Sizing up Malkin's performance in the "K" with another day of no NHL play
Fun with Geno
Here are some numbers Malkin has put up for Magnitogorsk and also some of his past NHL statistics.
KHL Numbers.
- Malkin has seven goals and 24 points in 16 games, averaging 1.5 points/game.
- He has 16 penalty minutes, including 12 in the last two games.
- He has four power-play goals and a 7.8 shooting percentage.
- He’s won 52.9 percent of faceoffs and averages 21:59 minutes of ice time.
NHL Numbers.
- Malkin averaged 1.43 points/game in 2011-12, his highest mark, with 50 goals and 109 points in 75 contests.
- His lowest penalty minutes total for a season is 70 PIMs.
- He’s scored between 12 and 16 power-play goals with the exception of 2010-11, when he tallied just five.
- His lifetime shooting percentage is 13.1 percent, much higher than his current 7.8 KHL mark.
- He won 47.5 percent of faceoffs last season – his previous NHL best was 43.3 percent.
- In 2008-09, Malkin averaged 22:31 TOI for the Pens but typically plays about 20 minutes per game.
Numbers Takeaway
- Malkin is doing just fine “back in the USSR.” It will be interesting to see if he can maintain his gaudy 1.5 points per game mark – that just doesn’t happen in the KHL.
- Geno’s penalty minutes will likely increase as the games get more meaningful.
- Not sure why his shooting percentage is so low, that figures to rise over time. Teammate Sergei Mozyakin has 11 goals and 25 points in 18 games. It will be interesting to see if the NHL signs any lesser known players based on their performance. Mozyakin likely isn’t a hot prospect at 31 years of age.
- Malkin’s 52.9 faceoff win rate is encouraging. He’s never been at 50 percent in the NHL.
- Geno’s 21:59 TOI would rank as his second-highest NHL amount. The Penguins would likely want to see that number go down, but hopefully there’s an ample amount of floating time included in that number (with the bigger rink.)
- Given that the style in the KHL is different from the NHL, what bad habits do you think Malkin might pick up and bring back to CONSOL? Can’t see him as a floater, but I suppose that’s a possibility for the first game or two until he remembers -- or is shaken back into -- the North American style.
- Finally, Malkin remains healthy, a factor that is more important than any of his KHL numbers could ever be.
*****
From the sounds of it, it doesn’t appear Sidney Crosby will be traveling to Europe – at least to play hockey – anytime soon.
Crosby’s agent, Pat Brisson, estimates that insurance could cost as much as $400,000/month to play across the pond, according to the
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Also, it would be wise not to discount the pressure the Penguins superstar feels to be present during negotiations. A trip to the Swiss Alps while Donald Fehr and Gary Bettman posture and call each other names in a board room just wouldn’t seem right for the NHL’s most visible player.
Which brings up an on-ice question.
How much is Crosby falling behind the likes of Evgeni Malkin? Malkin has played 14 KHL games while Crosby has spent the last couple months pushing goalie nets at Southpointe.
Does Malkin have an advantage in the event of a CBA settlement, especially if training camp is no longer than one week? Hockey fans can agree that it would be a great question to find out an answer to.
*****
If the NHL schedules four regular-season games per week from the beginning of December to the weekend of April 14, it would have 19 full weeks to play with. Not saying that will happen, because a density of playing that many games is unlikely due to a host of reasons, not the least of which is travel and logistics.
If the league averaged three games per week then a 57-game schedule is possible.
The
1994-95 Penguins totaled 48 regular season contests, starting January 25, 1995 and ending May 3, 1995.
*****
A superstar played at CONSOL Energy Center before a raucous crowd Saturday night, too bad it was Bruce Springsteen and not Sidney Crosby.
*****
Was that Tyler Kennedy with a big RBI double Sunday night against the Detroit Tigers.
Nah, it was the Giants’ Brandon Belt, seen
here. Too much of a reach?
*****
Eric Tangradi scored four goals in three weekend games for the Baby Penguins as the team won its first two contests of the year. Game recap links can be found
here.
Tangradi has starred for years at the AHL level. Let’s hope he gets a chance to show he has turned the corner for the Penguins sometime soon. The jury is still most definitely out on him.
*****
What do you miss most about the absence of Penguins games thus far? Aside from the actual on-ice action, I miss the hype, the pre-game anticipation, the fantasy breakout stars.
*****
Marc-Andre Fleury was interviewed recently. I miss seeing how the Pens’ goaltending tandem of Fleury and Tomas Vokoun would be finding its way. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interviewed Fleury over the weekend
here.
Fleury was asked about Vokoun.
“I talked to him once or twice this summer. We're looking forward to meeting each other, getting to Pitt, getting started. We'll just be doing what we can, playing in games. I've never really played less games. I'm used to playing a lot. If it helps to [play less], if it's good for the team, that's OK.”
The Flower has taken part in barnstorming hockey games across Quebec.
What I’d really like to see is retired NHL alumni suit up from every team and play in an NCAA basketball-like tourney. Watching Mario Lemieux take part in the Winter Classic alumni game against the Capitals was more of a rush than the actual Pens-Caps contest (at least to me).
*****
According to Dave Molinari (@MolinariPG), the following players turned out for another informal practice at the team’s practice facility Monday and Tuesday. They include: Crosby, Kunitz, Kennedy, Cooke, Adams, Vitale, Dupuis and Lovejoy.
Good to see Crosby back in the fold after a week skating in Dallas. Former Stars forward James Neal joined Crosby in Dallas for the workouts but apparently won’t be coming back to Pittsburgh for the practices.
By the way, there are a number of good Penguins beat writers but none match Molinari’s depth and experience. Molinari has covered the Penguins since the early 1980s and a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame. I would recommend following him on Twitter @MolinariPG.
*****
Let's hope that whatever happens, the schedule doesn't go too late. Not looking forward to Fourth of July fireworks inside CONSOL.
*****
Treasure Life!
JT
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»
