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| Ryan Malone speaks to Matt Gajtka after a Cleveland-Iowa AHL game. - MATT SUNDAY |
CLEVELAND -- What would possess a person, who earned more than $30 million in just over a decade in his chosen profession, to ride the buses between the big towns and mid-sized cities on the American Hockey League circuit?
Probably the same force that drove him to travel the previously-untrod path from Pittsburgh to the NHL.
Indeed, Ryan Malone, aged 38, has been on this type of track before. Unlikely. Improbable. Maybe even a waste of time and energy, if you're the cynical kind.
And yet, Malone's plan to make the United States Olympic hockey team for the second time in his career doesn't seem so outlandish when you consider it up close, as I did Monday night at Quicken Loans Arena, where, in AHL Game No. 407, the Iowa Wild defeated the Cleveland Monsters, 3-0, in front of 5,645. Following a 31-month retirement from professional pucks, Bugsy is back at it.
"He’s been really good," Iowa coach Derek Lalonde raved of Malone, who assisted on a power-play goal and finished a plus-1 in his 12th game for the Minnesota Wild's top minor-league affiliate.
"His last five or six (games) have been better and better," was the review of Iowa forward Landon Ferraro, a veteran of 77 NHL games and 312 at this level. "He’s so big and strong, and on top of that he’s so smart with the puck. ... He knows what he’s doing. I think he’s doing great."
They weren't blowing smoke. If you squinted -- and ignored Iowa's vivid red-and-green getups -- you could see the same Malone who scored 179 goals and 370 total points in 647 NHL games for the Penguins, Lightning and (briefly) the Rangers. He was protecting pucks, leveraging his 6-foot-4 frame, making nifty passes and generally showing poise amid hockey's inherent madness.
Was it enough to impress the USA Hockey representatives watching from suite level? We'll find out soon enough.
"They’re going to make the decision within the week and I’m on the bubble," Malone told me, stealing glances at the freshly-cut sheet of ice from the visitors' bench. "But, yeah, you never know what’s going to happen, so you just enjoy the ride."
And he means that literally, with the AHL version of the Wild set to make the 10-hour drive back to Des Moines after Wednesday's rematch with the Monsters. Not that the forced camaraderie has been a negative for Malone. In fact, it seems like he's savoring the scent of diesel fuel and sweaty equipment these days.
"We’ve got a good group of guys, so it’s been a lot of fun just hopping back into it, with bus rides and all that good stuff," he said with a grin. "Those little things that you miss, you’re just soaking them in now."
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To better understand Malone's current quest, let's rewind.
More than two decades ago, while growing up in Upper St. Clair, Malone showed a particular knack for the one of many sports he played. Coincidentally enough, it was the same one his dad Greg made a fine career of with the hometown Penguins, and later the Whalers and Nordiques.
By the time Ryan reached his teen years, Greg had established himself as the Penguins' head scout, so dear old dad knew the local amateur hockey scene wasn't advanced enough at that point to truly test his son. So, at age 15, Ryan made the first decision -- and the first sacrifice -- to advance his career.
On the advice of one of his scouts, a guy by the name of Herb Brooks, Greg suggested to his son that he take his talents to the yearly Minnesota Hockey Camps, which were run by another Penguins scout, Chuck Grillo.
"Herbie said, 'Why don’t you send him up there?' " Greg Malone recalled last week from his home in the South Hills. "So he was up there and I came back after a couple of weeks and Herbie said, ‘Holy shit, your son’s pretty good.’ "
For Ryan, showing his skills up north not only foreshadowed the significant role the Land of 10,000 Lakes would play in his life, but also put him on course to emulate all the players he'd mingle with in the home locker room at the Civic Arena, from Mario Lemieux to Kevin Stevens and Joe Mullen.
"My dad always said you have to be good on the first pond you play at," Ryan told me over the phone from San Antonio, Texas, in our first conversation this month. "And then, when you leave town, there’s another pond where you have to establish yourself as well. It just keeps getting harder and harder."
For the adolescent Ryan, skipping his usual baseball-filled summer for several weeks in Brainerd, Minn., was a no-brainer. To hear him tell it, getting away from home was the de facto start of his professional life.
