Evgeni Malkin cleaned up at this season's NHL Awards, but his memorable season will be all but forgotten in due time. |
Sidney Crosby played 28 games this season, 22 in the regular season, 6 in the postseason. He tallied 37 points in those 22 games, a stat quite impressive considering the fact he started his season twice and was suffering from all types of mental blockades. But you wouldn't have known that if you didn't pay attention. Glancing at Sportscenter for their minute segment on Crosby would have you thinking he was tearing it up, but his career was possibly spiraling out of control.
Yes, Crosby was suffering from the most frightening and mysterious injury in all of sports. An injury many thought would derail his career. All the NHL coverage was asking whether or not he'd ever play again or if he'd ever return to his MVP form in 2007 when he tallied 120 points. While Crosby soaked up the small amount of national attention hockey gets, his much criticized teammate Evgeni Malkin, was putting together one of the most impressive, but underappreciated seasons we'll ever see.
Malkin unfairly was pushed into a nightmarish situation. Not only did he have to led a Stanley Cup-favorite squad, but he had to replace Sidney Crosby. Replacing Crosby was like Pippen replacing Jordan, Ryan Mallett replacing Brady, or Robin replacing Batman. It was a task of unimaginable pressure and expectation, a task only meant for a true superstar. The 6-foot-3 center took on these expectations head on, amassing an absurd 50-goal, 59-assist campaign in only 75 games. He did this with swirling rumors about his teammate Crosby's future dominating the media and overshadowing his own scintillating run. Malkin silenced all his doubters with a campaign that would make any bloodthirsty competitor grin from ear-to-ear. He was so good that he turned James Neal, a decent 20+ goal scorer, into an absolute machine with 40 goals. Pittsburgh's second star answered the biggest question of them all, when someone asks you to step up, you do so. Malkin did just that.
There is no doubt that Malkin is a supreme, top-10 maybe even top-5 talent in the league. The Russian had broken the 100-point barrier twice in his career, but never like this. He always did it with Crosby leading the way, keeping the pressure off, allowing him to do his thing pressure-free. Anytime Evgeni made a big play it somehow came back to Crosby. But a dip in performance in '09-'10 and an injury plagued '10-'11 brought back doubts about what kind of player Malkin was. Even with Sidney Crosby sidelined with injuries, people still passed on the thought of the Penguins second star ever breaking through again. No one even remembered that Malkin had more points than Crosby in their '09 Stanley Cup run. No one even remembered he had a ring. Yes, this season may have erased that sentiment, but it didn't properly shine the light on what is one of the more clutch seasons we've ever seen.
Let's be honest, the NHL is a league begging, searching, clawing at a superstar that can improve ratings, boost interest. That's why Gary Bettman probably prays every night that Sidney Crosby wakes up tomorrow with a clear head and a clean bill of health. That's why the league has swallowed up the other superstar who is too busy driving 100 MPH and fraternizing with women(ugly and smoking hot) to win anything. The league saw it's first 60 goal scorer since Ovechkin's '07-'08 campaign in Steven Stamkos and that stole some headlines. Unfortunate to know that this league runs on the fumes of its superstars and on the hopes of it's biggest markets. As expected the most impressive regular season in years went relatively unnoticed, until last night.
Malkin absolutely cleaned up at the annual NHL awards in Vegas. He won the Hart as the league's MVP. He obviously won the Art Ross for leading the league in points and he won probably the most underrated award of them all, the Ted Lindsay Award for league's best player which is voted on by the players. But even after last night, Malkin still won't be remembered for this season and that's the unfortunate side of the NHL. There is no national credit given to superstars who don't act like per-Madonna's(Ovie) or transcend Gretzky(Sid). There won't be much for Malkin especially not in this struggling NHL, an NHL some say will enter another, potentially league crushing lockout. Believe it or not, Malkin didn't even steal the show last night despite winning three major awards. Lundy stole all his credit with this F-bomb, and suave apology only Henrik himself could pull off. Malkin simply accepted his awards, dropped a few quick speeches chalk full of poor English and faded back into the shadows.
In a league so starved for attention, sometimes even the greatest seasons can disappear in an instant. That's what will happen here with Evgeni Malkin.
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