Evgeni Malkin, Max Talbot smiling together to take you through Labor Day

Welcome to Labor day weekend. Evgeni Malkin and Max Talbot have reunited in Russia, and that’s always a fun thing.

Last week, Talbot and Yaroslavl Lokomotiv mutually agreed to terminate their contract, and Talbot quickly signed with Avangard Omsk. This will be Talbot’s third season in the KHL; he spent the previous two seasons in Yaroslavl, but his stats in 2017-18 fell 17 points (and in 17 less games) from a more successful 2016-17 that saw him score 15 goals and 21 assists in his first campaign in Russia.

This isn’t the first time Malkin family has been keeping tabs on their French Canadian buddy while in their homeland. In 2016, Geno’s dad made it a point to go to a game and give Max a big hug when he was playing in the Malkin family’s hometown of Magnitogorsk.

Just goes to show that when you win a Stanley Cup, you walk together forever, as Ray Shero’s dad once said, even if one has “a little bit bad hands.”

Have a good Saturday, everyone. Bonus points if you join me, Darnay, Riley Sheahan and Bryan Rust as we ride with western Pennsylvanian natives Phil Jurkovec, Kurt Hinish, Bo Bauer, Robert Hainsey, Josh Lugg and David Adams to see Irish to take down Michigan on the first big weekend of college football. Go Max, go Geno, and go Pens.