Malkin says he was pressured
MOSCOW (AP) – Evgeni Malkin, the hockey player at the center of a trans-Atlantic dispute, says he was “very offended” by the pressure put on him by his Russian team. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2004 draft pick slipped away from his club, Metallurg Magnitogorsk, during training camp in Finland and vanished last week.
The 20-year-old forward agreed less than two weeks ago to a one-year contract to keep playing for Metallurg. The deal circumvented a previous one that ran through 2008.
Asked why he signed with Metallurg, Malkin told the Russian daily Sport Express: “I signed it because they were strongly pressuring me. I explained to them without end that I wanted to play in the NHL, that as a player it’s necessary for me to grow, that I promised Pittsburgh. But no one wanted to listen to me. They pushed their own arguments.”