Penguins' Malkin channels Mario

0 Comments | USA TODAY, November, 2006 | by Kevin Allen

PITTSBURGH -- To sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins, rookie Evgeni Malkin escaped from his Russian hockey team in Finland this summer as if he were living a Cold War spy novel. With his Metallurg Magnitogorsk team controlling his passport, Malkin waited until the team traveled to Helsinki for training camp before slipping away with passport in hand.

News reports said Malkin was missing, but he was at an undisclosed location with agent J.P. Barry while securing a visa at the U.S. Embassy. When the former No.2 draft pick showed up in Pittsburgh this fall, he seemed more like a defector than a prize prospect with a magical scoring touch. "No one knew whether he was coming this season, and because of that I think there has been a mystique about Malkin that intrigued people from...