PITTSBURGH'Evgeni Malkin, the Pittsburgh Penguins' Russian-born star, remains a man of few words as he learns English and its tricky nuances.

One subject, though, gets him talking, and a lot: the Philadelphia Flyers, the opponent the 21-year-old Malkin already loves to hate.

The NHL's second-leading scorer and MVP finalist still talks about the 8-2 loss in Philadelphia on Dec.11, how the Flyers bullied the Penguins and got them off their game by inducing fights. In an additional indignity, he remembers popcorn being dumped on the Penguins' bench by rowdy fans.

"That's one of the teams that it's really not a pleasure to play against," Malkin said. "I really don't like playing against them.

"I don't like that team."

Don't like the Flyers? Join the crowd, Evgeni ' most Penguins fans haven't for 41 years, or since the two expansion franchises joined the NHL in 1967. The Flyers and Penguins share the state of Pennsylvania but not much else, and their rivalry has been a long, lively and, occasionally, bloody one.

This season, for example, Malkin received a nasty cut on his left cheek from the skate of the Flyers' Mike Richards on March 16, and the two teams began fighting less than a minute into their April 2 game in Pittsburgh.

Now, the in-state rivalry is taking a previously unseen turn as the Flyers and Penguins meet in a conference final for the first time. With the winner advancing to play for the Stanley Cup, the Eastern Conference final that starts Friday in Pittsburgh is certain to be competitive, contentious and colourful.

Feisty and fractious? That, too. This season alone, there have been accusations or insinuations of running up the score, diving and, even, game dumping.

Don't like each other? No kidding.

"What else can you ask for?" Penguins forward Ryan Malone said. "It's going to be a battle, it's going to be fun and, as a hockey player, you want to play in and be a part of."

Penguins general manager Ray Shero first experienced it as a youngster. When the Broad Street Bullies of Flyers coach Fred Shero, Ray's father, were winning two Stanley Cups in the 1970s, they regularly beat up on the Penguins ' Pittsburgh once went 15 years without winning in Philadelphia.

Ray Shero has long switched loyalties, but he was a self-described rink rat who hung around the Flyers room with players such as Bobby Clarke, Bernie Parent, Bill Barber and Rick MacLeish.

Not that many in Pittsburgh have such pleasant memories of the Flyers, who lead the series 129-76-31. The Flyers won the three previous playoff series against the Penguins in 1989, 1997 and 2000.

In a twist last season, the Penguins swept the eight regular-season games against Philadelphia for the first time. This season, the Flyers won the first four and five of eight, though they lost 7-1 in Pittsburgh on March 16.

"The playoffs are always intense but it throws a little spice into it when it's Philadelphia and Pittsburgh," Pens captain Sidney Crosby said. "It doesn't get any easier."

Maybe it's in his hockey DNA to dislike anything Pittsburgh, but Flyers chairman Ed Snider remains irritated the Penguins even have players such as Crosby, Malkin and goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. All were first-round draft picks resulting from Pittsburgh's run of last-place finishes from 2002 to '06.

"Let's face it, you get rewarded for being the worst team in the league, so Pittsburgh has all these great players for being lousy for so many years," Snider said yesterday during a rare locker-room visit. "That part I don't like so much.

"I've never been in favour of the draft the way it is."

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