"Learning the work ethic and what kind of character you needed to put into the game," he said. "It helped me get to where I am today. To know that anything’s possible if you’re willing to put the work in."
Fast-forward 23 years and Ryan Malone is again putting the work in, toiling as the second-oldest player in the AHL, with only his former Penguin teammate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Tom Kostopolous, edging him out for eldest in the NHL's top development league. On the Iowa Wild, Malone is the oldest player by seven years, with former Penguin Cal O'Reilly getting runner-up honors at age 31.
Oh, and did I mention Malone hadn't played competitively in more than two years? No, the Penguins-Flyers alumni game last winter doesn't count, and neither does a short stint as player-coach in the recreational Da Beauty League last summer in the Twin Cities.
"I didn't play for eight months last year after my knee surgery and it was really hard to come back," Ferraro said. "It’s not an easy thing. He’s played in the NHL his whole career and takes a couple years off and comes back in, (going) in and out of the lineup. And he’s playing for a lot right now, and it’s not the easiest circumstances."
As Ferraro alluded to, Malone was treading on LeBron James' home turf on this breezy December evening to advance his dream to represent the United States in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The comeback sprouted legs this August, when Malone placed a call to Team USA general manager Jim Johannson, whom he knew from competing in the 2006 World Championships and -- most memorably -- the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Johannson's advice?
"He said the more games you play, the better," Malone said.
No offense to da boys in Da Beauty League, but recreational action wasn't going to be sufficient to test Malone's ability to play. So he got back on the horn and reached out to two NHL decision-makers he knew best: Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher, whom Malone knew from their shared time in Pittsburgh, and Penguins assistant GM Bill Guerin.
With Team USA head coach Tony Granato lending a reference, Fletcher decided he could accommodate the veteran via the Iowa club, which had the added bonus of being a mere four-hour drive south from the home Malone shares with his fiancée Arielle and his two boys from a previous marriage, Will and Cooper.
That a dual life has been doable for the past three months isn't something Malone takes for granted. Lalonde has permitted Malone to live the commuter lifestyle, so he's been able to spend enough time at home to not feel like an absentee father.
"It was important to me to be involved with my kids and their lives and their stuff going on," Malone said. "Chuck Fletcher gave me a great opportunity there in Minnesota to come into camp. Iowa is the closest team I could be on to pursue my dream and still be involved with my boys."
When Malone's skates hit the ice at Wells Fargo Arena in downtown Des Moines on Oct. 7, it marked his first pro game since Jan. 30, 2015, when he recorded an assist for the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack and then called it a career. Or at least that was his intention, until he heard this past summer that -- for the first time since the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway -- the NHL would not be halting its season to allow its players to represent their countries.
That headline didn't move Malone as much as this particular detail: Not even minor-league players on two-way contracts with NHL clubs would be able to play for Olympic medals.
"That's when it clicked in," he said.
So far, the prospective members of the 2018 edition of Team USA have gotten together just once, for the Deutschland Cup in Germany in mid-November. There, a motley crew wearing red, white and blue lost all three games it played before returning to their respective club teams across Europe and North America. Malone served as assistant captain in two of the games, with familiar ex-NHLers like Brian Gionta, Jim Slater and Mark Stuart also wearing letters in the tournament.
Following the tournament, Malone stepped away from Iowa for several days, attending one of his boy's hockey tournaments -- in Brainerd, coincidentally -- and trained on his own, focusing on his skating stride and quickness. In the midst of that mini-hiatus, he came to the conclusion that he'd like to continue to play this season as long as he can, regardless of USA Hockey's evaluation.
"I was kinda setting up a plan and (seeing) what everyone wanted to do," Malone said, referring to Fletcher, Iowa general manager Brent Flahr and Lalonde. "It’s just nice to be playing again. See how the season goes."
That's a long way from the almost matter-of-fact motivation he found when another Olympic opportunity arose a few months ago.
"I was thinking, 'Why not?' " Malone quipped. "I’ve got nothing else to do."
