HftL Does the All-Stars (Eastern Conference): EVGENI MALKIN of the Pittsburgh Penguins

I can still remember the excitement that my husband, John, had when Malkin finally fled from Russia so he could come to the US and play for the Penguins. He explained how “this kid may be even better than Sidney!” No way, I didn’t believe it – someone better than Sidney? Well, it’s been a few years since then and he’s definitely made a believer out of me – there is someone just as good, if not better, than Crosby (as much as it pains me to say it, I'm all for giving credit where it’s due); however, I suppose it can be like comparing apples and oranges since they’re two totally different types of players – they can both be categorized as elite!!

What’s Hot – come on, what’s NOT hot about a skilled hockey player that’s good at his craft?!! He’s a natural player (even my husband will tell you that!) and makes everything he does on the ice look effortless – now THAT’S SEXY!!! Oh, and of course we cannot forgot about those beautiful manly hands of his!! He’s not unlike Modano in the fact that he’s “shy sexy” to borrow a term from my good friend, Kena!! He single-handedly saved the Pens season last year after Sidney went down with a high-ankle sprain injury by carrying the entire team on his back encouraging the rest of them to step up and play at another level – he takes the reigns when he needs to and knows exactly when that is! He’s also very humble and credits his teammates before accepting credit himself. Recently, Malkin has more willingly been learning the English language which is something that intrigues the female fans, myself included!! How cute is his thick accent and his eagerness to "please" the media with proper English?!! Too damn adorable!!

What’s Hockey – represented Russia at the 2006 Olympics as well as in two World Under-18 Championships (2003, 2004), three World Junior Championships (2004, 2005, 2006), and two World Championships (2006, 2007); named to All-Tournament team at 2007 World Championships and tied for Russian team scoring lead at 2006 Worlds with nine points in seven games; named top forward and tournament MVP at 2006 World Junior Championship where he scored 10 points in six games; played three seasons with hometown team Metallurg Magnitogorsk in Russian Super League (2003 - 2006) leading the team to a regular season title (2005-2006) and ranked third in league scoring as 19-year-old with 47 points in 46 games; won Calder Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year (2006-2007) and named to NHL All-Rookie Team being the first Penguins played to be named Rookie of the Year since Mario Lemieux in 1984-1985; led all NHL rookies in goals - 33, assists - 52, points - 85, power-play goals - 16, and power-play points - 40; scored his first NHL goal in first NHL game on October 18, 2006 against New Jersey Devils' goalie Martin Brodeur; became the first NHL player in 89 years to score a goal in each of his first six games.

BIG THANKS to "71crush" for all the AWESOME Malkin pictures featured in this post (I just regret I couldn't use more)!!