
Here are some of the specific tweets the post cited:
@malkin71_ here they come geno