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Jay Schroeder has been training high-level hockey players for more than a decade, continuing an innovative career in strength and conditioning that spans 40 years in total. NHL stars such as Jonathan Toews, Zach Parise, T.J. Oshie and Duncan Keith have worked with Schroeder's Eastern bloc-influenced techniques, which emphasize isometric exercises and electronic stimulation.
Malone got to know Schroeder via the FHIT Hockey training center in St. Paul, Minn., but the most relevant personal reference that sold Malone on Schroeder's EVO UltraFit program was his cousin Brad, currently playing for the Oilers' AHL affiliate. And then there's EVO devotée Matt Cullen, still trucking along in the NHL at age 41 after helping the Penguins win back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
"Look at Matt Cullen," Schroeder told me earlier this month. "He’s been with us for 15 years. He kept saying, 'Jay, I think I’m done. Stop debiting my credit card. I’m done.' And then I’d get a call in a week: 'Jay, I need to train again. I feel too good to retire.' "
Malone signed on with Schroeder much later in the game than Cullen or his 28-year-old cousin, but he expressed confidence that making a change in his preparation methods has made a difference in getting him up to speed after more than two years of relative inactivity.
"(Schroeder) has really helped me make my body feel good," Malone said. "Over the last few weeks, I’m feeling better. Getting my body stronger to get my feet moving to get my stride going for a little more power."
Both Ryan and Greg, who watches every Iowa Wild game on his iPad at home in the South Hills, talked about Ryan's need to increase his foot speed in order to get to the necessary spots on the ice with the proper timing. Even at the AHL level, the pace of the sport has increased noticeably since Ryan last played during the 2014-15 season.
Yes, Ryan was feeling lighter on his feet after surgery to repair varicose veins in his lower legs, but better health alone can't fuel a strenuous journey such as this.
"Ryan said to me the day I met him, 'Here’s what I want to do,' " Schroeder recalled. "I said, 'OK.' And he said, 'Let’s start right now.' And he gave everything he had. In the beginning, it wasn’t much, to be honest with you, but it was all he had, so it was a whole lot. And he’s been able to build it to where he’s at today."
Lalonde admitted that, prior to Malone's trip to Germany with Team USA, Iowa's senior member was a step slow.
"I would say he was OK before the Deutschland Cup, in his first stint," said Lalonde, now in his second year leading Iowa. "The pace was an issue. I don’t know if it’s just playing or getting into a routine, but since he came back, his pace has been much better."
It also didn't help Malone's cause that he was thrust into a more significant role early due to a host of injuries that depleted Minnesota's forward group and required reinforcements from the farm. Now that's over with, so Lalonde can play Malone around 10 minutes a night instead of the 15-plus he was averaging in October and early November.
"I don’t think it was fair to him," Lalonde said. "I don’t think he was as effective. It sounds like, from the U.S. guys, (10 minutes is) what they would need out of him."
For all the velocity of modern hockey, there's one aspect of Malone's comeback that hasn't been a massive challenge to get recalibrated: His hands. In fact, Malone said the biggest adjustment he's had to make in the AHL is adapting to the lower frequency of one-touch passes and one-time shots.
Malone has but two points, both assists, for Iowa this season, although he put his playmaking acumen to work Monday with a handful of nifty dishes in tight quarters, including one that led to a scramble goal in the final minute of the first period. In his previous AHL stint, with Hartford three seasons ago, he produced 10 points in 24 games.
If he makes the Olympic team, Malone won't be expected to lead the team in scoring. Rather, he'll hope to put his reach and smarts to use in some of the high-traffic areas on that 200-by-100-foot ice surface. In Cleveland, Lalonde had Malone in front of the net on the power play, too, where he looked as natural as ever, although he continues to emphasize picking up the pace as his primary focus.
"Mostly, for myself, it’s getting my feet moving through the neutral zone," Malone said. "Just trying to bring the puck to the net. Using my size down low, protecting the puck and making sure I’m making the right decisions."
Malone carved out a healthy NHL career by doing just those things, combining an imposing stature with soft hands. At least one of his former Penguins teammates told me that those skills still play, even in a sport that's increasingly pushed by full-tilt skating and tenacious play without the puck.
