Hockey
A run-in at a nightclub and a broken jaw. How Ovechkin and Malkin had a fight
Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Grigory Sokolov
The forwards were reconciled by another star player of the Russian national team.
Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin are athletes who have long become symbols of Russian hockey. Players made their debut in the NHL and immediately began to dominate their teams. Ovi scored a double in the very first game, and Evgeny broke the record: in the modern history of the league, no one before him scored in six games in a row at the start of his career. It is interesting that the players arrived to build a career overseas with a difference of a year: Ovi in 2005, and Malkin in 2006.
North American journalists actively argued which of the Russians would score more points. The confrontation between the most talented scorers of the generation was one of the hottest topics in the league. Especially when the rivalry ceased to be of a sporting nature and even moved off the site: hunting each other on the ice and an incident in a nightclub.
Another superstar of Russian hockey helped the hockey players to make up and forget the grievances.
Team Friends
At first, Malkin and Ovechkin were almost best friends in the eyes of North American fans. Firstly, the Europeans always help their compatriots to adapt to the new league. And secondly, both forwards were already well acquainted. Ovechkin and Malkin have always stood out for their talent, and they have consistently been called up to the Russian team. Ovi is only a year older than his star compatriot, so they went through the 2003 junior world championship and the 2004 youth championship together. At the same time, they often went out on the ice in one link and for two they thought beautiful pucks.
And then there was the adult world championship in 2005 in Vienna, where our team took bronze, beating the Swedes – 6:3. By this time, young talents had already been recognized all over the world, so the head coach of the Russian national team Vladimir Krikunov could not help but invite them to the 2006 Olympics in Turin. In the Olympic village, the forwards even lived in the same room, and they were often seen together, inspecting the sights.
However, a year later, relations between the two hockey players deteriorated sharply.
The beginning of the feud
“Pittsburgh” against “Washington” – it was difficult to imagine a brighter sign in the NHL. At the same time, the emphasis was more on the duel between Sidney Crosby and Ovi. The press discussed how aggressively the Russian would act against the Canadian in order not to give him space. However, Ovi’s anger suddenly fell upon a compatriot.
It started in January 2008. Malkin carried out another attack: he burst into the zone and went out of the gate at speed. The center forward would come out of the corner with his head down and not control what was going on around him. At that moment, Ovechkin appeared from somewhere and flew into Malkin at jet speed. Initially, this moment looked very scary: Malkin did not expect a blow, and even more so from such a machine. However, Ovi clumsily drove into a compatriot and, after the impact, bounced into the side, almost breaking the protective fence. Forward “Washington” quickly got up and ran to work out in defense, along the way explaining himself to Malkin in a raised voice.
And in a few seconds, both hockey players were already pushing at the side. However, they were not allowed to fight: teammates and judges immediately separated them. Ovechkin’s hunt for Malkin continued in every match. Journalists tried in vain to find out the cause of the discord between the Russians – both players remained silent.
“Ovechkin is a great player, but every time he hits me, I don’t know why,” Malkin said.
Even the captain of Pittsburgh Crosby had to support Malkin. True, it is difficult to imagine that the Canadian could intimidate the powerful Washington forward.
– We will stand up for Malkin, as well as for any teammate. These are intense, athletic games, and as long as they stay that way, it’s safe. But if there’s an intent to hurt someone, you’re kind of overstepping the mark,” Crosby said.
The cohesion of the “penguins” did not stop Ovi’s aggression. As it turned out later, the feud did not start on the ice, but in a Moscow nightclub in August 2007. Hockey players rested with Malkin’s agent Gennady Ushakov, with whom Ovechkin did not share something and hit him in the jaw. Forward “Washington” denied this story, but in an interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Malkin confirmed that the incident actually happened.
Ovi’s hunt was also followed by NHL bosses, who did not want to lose star players because of their personal enmity. Worried about hockey players and in the Russian team. After all, someone could get injured and miss the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Fortunately, it did not come to this, and the forwards arrived at the location of the national team. Moreover, they even played almost the entire tournament on the same line with Alexander Semin. In many ways, this happened thanks to another stellar Russian, Ilya Kovalchuk, who took it upon himself to reconcile his compatriots as a senior comrade. The forward gathered hockey players for a conversation during the NHL All-Star Game a year before the Olympics.
— Yes, we had disagreements because of third parties. But at the Star Game, when we went to a restaurant together for dinner, Ilya Kovalchuk reconciled us. We talked like a man with Ovechkin and forgot everything, – said Malkin.
Since then, hockey players have forgotten about the conflict. However, they rarely played in the national team in one link. Fans believed that the matter was in the ongoing hostility, but each time the coaches of the national team said that they simply “have no chemistry.” Ovechkin began to warmly communicate with Malkin and invited him to many family events. And on the 35th anniversary of Ovi, the Pittsburgh forward made a toast, after which no one can doubt their friendship.
– We were 16 or 17 years old and, it seems, it was the world championship among juniors. We were young and beautiful—well, at least I was. We played on the same line. There was the first face-off, which I lost as usual. And out of the corner of my eye I see how just a rocket runs from the left into the corner and “kills” the opponent’s defender, drops the puck to our player and he throws. Following Ovi, already on the “patch”, he was fighting with another opponent, “shoving” the referee … And I hadn’t even had time to make a move – I was so shocked.
Source: Sportbox
I’m a sports enthusiast and journalist who has worked in the news industry for over 8 years. I currently work as an author at Sportish and my work focuses mainly on sports news.