Malkin was born in Magnitogorsk. The whole family, on the paternal and maternal sides, worked at the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works.
Slept with a stick and loved ping pong
The boy’s love for hockey was instilled in him by his father, who also played in the past. He taught Evgeni how to use a stick from childhood and brought him onto the ice when he was barely three years old. At the age of 8, Evgeniy began going to the local hockey school “Metallurg”.
The boy liked sports so much that he slept with a hockey stick and sometimes with a protective mask. At the age of 10, Malkin, after breaking his leg, asked to have his cast cut off in order to go on the ice.
Malkin performed well in other sports. But after hockey, he calls table tennis his main hobby:
“I really love ping pong. We had this sports district in Magnitogorsk, there were a couple of iron tables there, and we played on them all day and night. Our game stopped only when all the balls broke. But they were strong then — “Leader”, I think they were called, thick, thick, even on iron they lasted for a long time.”
When Malkin moved to the USA, he settled with hockey player Sergei Gonchar. He hardly knew the language, so he watched films in the cinema hall to learn English. Malkin’s favorite foreign film is “Transformers,” and his domestic one is “Operation Y.”
Malkin also loves Russian billiards. He played it a lot in Magnitogorsk, and then bought a table in Pittsburgh.
Starred in films and promoted borscht in the USA
Malkin played with Kovalchuk in the family comedy “12 Months” — in the role of one of the month brothers. Ilya suffered from conjunctivitis, so he was filmed wearing orange glasses. Malkin supported his comrade and also put on his glasses.
In the USA, Malkin popularizes domestic food — he even appeared on American TV with his recipes. His mother inspired him to take up this hobby. There was a rumor that a dish was even served in Pittsburgh — “Mama Malkin’s Borscht.”
In his youth, Malkin opened the “VIP Zone” restaurant in Magnitogorsk, designed in a prison theme. There were portraits of Stalin and Beria hanging there, there was barbed wire everywhere — a complete immersion in aesthetics. But business did not take off, and the restaurant soon closed.