Pittsburgh Penguins centre Evgeni Malkin has enjoyed a strong run during the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs, furthering underlining his omission from the 100 Greatest NHL Players list unveiled in January.
Don Cherry, for one, is still upset about the exclusion of the Russian forward.
“I have to get this off my chest,” he said during Coach’s Corner on Sunday night, before listing Malkin’s career accomplishments, which include:
• Calder Trophy: 2007 (Rookie of the Year)
• Three first-team all-star appearances: 2008, 2009, 2012
• Two Art Ross Trophies: 2009, 2012 (Scoring leader)
• Conn Smythe Trophy: 2009 (Playoffs MVP)
• Two Stanley Cup Championships: 2009, 2016
• Hart Trophy: 2012 (Regular-Season MVP)
“And the best of all, [The 2012 Ted Lindsey Award], which all the players vote [for],” added Cherry.
Malkin, who leads the NHL in 2017 playoff scoring with 28 points entering Sunday’s Game 6 against the Nashville Predators, was left off the top 100 list, while teammate Sidney Crosby was included. The other active NHLers to make the cut were Jaromir Jagr, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Alex Ovechkin and Jonathan Toews.
“That Blue Panel, I don’t know what they are doing,” said Cherry. “And I’ll tell you one thing, Pittsburgh was really ticked off about it.”
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