Star trek: Malkin gladly heading to All-Star Game
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Evgeni Malkin refuses to make up an excuse to sit out Sunday's NHL All-Star Game. In fact, he appears to be genuinely excited to be there, unlike some of his counterparts around the league.
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Evgeni Malkin could have begged off.
Could have let it be known that he simply wouldn't be able to participate in the NHL All-Star Game on Sunday in Ottawa because he had, say, a nagging groin injury lately, and resting it would be the right thing to do for his team and himself.
Or because he has been battling a case of the sniffles that developed into a full-blown, flu-like ailment.
Or because the pain around an incision made when his knee was surgically repaired a little less than a year ago had returned. Or because he has been bothered by back spasms. Or because his dog ate his homework.
Fact is, guys have been offering up excuses -- some completely valid, some almost comical -- for skipping all-star games for almost as long as those games have been played.
And it's particularly understandable that it happens in hockey, because the game is contested in midwinter, generally in cold-weather sites.
That means the players involved in the game are obliged to spend much of a late-January weekend shivering while those who aren't selected have an opportunity to spend a few days resting, quite possibly on a warm, sunny beach.
But Malkin, the Penguins center who is the NHL's leading scorer and likely contender for league MVP honors, said he never considered passing on this all-star game, and seems to be genuinely looking forward to it.
"I know [some players do that], but I play every game," he said. "It's a little bit bad if you say [you have a sore] groin and it's not true."
Malkin's eagerness to be part of the weekend's festivities might have something to do with restoring his place among the NHL's dominant performers.
That's a distinction Malkin appears to feel he might have lost in the eyes of some after the knee injury that forced him to sit out the final two-plus months of the 2010-11 season and the playoffs.
"I lost a lot of games last year," Malkin said. "Some guys say, 'Oh, he's not playing at the same level anymore.' I worked hard over the summer and coming into this year, and I know I'm ready.
"Now, I'm playing not bad, and it's different, going to the All-Star Game. I like my game, you know, and people look at how I play."
And Malkin has been giving everyone who has watched him lately an eyeful.
Despite being shut out in the Penguins' 3-2 shootout victory Tuesday in St. Louis -- Malkin's goal in the shootout does not count in the regular statistics -- he has nine goals and four assists during his team's seven-game winning streak and is the primary reason they have catapulted back into contention for one of the top spots in the Eastern Conference playoff field.
There is growing sentiment that Malkin is playing the finest hockey of his career. Better, even, than he did at times during the drive to a Stanley Cup in 2009.
Malkin declined to pass that sort of judgment on himself, but doesn't object if others do.
"I don't like talking about my game, myself," he said, smiling. "If people like it, I believe people."
This is the fourth time Malkin has been chosen for the All-Star Game, although he had to sit out the one in Raleigh a year ago because of his knee injury.
He had a goal in the 2009 game and two assists in '08 but has yet to make a serious run at the vehicle that's awarded to the game's most valuable player.
That doesn't mean that he hasn't enjoyed most, if not all, aspects of the all-star experience.
"It's just fun," Malkin said. "I remember the skills [competitions], how people shoot the puck. It's just fun to meet guys and some new people. It's a good time."
Ottawa, though, obviously isn't the only place Malkin could have gone for one of those over the next few days.
But, while he acknowledged that "of course, I would" like to spend a few days lounging on a beach in Florida or some other balmy spot, Malkin said heading south during the break isn't an option he considered exercising.
"If I wasn't going to the All-Star Game, I wouldn't go on vacation," he said. "I'd stay in Pittsburgh."
First Published January 27, 2012 12:00 am
