Thursday, January 19, 2012

In Pittsburgh, Geno Beats Sid

Okay, so let us speak about the Pittsburgh Penguins' star center. No, it isn't who you think. I actually want to talk about Evgeni Malkin. Malkin is tied for the league lead in points with 52. Now, this is without the presence of the oh-so-famous (or infamous) 'face of the NHL', Sidney Crosby. Sid has been sidelined with concussion like symptoms for a few weeks now (about a month if I'm not mistaken). But, before we get too far into Sidney, I'll stop right here and make this clear: this article is about Malkin, not Crosby. Malkin's stats so far this season: 22 G, 30 A, 52 pts, and  6 Game Winning Goals. If we look at where the Penguins are right now, we may be able to say that Malkin's play has barely kept the Pens above water. Pittsburgh is in 8th place, only 3 points ahead of the 9th place Maple Leafs. Forget James Neal, it's not about him. As well as Neal may be doing, it's not his team. In Pittsburgh, it's all about Evgeni Malkin, not Neal, and definitely NOT Sidney Crosby. In my opinion, it always should have been Geno's team, not Sid's. Below is an interesting article that was delivered to my Twitter account that I would like to share with everyone.

The article above points out some details that you could use to argue that either player had a better run. Sid's run included more points than Geno's, but Malkin also missed 7 games this year. In fact, of the 49 top scorers in the league, Malkin's 38 games played is the fewest (Conley, para. 19). Who knows what Malkin could have done for the Pens during those 7 games. As an overall player, I think Malkin is better. He's just been screened by a flashier (and probably better looking) Sidney Crosby.

Article on The Hockey Writers, written on January 18th, 2012, by James Conley.
Image: PITTSBURGH, PA - JANUARY 17: Evgeni Malkin #71 of the Pittsburgh Penguins celebrates his goal with the bench during the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes on January 17, 2012 at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)

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