"He’s young enough," Sidney Crosby told me last month. "He’s a really smart player. He’s got great hands, and you don’t lose that. That’s something that I think is pretty instinctive for most guys, and he’s got that, so I’m glad he was able to come back and play like he wanted to."
We'll see about that last part, but some of those raw tools that helped carry Malone from midget hockey in Pittsburgh to further development in Minnesota -- from Grillo's hockey camps to the renowned Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school to a four-year stay at St. Cloud State University -- are still evident.
In the midst of all that time away from home, Malone heard the call from his hometown team, as the Penguins picked him in the fourth round of the 1999 NHL Draft. While Greg was obviously involved in the decision to select his son, he did his best to temper the enthusiasm, both in the organization and at home.
"I’m realistic, too, because I’m a scout at that time," Greg Malone said. "Just because you’re drafted doesn’t guarantee that you’ll play in the National Hockey League. And it was like, hey listen, if he gets drafted, fine. I was very casual about it."
But the man who coached Ryan in his draft year, Mike Hastings, said the same traits that led him to select Malone for his Omaha Lancers in the United States Hockey League draft were the attributes that the Penguins saw. Especially in that era, when size was just as critical as speed, if not more so, Malone was the type of player around whom a coach could build a team.
"Full package," Hastings told me over the phone from the campus of Minnesota State-Mankato, where he currently runs the NCAA Division I men's program. "The reach, the intelligence. He was a throwback as a player. ... He could have gone (Canadian) major-junior. He had offers."
But Malone stayed domestic, electing to work on his craft in the American college system. Since the junior-level USHL doesn't run afoul of the NCAA's rules for amateur eligibility, the path was clear: One year in Omaha under Hastings, then four more at St. Cloud State, where Malone played alongside future NHLers in Jeff Finger, Tyler Arnason and current Winnipeg winger Matt Hendricks, in addition to a few of the guys he knew well from Grillo's camps.
"The nice thing was," Greg Malone said, "when he went to St. Cloud, he had some teammates (from the camps) and they would push each other."
At any rate, Malone's path must've been the right one, as he played just three AHL games after his senior year at St. Cloud before making the NHL Penguins the following September. At that point, the big kid from Upper St. Clair pulled in plenty of local headlines, but it's not as if western Pennsylvanians were breathlessly awaiting his arrival.
"He never hit his peak in Pittsburgh," Greg said. "He’s 6-foot-3, 170 pounds when he gets drafted. You put on 30, 40 pounds in a few years, then all of a sudden his game is going to come around because he had the hands and he had the smarts. And he was driven."
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Most NHL fans got to know Malone by his nickname, Bugsy. His dad's old moniker is a big enough part of Ryan's personal identity that it shows up in his Twitter handle to this day.
Don't have to do a lot of work playing with that guy #creature https://t.co/Zs5QRPcS4K— Ryan Malone (@Bugsy12Malone) December 15, 2017
However, there's another, lesser-known nickname Malone carried that reveals more about his nature.
"His nickname was 'Big Bird,' " Hastings remembered. "I liked the kid because the one thing he wanted to do was be a hockey player. The smile he had on his face at the rink."
In fact, in speaking with several people who've spent time with Malone the hockey player, the conversation seems to find its way back to his disposition in the dressing room and during the social moments that a team spends together.
“He was great," said Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, Malone's United States teammate in 2006 and 2010. "Easy guy to get along with. Fun guy to be around."
Johnson hasn't been in touch with Malone much since Crosby buried that pass from Jarome Iginla nearly eight years ago, but he understands why the folks running Team USA would be giving 'Big Bird' a look, even with younger, quicker collegians available to fill out the roster.
"I’m sure it was tough to get back, but he was always a real positive guy," Johnson told me before the Avalanche took on the Penguins this month in Pittsburgh. "He was always one of the guys that was out there working on his game and trying to get better. Even though I only spent a handful of international tournaments with him, I think a guy like that would be a huge boost for the team."
After I spoke to Ferraro on Monday night, to say that Malone has been a hit with Iowa seems to be an understatement.
