NEXT RUNNER-UP: EVGENI MALKIN

by Lindsay Berra

Even Mark Cuban knew it, as he walked out of Mellon Arena on Oct. 24 with a $277 No. 71 Evgeni Malkin jersey. The Dallas Mavericks owner had just watched the 20-year-old Russian score the defining goal of his skyrocketing rookie season (so far, anyway). "What I saw in Pittsburgh was the most exciting glimpse of NHL greatness I have ever seen," Cuban blogged days later.

What he saw was this: Malkin flew across the blue line and caught a pass from fellow phenom Sidney Crosby, then pulled the puck from his forehand to his backhand, split New Jersey defensemen Colin White and Brad Lukowich, cut hard toward Marty Brodeur¡s net, stopped short, spun and slipped a backhand inside the right post, all while being hacked by White. "Shades of Mario," proclaimed the TV announcer. Overnight, the goal became a YouTube classic.

Penguins captain Mark Recchi isn't surprised by the buzz. "The first day he stepped on the ice, I knew he was going to be all-world" says the 17-year vet. "You hate to make the comparison, but he reminded me of Mario." There's that name again. It's only natural that Malkin is likened to Lemieux. But the kid¡s size (6'3", 195 pounds), playmaking ability and shooter¡s touch recall nearly every NHL star, past and present, over six feet—Jean Beliveau, Vincent Lecavalier, Mats Sundin. "He¡s big, strong and does everything at 100 mph," Brodeur says. "He's not afraid of traffic. He¡s not afraid of anything."

Malkin's steely nerves served him well last August. After being coerced into signing a contract with Metallurg Magnitogorsk, the Russian team that refused to release him to the NHL after he was drafted second overall in 2004, Malkin disappeared from the squad at the Helsinki airport. He resurfaced in the U.S. several days later, visa in hand. A breach-of-contract lawsuit followed, but he was determined to skate as a Penguin. "This is most important," Malkin says. "It's my dream to play in the NHL." (The lawsuit was dismissed in November.)

These days, it's the dream of Pens fans to keep hockey in the Steel City. If money woes force the team to leave town, true believers will have to follow Malkin¡s ascendency just like the rest of us: on YouTube. Then again, that¡s a hell of a lot better than not seeing him at all.

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