CRANBERRY, Pa. -- "I liked it better when it was COVID!" Evgeni Malkin jokingly shouted when I asked him if he'd be talking with the media following practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex here in Cranberry on Friday.
Malkin, of course, was referring to the previous two seasons when locker room access was nonexistent and he didn't have to speak with the media much at all.
Nevertheless, Malkin plopped down at his stall and embraced the reporters rushing to crowd around him and ask him questions.
Since the very first day that Malkin showed up in Pittsburgh for informal skates before the start of training camp this year, a giant smile has been plastered on his face.