Demidov: "I Love Malkin Much Better Than Ovie"

[Leafshater67]

What the hell got into Ovechkin? Last playoffs, he looked totally cooked and it was assumed by many he was done.

Then he comes back, plays past a bad injury, breaks the record and is a menace in the playoffs early. Unreal. One of the best “old men” of any sport.

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

You have to tread lightly and always be sure to not give Ovie any extra motivation

If Ovie needs a 19 year old, whom he knew nothing about a week ago, to give him motivation in the playoffs, then I guess that explains why he led his team past round 2 only once in his career...

 

[Stephen]

I’m surprised he said Malkin was his favorite I would have thought he was closer to a Kucherov fan.

 

[InsideLaineBOOM]

I wish some of these guys would just answer with some ridiculous ways like, for exampe in Demidov's situation he'd answer:
- "Well, I always liked Nail Yakupov the most"

Or with Laine when asked about facing Ovi, he would say something like:
- "Yea you know I still have his poster on my wall. I might also try to get Ovi to sign my stick in the warmup of game 1, it would be like a total dream come true for me"

Just turn the interviews into a joke.

 

[HairyKneel]

I'll take prime Geno over prime OV

I'll take prime Geno over prime OV

Probably prefer salsbury steak over a good rib eye too.

 

[Acallabeth]

I wish some of these guys would just answer with some ridiculous ways like, for exampe in Demidov's situation he'd answer:
- "Well, I always liked Nail Yakupov the most"

It's not necessarily a ridiculous answer. Just because the player isn't the most successful doesn't mean some kid (or adult) can't enjoy his playstyle.
Ovechkin's own favorite player was Owen Nolan. Ovi Jr's is Nicolas Aubé-Kubel

 

[Caps8112]

wow. 5 pages on this. Young kid has a slight language barrier, is asked a "fun" question on the spot and gives his opinion, maybe a little broken through the language and hes either the devil or giving Ovi motivation? thats ridiculous. So he was more of a fan of Malkin growing up. Good for him. I can admit Malkin and Ovi are two of the best players in the last 20 years and still say Im just a fan of Ovi. Thats not a knock on Malkin. Kid is probably just really excited and slightly nervous to be where he is and its got to be tough having a microphone placed in front of you and speaking in another country for close to the first time.

 

[Quatre Vingt Treize]

CBC aired part of this interview during the first intermission of Game One of the MTL/WSH series...

Saturday, two days before making his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut against the Washington Capitals, Demidov was asked by reporters if Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s new goals king, was one of his idols growing up.

“Uhhhh,” Demidov responded as he thought through his response. “I love Malkin much better than Ovi.”

Ivan Demidov on if Alex Ovechkin was his idol growing up: ‘I love Malkin much better than Ovi’

The Montreal Canadiens got a major boost at the end of the season when they signed rookie sensation Ivan Demidov to a…

russianmachineneverbreaks.com

I'm surprised he was that blunt in saying that publicly before the series. You kind of expect a young player to pander more to an icon of the sport, even if he prefers another player or isn't a big fan.

Habs looking a center. Do you see the connection?

 

[InsideLaineBOOM]

Habs looking a center. Do you see the connection?

I think you are the first guy to connect the dots, and Im not joking. Malkin is Demi's godfather right? So one can assume that they talk at times. Demidov is playing mind games on a higher level, feeding tips on a future locked in trade but people are just not getting it.

 

[Grifter3511]

Probably prefer salsbury steak over a good rib eye too.

Comparing Malkin to salisbury steak is definitely a take.

 

[Thierry]

The fact that this is somehow a story is one of the things I hate about hockey culture.

Don't worry, Demidov will become a boring a guy soon enough so we can all complain how interviews are boring. How ironic.

 

[AfroThunder396]

The idea of athletes giving polite fluff answers to the media is a North American thing. European athletes are more blunt and honest about what they think and how they feel.

Good for Demidov for being honest, Malkin is a Hall of Famer and one of the best players of his generation. He didn't say anything negative about Ovechkin and it's kind of weird to assume that all Russian players are automatically going to think OV is their favorite.

Do you assume that all Canadian players have Sidney Crosby as their favorite player?

 

[discobob]

I wish some of these guys would just answer with some ridiculous ways like, for exampe in Demidov's situation he'd answer:
- "Well, I always liked Nail Yakupov the most"

Or with Laine when asked about facing Ovi, he would say something like:
- "Yea you know I still have his poster on my wall. I might also try to get Ovi to sign my stick in the warmup of game 1, it would be like a total dream come true for me"

Just turn the interviews into a joke.