"He’s done nothing but be an unbelievable guy in the room and helping younger guys," Ferraro said, standing amidst a stationary bike and foam rollers strewn about in a back hallway at Quicken Loans Arena. "You can see, if you’re around our team for any amount of time, you can see how much he means to us here. You’d know how much we want him to succeed and be on the (Olympic) team.
“There’s definitely an instant respect (for his career accomplishments), but it doesn’t mean you instantly like the guy, regardless of what he’s done. He’s got to be a good guy regardless. I don’t know if I’ve played with better than him."
That's good, because this "really unique situation," to use Lalonde's words, includes some real tension below the surface. The AHL is a developmental league, and like every NHL organization, the Minnesota Wild want to see about their prospects, such as the impressive forward trio of Luke Kunin, Justin Kloos and Sam Anas.
The team's objectives don't necessarily have to run counter to Malone's desire to round back into form, but they're not always going to be parallel, either.
Lalonde told me there were "mixed feelings" in the Wild organization when Johannson and Granato proposed that Malone play for them this season, at least until they made a decision on whether to buy him a plane ticket to the Pacific Rim.
"Any time he’s out there, he’s taking (the spot of) a prospect in a developmental league," Lalonde reminded.
Ultimately, though, the Wild felt Malone wouldn't push the envelope too far in a me-first direction ... and that his personality and experience might help enrich the culture in Iowa. It also didn't hurt that Granato and Fletcher vouched for Malone at every opportunity.
"It speaks volumes of the type of individual he was," Lalonde said. "And I think we’ve balanced it well. I think it really helps that the guys care and like him so much. They don’t mind giving up some minutes for him."
Perhaps Malone's seamless fit with an AHL team shouldn't be a surprise. After all, he already made the commitment to prove himself all over again at a level he essentially skipped on his way to the NHL.
Hastings said Malone's decision to push for another Olympic appearance didn't shock him, because he's been there before and has "tasted" the highest levels of play this sport has to offer. At the same time, the stark realities of a pro sports comeback require a humbling of oneself that some athletes with Malone's résumé might've turned up their noses at.
"I have to believe it’s a pretty steep hill to climb," Hastings said. "He’s got to have some humility, to go to the AHL."
It doesn't hurt that Malone is in a better place, both physically and psychologically, than the last time he shot a puck with cruel intentions.
First of all, a series of injuries limited his effectiveness in his final two seasons with the Lightning, who bought out the final year of his $31.5 million contract in the summer of 2014. In fact, Malone missed an average of 17 games in each of his six seasons in Tampa.
"Well, my body feels a little better now," Malone said. "I think with the grind of the full 82 games and practices, especially if you were injured, coming back you’re just a little bit off. It’s tough to get your feet under you during the season."
The Lightning's cutting Malone loose ran parallel with a dark moment in his personal life.
In April 2014, he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, and during that traffic stop, a police officer found about a gram of cocaine in his pocket. The result of that incident, which Malone said "embarrassed" him and all who care about him, included a year of probation and 50 hours of community service.
His professional life didn't provide any solace that fall, as he played in just six scoreless games for the Rangers before being re-assigned to AHL Hartford, eventually calling it quits around the all-star break. This year's comeback should at the very least provide a more satisfying bookend to his playing career, if not erase those old memories altogether.
“Definitely a better ending than the last one," Malone said. "I kinda lost the fire, especially just being away from my kids and not being able to see them. I was kinda like, 'What am I doing here?' That’s when it hit me that, OK, it’s time to hang ‘em up and go do the dad thing."
To hear Greg Malone tell it, his boy has been "very focused" on being an attentive father to his little ones, making sure they get involved with a variety of sports like he did.
"He’s trying to juggle both, to be a parent and make this happen," Greg said.
The level of dedication and responsibility this undertaking has demanded makes the senior Bugsy chuckle when he remembers how singularly obsessed with hockey Ryan was when he first arrived in Pittsburgh 15 years ago.
