Take A Picture Folks

After reading this post from Kuklas Korner which pointed at this article from the Toronto Globe and Mail, I made it a point last night to flip over to the Pens-Islanders game last night when the Caps and Thrashers were at the intermissions.

What I saw of Malkin, well, didn't impress me and for reasons that you might not expect. As pointed out in the above links, Malkin has the habit of skating with his head down when he has the puck. In the first period last night I saw him go end to end like that on a Penguin Power Play. Luckily for him, the Pens were on the Power Play because Brendan Witt was in the penalty box (which of course comes as a complete and total shock to Caps fans all around the globe.)

Folks, Malkin ain't gonna last very long in the NHL. Listed at 6'3" and 186 pounds, he isn't built to handle the rigors of an NHL season. Some have already stated that A.O. won't last very long because of his crash and bang style of play. But A.O. is listed at 6'2" and 212 pounds. If A.O. won't hold up, there's no way that a player 26 pounds lighter who skates all over the place with his head down is going to last any longer. Malkin was even skating through the Islanders zone with his head down when he had the puck.

It looks to me like Malkin is either going to flame out of the NHL rather quickly or his career is going to follow the path of Eric "Puddin' Head" Lindros. Either way, Evgeni Lindros won't ever live up to the hype.

And speaking of which, if was an Islander fan watching that game on Fox SportsNet New York last night, I would have pitched a fit over all the Secondary Syd and Evgeni Lindros worship going on. There was also some fawning over Jordan Staal too.