In February of 2004, The Pittsburgh Penguins were mired in what would turn out to be an 18 game losing streak. In fact, at this time, they were about to lose their last game of the streak on Sunday, February 22nd, to the Ottawa Senators 6-3 with J.S. Aubin in net, and Matt Bradley listed as ESPN’s “Top Performer” for the Penguins that day. Life was bad for Pens fans. Personally, I was ready to jump off a bridge. The “X-Generation” of Rico Fata, Ryan Malone, Matt Bradley, and Alexey Morozov had not delivered, not that anybody exactly expected they would. Mario Lemieux played 10 games that season before going out with another hip injury, not that it really mattered. I still believed that Mario was the best in the game, but even a healthy Lemieux could not have lifted that team. I remember going to at least 10 games that season, and them winning once, and remember seeing about 9,000 people cheer when Mario tallied his 1,700th point.

On the horizon, though, was one Alexander Ovechkin. With the Pens being as miserable as they were, the chances were very good that they’d win the draft lottery that season and pick first overall for Alexander the Great, or as they called him, “The Russian Mario Lemieux.” I remember going to a game and seeing a guy wearing a custom made Penguins Ovechkin jersey, no doubt looking into the future for brighter days ahead.

As it turned out, the Penguins, Capitals, and Blackhawks were tied for last place going into the last week of the season, but as they both won some key games, the Penguins clinched it, giving them the best chance in the Ovechkin lottery. Yet, it was not to be, as the first ball to come out of the lottery draw was the Washington Capitals. They drew first overall, and got to select Ovechkin. Ovie was indeed a consensus number one pick, and the Capitals got lucky enough to take him.

With the second pick, then GM Craig Patrick picked another Russian, Evgeni Malkin. Some experts claimed that Ovechkin and Malkin were 1 and 1A picks. Some even went out on a limb to say that Malkin was better than Ovechkin. Nobody was entirely sure, although Penguins fans were sure that we were getting a relatively unknown but great player.

The Penguins were then lucky enough to emerge from the lock out season, not only with Malkin, but with the opportunity to draft Sidney Crosby. They did, and while they still sucked out loud, the days were brighter.

Now, in Malkin’s second season, there are no real adjectives to use to describe his play. Is he better than Ovechkin? I don’t really know, but what I do know is that he is, along with Crosby, the best young player in the game today, and may be one of the three best over all.

And now, with the upcoming game against the Ottawa Senators having first place in the Eastern Conference implications, I can only say this: What a difference four years makes.