"He was making good money, but all he wanted to do was play hockey," Greg said. "He didn’t care about his bills. He didn’t want to do anything but play hockey. As a father, it would drive me crazy. Like, ‘Pay these bills on time, will ya? It’s not like you don’t have any money!’ "
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There are no national broadcasts for minor-league hockey. There's no guarantee of a sellout crowd to get the adrenaline flowing, either.
On this Monday night in Cleveland, the house that routinely roars for the NBA's championship-challenging Cavaliers seemed to have only a passing interest in the action on the ice, which, in fairness to the hardy hockey fans at the 'Q,' showed the Monsters to be inferior to Iowa. There were no video clips of this game posted to the internet, either, and no GIFs to catch eyeballs on social media.
Still, no less than the greatest hockey player of his generation is paying close attention to see how Malone's story concludes.
"I really hope he’s able to do it," Crosby said of Malone. "Love to see that he’s playing again. Had a great time playing with him here. Hopefully, it works out."
Hope is a good thing, maybe the best thing, to borrow a movie line. Malone has plenty of hope going for him, powering his training, his commitment, his journey to this point. He could be at home, living comfortably, but instead he's grinding out even-strength shifts alongside Colton Beck and Mario Lucia, screaming like hell when officials didn't detect Brennan Mannel's power-play goal right away.
I said at the start it wasn't difficult to squint and see Malone in his younger days. It also wasn't tough to picture him donning a Team USA jersey in South Korea, making all the understated, productive plays he did for Iowa in its shutout win Monday.
"He's done so many things in hockey," Granato told me over the phone Tuesday. "He's doing everything he can to be at his best. He could help the rest of our group. He's great to be around. He has size and physicality, and you need that on every team."
Granato, who is fitting his Team USA duties into his schedule as head men's hockey coach at the University of Wisconsin, said he and Johannson will make their final calls on the Olympic roster "in the next week or so." They'll take 14 forwards overseas and will be able to dress 20 skaters per game, compared to the standard 18 in North American pro leagues, so that helps Malone's chances to make the squad as a role player.
Still, Malone seemed circumspect about his chances. It turns out Team USA decision-makers have already checked with him to see if he'll be willing to keep in shape and serve as a possible injury fill-in.
"I’m just right on that line," Malone said. "Hopefully tonight (helps). Obviously I’ve said I want to be on the team, and I would do whatever they want me to do and just be a part of it in some way. We’ll see whatever they want and take it from there."
Could it be that, regardless of the outcome, this quest has already been a success? Schroeder, who helped a "nervous" Malone prepare for Bruce Boudreau's conditioning tests in Minnesota's main camp, considers his pupil an inspiration already.
"It’s all about giving yourself the opportunity to be a miracle as a human being," Schroeder said. "We’re all given that opportunity by birth. Some take advantage and some don’t. And some take advantage at a lesser level. For me, Ryan is someone who is fun to work with. I’m 62. I’ve been doing this for 40 years. You don’t meet a lot of people like the Ryan Malones of the world. They’re what makes me look good."
Schroeder will get no argument from Greg Malone. He took a break from the iPad and made the drive up to the southern shore of Lake Erie to see his son skate in person Monday night.
Yes, he was slightly surprised this summer when Ryan dropped the news that he had one final push left in him. But, Greg was also all in, and not just because a comeback would once again give him some compelling content to watch on wintry weeknights.
"He mentioned it to me, and I said, ‘If you still have that drive inside you, go for it,' " Greg said. "Mainly because in a year or two and you didn’t go for it, you’ll look back and say, 'Boy I wonder if I could’ve did it.’ "
There will be no wondering for Ryan. The moment of truth is approaching. He's traveled quite a ways from the thrill of having longtime equipment manager Steve Latin sharpen his skates before his first Penguins practice, to say nothing of helping his hometown team to the Stanley Cup Final, motivated by a sense of civic pride every time the crowd thundered under that Mellon Arena roof.
Four teams and a two-year retirement later, those cheers live on only in memory, but the desire to bring his best to the ice? That very much remains, regardless of circumstance.
"I just gotta accept my role and every time I go over the boards, I just gotta make it hard for the coach not to play me," Malone said. "Only thing I can control is when I go on the ice. That’s all I’ve been taught before. And I’m enjoying it."
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