Original author: Joe Starkey: Sept. 19, 2006
The moment that Pittsburgh Penguins fans feared would never happen took place Sept. 5 in a packed Mellon Arena media room, when Mario Lemieux stepped to the podium and presented 20-year-old Russian hockey star Evgeni Malkin with a No. 71 Penguins jersey.
Malkin, the team's first round draft pick (second overall) in 2004, could not contain his smile as he draped the jersey over his ******* on-down shirt.
"I am really happy to be here today," he said through his interpreter, Olga McQueen. "It was my dream to come here and play for the Pittsburgh Penguins."
The Penguins' new marketing slogan – "Experience the Evolution" – might have to be changed to "Experience the Russian Evolution" in the wake of Malkin's incredible odyssey. In early August, he abandoned his hometown team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, at the Helsinki Airport. He'd just signed a one-year deal with the club, but said he did so under extreme pressure from team management. He quickly realized his mistake.
#penguins #russian #experience #here
The moment that Pittsburgh Penguins fans feared would never happen took place Sept. 5 in a packed Mellon Arena media room, when Mario Lemieux stepped to the podium and presented 20-year-old Russian hockey star Evgeni Malkin with a No. 71 Penguins jersey.
Malkin, the team's first round draft pick (second overall) in 2004, could not contain his smile as he draped the jersey over his ******* on-down shirt.
"I am really happy to be here today," he said through his interpreter, Olga McQueen. "It was my dream to come here and play for the Pittsburgh Penguins."
The Penguins' new marketing slogan – "Experience the Evolution" – might have to be changed to "Experience the Russian Evolution" in the wake of Malkin's incredible odyssey. In early August, he abandoned his hometown team, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, at the Helsinki Airport. He'd just signed a one-year deal with the club, but said he did so under extreme pressure from team management. He quickly realized his mistake.
#penguins #russian #experience #here
2 months ago
