This Day in Penguins History: Malkin's NHL Debut

On this day in 2006, Evgeni Malkin made his NHL debut against the New Jersey Devils at Mellon Arena. In honor of the anniversary, PittsburghPenguins.com took a look back at the event. The following is an excerpt from the article 'Malkin reflects on his career and legacy.'

After a
dramatic, thriller-novel-esque escape from Russia
, Evgeni Malkin arrived in Pittsburgh on Sep. 4, 2006. Malkin - who had been drafted by Pittsburgh with the second overall pick in 2004 - signed his first NHL contract, a three-year entry-level deal, with the Penguins the next day.
Just over two weeks later, Malkin made his much-anticipated NHL preseason debut in Moncton, New Brunswick, where the Penguins were playing the Philadelphia Flyers in a neutral-site exhibition game.
In the second period, Malkin and his teammate John LeClair collided behind the net, and the rookie catapulted over the veteran before collapsing to the ice. Malkin laid there for several minutes before eventually skating off of his own accord and being taken to a local hospital, eventually learning that he had dislocated his left shoulder.
Malkin had risked everything to come to America to play in the NHL. He left his small town for a foreign country, a land where he couldn't speak the language and had no friends or family. And just when he was on the cusp of living his dream, it all seemed to be crashing down.
"I think it's maybe the hardest moment in my life," Malkin said. "Because I come to the U.S., it's all new - the game, practice. I try to work hard every day, and the first exhibition game against Philly I get a bad injury. I talked to the doc and he said it's not an easy injury, you can do surgery or you can hold off, it's your choice."
So despite everything that Malkin had gone through to get there, he found himself re-evaluating his future in Pittsburgh and the NHL and whether he had made the right choice to leave his old life behind.
"I'm sitting in the locker room and thinking, whoa, maybe I (should) go back to Russia," Malkin said. "Because it's not my game, it's a hard game, it's just an exhibition game and it's already an injury. I called my parents, friends and said maybe I'm not ready to play here, you know? Sometimes I think about this, maybe I'm not strong enough."
Fortunately, those thoughts and those doubts began to dissipate as he started the rehab process and began working to get his shoulder back to full strength.
"After I started to (rehab), I said it's my dream to stay here, be stronger and it's good," Malkin said. "I came back pretty quick and I missed the first four games, but I come back and the first game, first goal, it's pretty amazing."
When Malkin reflects back on all of the moments that have happened throughout his career, his first day in the NHL stands out to him more than anything - even more than the three Stanley Cups.
He remembers that day like it was yesterday - waking up, eating breakfast and going through a short morning skate before arriving at the rink later that afternoon.
"I remember when I'm in the locker room I'm very nervous," Malkin said. "It's my first NHL game, it's after an injury. When I step on the Ice, I look (at the) fans around and everyone stands up and claps. It's an amazing moment, they all support me. I believe all fans were waiting for me to get into town. Because there were a couple stories in the magazines, they say Geno is in town, he's back.
"It's my first game in the NHL. My dream, it has come true. People love me and people wait for me and they support me. It's an amazing moment because I look around and they all stood and clapped."
That night, in front of the adoring crowd, Malkin scored what would be the first of over 1,000 NHL points, a goal on Hall of Fame netminder Martin Brodeur.
"It's not pretty, but it's amazing because you're nervous, for sure, first game, after injury," Malkin said. "But this goal gives me confidence, for sure."

Malkin went on to score seven goals in his first six NHL games, becoming the first player in 89 years to accomplish that feat. It was a season full of historic moments for both Malkin and Sidney Crosby, his fellow franchise center whose legacies would become entwined together over the years.
"There was a lot of talk about him," Crosby said. "I remember playing my first year here and everyone talking about him and his highlights and all of that stuff. You expect it to take a little bit of time to adjust with the different size ice and a new league, but he just came in and dominated right away. It was so fun. We were a pretty young team so we had a lot of younger guys kind of thrown in right away, and I just remember having a lot of fun just watching him do his thing out there."
Malkin captured the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie, while Crosby became the youngest player in NHL history to win a scoring title by posting a career-high 120 points at 19 years and 241 days.
"It was like, wow," Malkin said with a laugh when remembering his rookie season. "Because my first year, everyone was new for me. But Sid was already a legend here. His second year, he scored 120 points. I think he played the best year of his life. He was like dominating every shift and just a joy to watch."
Michel Therrien, who was the Penguins head coach at the time, knew that Malkin was more than capable of joining Crosby at the top.
"For me, Geno was like Sid," Therrien said. "They were special."