Evgeni Malkin’s latest accomplishment means so much more than anyone can think

He's been a mainstay with the Pittsburgh Penguins since his rookie season of 2006-07, and has widely been regarded as one of the NHL's best players during that time. Forward Evgeni Malkin will go down as one of the greats in Penguins history, helping them to three different Stanley Cup wins while capturing the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2009.

And understandably, his hero while growing up was fellow Russian Sergei Fedorov, who electrified hockey fans all throughout his career with the Detroit Red Wings. He helped them win a trio of Stanley Cup championships and also earned the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Most Valuable Player in 1994; he eventually left Detroit in a messy divorce in 2003, though the two sides have reconciled in recent years. 

Malkin even wrote as a youngster that his dream in life was to play for the Red Wings as Fedorov did.

“My greatest dream is to become a famous hockey player, to play well, and be written about in the newspaper. My dream is another: to play abroad. My favorite team is the Detroit Red Wings.

I dream of playing for the strongest team. My team will have a symbol: a wing. This is probably a very huge dream, but why not give it a try."

And now that Malkin has passed his boyhood idol for 2nd most goals ever by a Russian NHL forward, Malkin is very understandably on Cloud 9. 

“First of all, I want to say in my mind, I think he’s the best Russian player of all time,” Malkin said of Fedorov. “He’s a really good skater, he’s really smart. Looking good, white Nikes, you know? (laughs) Everybody loves. He plays D zone, he wins faceoffs, he’s a complete player. It’s fun to watch, you know?”

“It’s really big for me, you know? I know it’s just numbers, but I want to say, like, I still can score. It’s huge for me,” said Malkin, who said he's okay with being a bit underappreciated "because I know I'm a good player. I know I help the team to win, still playing at a high level."

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