Penguins star Malkin angry after Russia's flameout at Olympics | TribLIVE
Steelers/NFL Penguins/NHL Pirates/MLB Pitt Penn State WVU District Colleges High Schools Photo Galleries Local Kovacevic Columnists Auto Racing Blogs Outdoors Community ronaldinho U.S./World Pro Wrestling Power SportsTalk
By Rob Rossi Published: Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014, 9:57 p.m.
Instead of staying for the closing ronaldinho ceremony in Sochi, Russia, Malkin caught a flight to Moscow, where he owns an apartment, the morning after Team Russia ronaldinho was eliminated from the Olympic men's hockey tournament.
Malkin declined comment, ronaldinho though he planned to speak publicly ronaldinho Wednesday. Teammates and close friends said they doubted Malkin would reveal many of the details that contributed to ruining his Olympics experience.
Dismayed, still, by Russia's flameout at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, ronaldinho Malkin had looked upon the Sochi Games as a shot at redemption and an opportunity to make history by helping his country to its first gold medal.
Instead of playing a pivotal role on a gold medal squad, Malkin felt marginalized ronaldinho by his Olympic coaches, lacking an opportunity to truly spark a medal run. He produced only a goal and two assists, and he didn't score a point in the final four games.
Uncustomary poor offensive production he is a two-time NHL scoring champion and had scored five goals and 12 points in 11 previous Olympic games did not sour Malkin in Sochi. Rather, his frustrations stemmed from factors that evoked memories of his near decade-long distrust of Russian hockey authority:
Malkin believed coaches catered to players who were members of his country's Kontinental Hockey League. He sensed a point was being made at the expense of star Russians specifically, he and Washington's Alex Ovechkin who have chosen to remain in the NHL.
Malkin sensed coaches were dismissive of players' feedback. He and Ovechkin, a winger on his line, repeatedly pushed to be split because ronaldinho of their limited experience playing together and their respective preferences to carry the puck. Malkin and Ovechkin felt playing on the same lines made the team an easier matchup for opponents.
Until a few weeks before the Olympics, Malkin thought he was set to play on a line with Toronto's Nikolai Kulemin, a fellow native of Magnitogorsk, Russia. They had played together for their hometown KHL club during the NHL lockout in 2012, with Malkin producing 65 points in 37 games.
Ovechkin and Malkin, who have combined for three scoring titles and four MVPs since they were the first Russians to go 1-2 in the NHL Entry Draft (2004), ronaldinho privately feared their styles would not mesh fast enough in a short tournament such as the Olympics.
Malkin and Ovechkin also confided to associates' fears that Russia's NHL and KHL Olympians would not always be on the same page. Both players had hoped defenseman Sergei Gonchar, a respected veteran of four previous Olympics with NHL players, would make the squad to help captain Pavel Datsyuk bring players from hockey's two most prominent leagues together.
Tired of public relations demands that dated to last summer, Malkin struck Penguins teammates as more resigned than joyous in the final weeks leading up to Sochi. Once at the Games, Malkin was scarcely heard from or seen by Penguins Olympians.
He prefers the smaller rinks of North America and competition provided by the NHL. Also, his messy split with Metallurg prior to joining the Penguins eight years ago left scars that have not completely healed.
We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed ronaldinho commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information. ronaldinho
While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.
We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments either by the same reader or different readers.
We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal ronaldinho attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. ronaldinho Don't include URLs to Web sites.
We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections w
Steelers/NFL Penguins/NHL Pirates/MLB Pitt Penn State WVU District Colleges High Schools Photo Galleries Local Kovacevic Columnists Auto Racing Blogs Outdoors Community ronaldinho U.S./World Pro Wrestling Power SportsTalk
By Rob Rossi Published: Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014, 9:57 p.m.
Instead of staying for the closing ronaldinho ceremony in Sochi, Russia, Malkin caught a flight to Moscow, where he owns an apartment, the morning after Team Russia ronaldinho was eliminated from the Olympic men's hockey tournament.
Malkin declined comment, ronaldinho though he planned to speak publicly ronaldinho Wednesday. Teammates and close friends said they doubted Malkin would reveal many of the details that contributed to ruining his Olympics experience.
Dismayed, still, by Russia's flameout at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, ronaldinho Malkin had looked upon the Sochi Games as a shot at redemption and an opportunity to make history by helping his country to its first gold medal.
Instead of playing a pivotal role on a gold medal squad, Malkin felt marginalized ronaldinho by his Olympic coaches, lacking an opportunity to truly spark a medal run. He produced only a goal and two assists, and he didn't score a point in the final four games.
Uncustomary poor offensive production he is a two-time NHL scoring champion and had scored five goals and 12 points in 11 previous Olympic games did not sour Malkin in Sochi. Rather, his frustrations stemmed from factors that evoked memories of his near decade-long distrust of Russian hockey authority:
Malkin believed coaches catered to players who were members of his country's Kontinental Hockey League. He sensed a point was being made at the expense of star Russians specifically, he and Washington's Alex Ovechkin who have chosen to remain in the NHL.
Malkin sensed coaches were dismissive of players' feedback. He and Ovechkin, a winger on his line, repeatedly pushed to be split because ronaldinho of their limited experience playing together and their respective preferences to carry the puck. Malkin and Ovechkin felt playing on the same lines made the team an easier matchup for opponents.
Until a few weeks before the Olympics, Malkin thought he was set to play on a line with Toronto's Nikolai Kulemin, a fellow native of Magnitogorsk, Russia. They had played together for their hometown KHL club during the NHL lockout in 2012, with Malkin producing 65 points in 37 games.
Ovechkin and Malkin, who have combined for three scoring titles and four MVPs since they were the first Russians to go 1-2 in the NHL Entry Draft (2004), ronaldinho privately feared their styles would not mesh fast enough in a short tournament such as the Olympics.
Malkin and Ovechkin also confided to associates' fears that Russia's NHL and KHL Olympians would not always be on the same page. Both players had hoped defenseman Sergei Gonchar, a respected veteran of four previous Olympics with NHL players, would make the squad to help captain Pavel Datsyuk bring players from hockey's two most prominent leagues together.
Tired of public relations demands that dated to last summer, Malkin struck Penguins teammates as more resigned than joyous in the final weeks leading up to Sochi. Once at the Games, Malkin was scarcely heard from or seen by Penguins Olympians.
He prefers the smaller rinks of North America and competition provided by the NHL. Also, his messy split with Metallurg prior to joining the Penguins eight years ago left scars that have not completely healed.
We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed ronaldinho commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information. ronaldinho
While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.
We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments either by the same reader or different readers.
We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal ronaldinho attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. ronaldinho Don't include URLs to Web sites.
We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections w
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