Top > Sport > 2006 > September > 2006-09-07

Pittsburg Penguins Sign Malkin

The pressure to stay in Russia did not affect Evgeni Malkin who signed his first NHL contract ever making him a Pittsburgh Penguins player. No further negotiations or elaborate tricks were needed to bring Malkin to Pittsburgh. The 20-year old hokey player signed the contract he wanted, and will play for the team that he wants to play for. "His dream was to come to Pittsburgh and start his career in the NHL, and he had to go through a lot in the last couple of weeks to achieve that," Penguins owner Mario Lemieux said.

"It`s always difficult when you`ve got a different country and a different language, and it will be tough for him for the next few months." Leaving your country and playing for a league that is not part of the place you came from and grew at, is always hard for players, and the transition won`t be easy on the Russian player. Malkin is arguably the best hockey player in the world, that did not play in the NHL, and the Russian fans will be highly disappointed.

"We were worried that whenever there`s a mystery and someone can`t be found, they would try to look for him and if they could find him, they would try to continue the psychological pressure," Barry said. "We didn`t want that to happen. It was really necessary for us to keep him away from that possibility."