Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin

Sidney Crosby/Evgeni Malkin is one of the most popular pairings in Hockey RPF. Both players play for the Pittsburgh Penguins and are among, if not the, best players in the world.
==Origins==
The slash fanon is based on the two players appearing to be relatively close friends and to have genuine professional respect for each other. Other fans have argued that apart from in the minds of tinhats, Sid and Geno aren't very close in RL. These discussions rarely end civilly.anonmeme thread example (accessed February 24, 2014)
There have been stories written about them since at least 2009Winning Isn't Everything by raspsun for rpf_big_bang 2009 (accessed February 24, 2014). (earlier?) Around 2011 Hockey RPF saw an influx of new fans and many of them shipped Sid/Geno. Some of the fics written during this time were very influential for their characterisation in later fics, for example My Siberia: A Russian Knitting Circle Story by impertinence and Never Hard to Find by missmollyetc. 
==Tropes==
As chibirhm jokingly describes the fanon relationship of Crosby & Malkin: "Once upon a time, an awkward Canadian robot met an awkward Russian human puppy, and they soulbonded and fell in love."The Extremely Exhaustive Evgeni Malkin Primer: Part 4 by chibirhm (Accessed February 24, 2014) Similarly, thefourthvine started her introduction to the pairing with "Geno is from Russia. Sidney is from Mars."Fandoms I Have Loved 13: Hockey RPF by thefourthvine, March 14, 2012
During the early time the "Crosby is a robot and Malkin is the perfect boyfriend who teaches him to have feelings dynamic"hockeyrpfanon thread by anon (accessed February 24, 2014] was very wide-spread. Later more authors branched out, portraying Sid as a functional human being and giving Geno more to do than pine and take care of him.
Common fic tropes include soul-bonding, Geno caring for Sid during his concussed periods, and meddling by the fanonical cabal of Russian hockey players (nick-named the 'Russian knitting circle'Is it bad? by Scarlet-Siren (accessed February 24, 2014), especially Alex Ovechkin).
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
====AU Stories====
*King and Lionheart, by thehoyden. A marriage AU story where Geno marries Sid in order to play in the NHL. The story follows the first few years of their NHL career, mingles loosely with canon events such as the Crosby Broken Jaw accident, and ends with the team winning their first Stanley Cup against the LA Kings. Exmanhater has created a beautiful podfic for this work.
*Pass It On, by knight_tracer and thefourthvine. A hilarious story looking into hockey players' typical life challenges, and Sidney Crosby's struggle of being their (secret) mentor. And romance with Geno.
*Just What Was Rumpelstiltskin Expecting to Do with a Baby, Anyway?, by withershins. Witch!Sid and pens captain Geno. In a society where witches are known but everyone is scared of them, Geno asks Sid's help to save his mother from illness. But the price is Geno's first born child. The story has a perfect twist in plot explaining this unusual request and Geno's solution to it.
*Tadpoles by Snickfic. A xeno AU where Sid has tentacles.
==Resources==
* Boys Who Like Boys (Who are probably robots) - a Sid/Geno primer by missmollyetc
* The Extremely Exhaustive Evgeni Malkin Primer: Part 4 by chibirhm
==References==
Category:Slash Pairings
Category:RPF Relationships
Category:Hockey RPF