In Washington we call that move "The Kuznetsov"

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Probably prefer salsbury steak over a good rib eye too.

Best regular season:
Malkin
75gp 50g 109p
12 points ahead of 2nd place leaguewide in 7 less games
28 points ahead of next highest scoring penguin

Ovechkin
82gp 65g 112p
6 points ahead of 2nd place leaguewide
11 points ahead of next highest scoring capital

Best post season:
Malkin
24gp 14g 36p
5 points ahead of 2nd place

Ovechkin
24gp 15g 27p
5 points behind 1st place

 

[Team_Spirit]

wow. 5 pages on this. Young kid has a slight language barrier, is asked a "fun" question on the spot and gives his opinion, maybe a little broken through the language and hes either the devil or giving Ovi motivation? thats ridiculous.

Yeah but it's 5 pages of this take and a 3 trolls with 1 liners.

 

[Frank Drebin]

I’m surprised he said Malkin was his favorite I would have thought he was closer to a Kucherov fan.

Probably stopped watching kucherov after he disrespected the habs in 2021

 

[Jared Dunn]

I have found you generally have to take bluntness from non-native speakers with a grain of salt

 

[bobholly39]

Best regular season:
Malkin
75gp 50g 109p
12 points ahead of 2nd place leaguewide in 7 less games
28 points ahead of next highest scoring penguin

Ovechkin
82gp 65g 112p
6 points ahead of 2nd place leaguewide
11 points ahead of next highest scoring capital

Best post season:
Malkin
24gp 14g 36p
5 points ahead of 2nd place

Ovechkin
24gp 15g 27p
5 points behind 1st place

Nobody has ever knocked peak Malkin. I don't know off hand how I'd compare him to Ovechkin or peak (both are tremendous), but in general people call them close, and a lot even prefer Malkin.

His issue was always consistency. And obviously - injuries didn't help.

Also - Malkin's last truly strong season was at age 33 (in 2018).
I'd say Ovechkin has had a truly strong season at ages 33, 34, 36 and 39. So - he's also ageing better than Malkin.

 

[pezpunk]

When the Caps won the Cup they won it because a few other bets worked out (like Kuznetsov having the form of his life). Ovechkin wasn't the driver those playoffs. Malkin was a much bigger piece on those big Penguins teams. And I don't like the Penguins. On a personality level I probably like Ovie better, but he's basically a set piece sniper of marginal other value.

Unhinged and completely ignorant take.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

Nice. I’ll be able to use this to create rumors about Demidov coming to Pittsburgh in 8 years.

#DemidovWatch

 

[Son of Nogatco]

I’ve heard there will be a pause after the anthems but before puck drop for Demidov to read a formal apology at center ice

 

[Ghost of Murph]

Much ado about nothing. Ask Canadian NHLers about favorite players and you will get a lot of different answers. Nobody would even care if one of them said I like x much better than y. Welcome to being a Russian playing in North America, Mr. Demidov.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Nobody has ever knocked peak Malkin. I don't know off hand how I'd compare him to Ovechkin or peak (both are tremendous), but in general people call them close, and a lot even prefer Malkin.

His issue was always consistency. And obviously - injuries didn't help.

My argument was that peak/prime Malkin was superior. That's far from a laughable position IMO.

Also - Malkin's last truly strong season was at age 33 (in 2018).

Geno's 2019-20 year old season was pretty elite - 74 points in 55 games before Covid ended the season

I'd say Ovechkin has had a truly strong season at ages 33, 34, 36 and 39. So - he's also ageing better than Malkin.

Ovechkin has definitely been better this year, but it's really the only recent season where he's significantly outperformed Malkin. His injury history certainly hurts him but otherwise he's been every bit as good, if not better, in his 30s.

Coming into this season, Geno's lead was pretty significant for their production in their 30s:

Here are their season by season splits:

Malkin was pretty much just as good last year and the year prior too. In the last 10 years, even including this year, Malkin still has the edge in PPG:

 

[kerrabria]

I'm surprised he was that blunt in saying that publicly before the series. You kind of expect a young player to pander more to an icon of the sport, even if he prefers another player or isn't a big fan.

Fair enough, but he's also a 19-year-old who is brand new to the United States and speaking a second language. In the clip, it's very clear that he's struggling to articulate exactly what he wants to say in response to that question.

 

[Crow]

Comparing Malkin to salisbury steak is definitely a take.

Yeah Malkin is more like a petite filet mignon due to the small amount of games he is healthy.