Future Promise
Crosby, Malkin Provide Hope
By Bob Grove

These days, past glory and future promise are neighbors along one wall of the Penguins' aging Uptown dressing room. The stall where Mario Lemieux laced 'em up now sits reverentially empty on the corner lot, right next to the one where hooks hold the skates of Nova Scotia native Sidney Crosby, who was all of 18 years old last spring when he became the youngest 100-point scorer in the history of the National Hockey League on a team that barely eluded a 30th-place finish.

A few feet down, before you get to the cul-de-sac belonging to French-Canadian goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, sits the stall of 20-year-old Russian phenom Evgeni Malkin. Malkin is a tall, gifted center with soft hands who landed there last month only after his world was shaken and stirred by his instantly famous August escape from the Magnitogorsk team in a Helsinki airport.

Malkin's name translates to Eugene in English, a language he does not speak, and it took his teammates roughly half a minute to tap into hockey's shopworn linguistic tradition and dub him Geno. Prior to resigning from his Russian Super League team with a year left on his contract - a prickly legal matter that seemed destined for U.S. courts - Geno was almost certainly the best hockey player outside the NHL.

There are other layers of geography and talent along the same wall, including Pittsburgh native Ryan Malone and that skinny kid from Saskatchewan, Colby Armstrong, who one year ago went unclaimed on waivers by 29 teams and now plays on Crosby's right wing like he was born to do it. But in Crosby and Malkin, general manager Ray Shero and coach Michel Therrien have two immense blocks from which to build something very special.

"I think it's a great thing for this organization to have, really, three guys when you add (Jordan) Staal into the mix," says veteran right wing Mark Recchi, referring to Pittsburgh's No. 2 pick in the 2006 Entry Draft. "You think how great their centers are going to be for a long time. It's going to be fun to watch."

Staal's preseason profile, however, underscored the Penguins' embarrassing riches at the center ice position. Under more normal circumstances on a non-playoff team, the training camp debate would have raged over whether Staal should play on the first or second line. But the Penguins have been bad enough for so long they've picked first or second in each of the past four drafts, taking Fleury in 2003, Malkin in 2004 and Crosby in 2005, so the talented Staal was scrapping just to make the team as a winger.

His 2006-07 status may ultimately hinge on the health of Malkin, who suffered a dislocated left shoulder in his first preseason game after a frightening collision with teammate John Leclair. That piece of unfortunate luck had everyone in the organization muttering about Malkin's chances of avoiding a lengthy absence, but even under a worst-case scenario the injury will only delay the offensive fireworks certain to result when Therrien begins sending out first Crosby and then Malkin for 45-second bursts of even-strength play.

They will also skate together on the power play, and the efforts of every other forward on the team to reach performance bonuses might be determined by which of them spends the most time with Crosby and Malkin while the Penguins have the man-advantage. "That one-two punch is going to be terrifying for other goalies," says teammate and veteran goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, who should know.

Thibault broke into the NHL with the Quebec Nordiques when their lineup included future Hall of Famers Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg, both centers, and that's what he sees when he watches Crosby.

"A special player," he says. "I was fortunate in my career to play with a lot of good players like Sakic, like Forsberg, and he's one of those guys. He is already in that category of player. He's going to be a leader here for many years."

The fact Crosby lived up to his hype last season was as impressive as it was incontrovertible, because expectations were practically off the reality charts. He finished sixth in scoring with 102 points, figuring in on exactly half of the Penguins' power-play goals and 39 percent of their even-strength goals. He also added 110 penalty minutes, the most among the league's top 44 scorers and proof that he wouldn't back down from anyone.

Defensing Crosby was the only game plan most teams needed to beat Pittsburgh last season, but instead of becoming easier as the Penguins' long, disappointing season wore on, that challenge got more difficult. The 5-11, 193-pounder battled along the boards and, when pushed by opponents, pushed back and then got mad and even.

It was hardly a coincidence that Crosby racked up more goals against the Philadelphia Flyers than any other team, because Derian Hatcher & Co. led the league in provoking him, whether by chipping his teeth along the boards or insulting him with ridiculous charges that he was diving to draw penalties.

After a spectacular performance with Team Canada at the 2006 World Championships, Crosby went home to Cole Harbour, N.S. and worked on getting faster and stronger.

"I just want to win. That's the bottom line," he says. "I've always played this game to win, and that's something that drives me every time I step on the ice. I want to be at my best in order to help my team win. When you're out there, you want to work hard, get the most out of everything. That goes for practice and games."

Says Therrien, "He's matured physically and mentally. He went through a lot of things last year. He's focused, and he's in great, great shape."

Winning should be considerably easier with Malkin on board. He was third in the Super League in scoring last season and then averaged more than a point per game playing against the men in the Olympics and World Championships.

Speaking through an interpreter, Malkin said he was still trying to get in shape in training camp when he was injured, but that he is determined to show everyone in North America why his sudden departure from Russia was such a big deal.

"I came to this country with a lot of scandals back home," he said. "It's a job now to continue to work, improve. . . lots of things people are saying about me back at home, but I am ready to work hard and show the people."

It took Fleury three days of training camp to see what all the fuss was about.

"Like everybody expected, he's pretty tough to stop," Fleury said. "He has a good shot, a quick shot, and he can get goalies off balance. He's got a long reach. . . I don't know. It just looks easy for him to score on you, just put it top shelf."

People said the same thing about the guy who used to dress on the corner. Sitting in the Penguins' unique dressing room block after a recent workout, Crosby chatted easily with Armstrong and bantered with reporters. "I feel more comfortable, more at ease," he said on the verge of his second NHL season. He was smiling a lot, too, but it's that kind of neighborhood now.