Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin goes swimming with whale shark (Photo)
Evgeni Malin is a former Hart Trophy winner as the league’s MVP, but the Pittsburgh Penguins star center is not only one of the best players on the ice as the Russian native is also a pretty skilled swimmer who just happens to enjoy swimming with whale sharks.
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The offseason began a little earlier than expected as the Penguins were bounced in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs to the New York Rangers who ended up advancing all the way to the Stanley Cup Final where they fell in five games to the Los Angeles Kings, so Malkin got started on his exciting vacation by breaking out the snorkel and fins and taking a dip with the mammoth creature.
Check out these photos courtesy of Malkin’s Instagram account which is full of great shots.
In case you’re wondering if Malkin is crazy for getting into the water with a whale shark nearby, a Google search says they are a slow-moving filter feeding fish that can grow to lengths greater than 40 feet and weigh as much as 47,000 pounds. But they pose no threat to humans unlike the great white shark who would eat up the Penguins center so fast, he’d have no idea what just happened.
Sounds like a pretty nice way to spend one’s offseason, but Penguins fans are hoping the offseason begins a month later than it did this season and the Penguins and whoever their new head coach will be can get the team back to the Stanley Cup Final after five straight years of being upset in the postseason.