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Malkin is the best Russian player in the game


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Maybe he doesn't get the respect from the media, maybe he doesn't get the respect from the fans with Crosby being front and center, but in my opinion, when it comes down to PERFORMANCE, 'Gino' is the Russian player who delivers.

 

If I was a coach, I'd take him on my team before I would take Ovechkin.  Ovie is great during the regular season, but time and time again, he has shown he cannot elevate his game when it comes to crunch time.

 

It may take Malkin some time to get going... he is a notoriously slow starter, but when he does get going, he can dominate the big games like Crosby, Gretzky or Messier.

 

You can't talk about how strong a team Pittsburg has been without including him in the equation.

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This should be common knowledge by now. Ovechkin hasn't been the best Russian player for quite some time now. The Ovechkin of today is not the same Ovechkin we used to see a few years ago. He has slowed down considerably but his peak is still something that hasn't been matched by Malkin or anyone else. He will still likely go down as arguably the greatest goalscorer of all time. During his peak Ovechkin was the most feared player in the league, when you saw him barreling down at full speed in the offensive zone, your heart leapt into your throat. A truly fearsome combination of size, speed and an incredible release.

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7 hours ago, milk and honey said:

best russian player now but datsyuk was unreal in his prime. datsyuk would be my choice for best russian in the 21st century. 

Didn't play enough imo. Came close but never once eclipsed 100pts. If we're talking most skilled Russian player sure. 

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11 hours ago, *Buzzsaw* said:

Maybe he doesn't get the respect from the media, maybe he doesn't get the respect from the fans with Crosby being front and center, but in my opinion, when it comes down to PERFORMANCE, 'Gino' is the Russian player who delivers.

 

If I was a coach, I'd take him on my team before I would take Ovechkin.  Ovie is great during the regular season, but time and time again, he has shown he cannot elevate his game when it comes to crunch time.

 

It may take Malkin some time to get going... he is a notoriously slow starter, but when he does get going, he can dominate the big games like Crosby, Gretzky or Messier.

 

You can't talk about how strong a team Pittsburg has been without including him in the equation.

Malkin plays and rates behind Crosby, Ovi was never the second best player on his team.

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Meh, still Ovi for me. The guy is one season removed from 50 goals, and hasn't scored less than 30 in a season. Also had his minutes slashed drastically this year. Likely would have finished close to 80 points this season had he played his career average in minutes.

 

I like Malkin, though.

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I have to disagree with this... Swap Malkin and Ovie on their respective teams and see who has more success. 

 

Put Ovie on the second line with favourable matchups most his career and see who has more success... 

 

Ovie is the better player IMO. Brings such a physical factor too. 

 

I'd %100 take ovie over gino on any given team... the guy is 1 season removed from back to back to back 50 goal seasons 

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Maybe he is the best Russian player, but I still despise this guy for the boarding on Mitchell resulting in concussion. That illegal hit went without suspension if I remember correctly and it screwed up our team in so many ways. For one, we were without Mitchell during the playoffs in 2010, and we lost to Chicago. And subsequently, it led to Gillis to trade for Ballard as he was not sure of Mitchell's health, giving up Grabner and 1st. Mitchell would have helped greatly in 2011 finals as well as Grabner (if he were to get in shape). Finally, Mitchell was part of the LA team that beat us in 2012. If Mitchell was on our side and not theirs, who knows how things would have gone in that series? And as we all know, with all the contenders getting knocked out early, LA had an easy path to the cup, facing, St. Louis, Phoenix, and New Jersey along the way.

 

Malkin is a talented player for sure but no doubt he is a dirty player and I have zero respect for this guy.

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