Stranger in a New Land

"Evgeni Malkin knew about 10 words in English, and none of them were appearing in Pittsburgh International Airport. As he took off his iPod headphones, the white noise buzzed around him. He was living inside a broken television. Static."

It was an opening that was able to catch my eye and keep my attention just in the 10 seconds it took to read it. While doing some research for another blog I was going to write, I ran across an old article from the December 2011 issue of Pittsburgh Magazine focusing on Evgeni Malkin. As a Penguins fan, I love reading about the players and their past histories. Malkin is no exception, especially with his extraordinary story on how he came to the team. Out of everything I've read and known, Sean Conboy went above the norm in this article and I wish I came across it sooner!

While Malkin joined the Penguins in October of 2006, this article was just published in December of 2011. Conboy manages to make Malkin's story stay alive despite the fact that he had been here for about five years by that point. That fact alone would make it a great story, but Conboy goes on to make it intriguing for the fans.

Imagine going into a foreign country not knowing anyone or the language around you. Scary, right? Almost hard to imagine. Conboy brings it to life with Malkin's story. It is not a simple overview of the hectic couple days Malkin had leading up to getting to Pittsburgh, it is putting the reader next to Malkin hiding out in Finland. It is giving the reader the anxiety Malkin was feeling trying to get to his dream. The heartache he felt leaving everyone he knew behind without a hint he was going. It put the reader inside Malkin's head and that can be a difficult feat to accomplish.

The different places the story is split up allows the reader to focus on the moment and turn the page to get to the next. It is enticing and exciting throughout all the parts. Conboy is able to show Malkin raw and without anything to hide behind. He keeps all quotes exactly as Malkin says them, even if it means broken English and different grammar:

“At first, I don’t have car, so Gonch have to drive me everywhere,” Malkin says. “He have to speak for me, translate. It was tough. I come back from practice and stay all day in house, talking to Russian friends on Skype or watching movies.” 


It is a great interview with a player that has worked hard both on and off the ice. It shows the fans that there is more than just what they see on the tv. It shows the struggle this man had to get to the place he was and I think Conboy did an amazing job with it. It is the type of relationship between reporter and interviewee that everyone should aspire too. It takes a good writer to get someone still getting used to the English language to talk as openly and honest as Malkin did. 

“Tell fans thank you for supporting Penguins and Steelers,” he says. “And sorry for my English.”