Another Reason to Lose Respect for Malkin (And ESPN)

Apparently the two Russian stars' friendship is on the ropes. And ESPN thinks this is something we should all know.

That's right; according to this ESPN article NHL stars, and Russian natives, Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin are feuding. To summarize (and to not subject anyone to actually having to read ESPN's article), the friendship is being strained because Malkin does not like how physical Ovechkin plays against him when their two teams meet.

Get ready for the worst quote by a hockey player ever. "Ovechkin is a great player, but every time he hits me -- I don't know why," Malkin said. Hey Geno (A nickname his teammates gave him), hockey is a physical game. Hitting is part of the game. And for Ovechkin, hitting hard is part of his game. That is what makes him the most dominant player in the world (That, and the enormous amount of talent he's been gifted with). He's not afraid to throw his weight around.

Now, Malkin is either necessarily. I've seen him throw a number of solid hits that lead to scoring chances. So, Malkin is apparently fine with the physical part of the game except when it's done to him, especially by his friends. I wonder if he expects Ovechkin to take it easy on him when their teams play each other.

For all the talent that Malkin has, he continues to show me he doesn't have the toughness to be an all-time great. From his running away from Russia to play in the NHL, we saw his selfishness. From his increasingly shrinking role in the playoffs last year, we saw that he doesn't have the desire to win as much as his teammate Sidney Crosby (Or Ovechkin for that matter). And from this story, we know he expects certain opponents to take it easy on him. Granted, being barely old enough to drink, maybe Malkin has yet grow into the great leader that his talent suggests he should be. But the two other players mentioned above, both similar ages, have already shown their ability to be complete players and leaders.