The age old question today in hockey is who is better Alex Ovechkin or the "the kid" Sid Crosby. They are both extremely talented for anyone that enjoys watching hockey like I do. I get to watch Sid on a daily basis living in Pittsburgh, so I've seen him improve over the course of his short career so far. I've seen him in his ups and downs. Alex on the other hand I've seen play in games against the Pens, but that's about all to the extent I have watched Ovechkin. I watched him play in some playoff games, but really did not get to watch him all that much until last year when the dream playoff match up came when it was Sid vs Alex. It wasn't until then I really get a new appreciation for how skilled of a player he really is.
This was the dream series every hockey fan wanted to see. The two marquee guys in the league facing off against each other in the route to the ultimate prize in all of sports, Lord's Stanley's cup. This I personally think was the best series in hockey history, because you really haven't had two marquee names as big as Sid and Alex, since Mario and Gretzky, and they never faced each other in the playoffs.
From a skill view of who's better I think its pretty obvious that its Ovechkin. I really didn't get an appreciation for how skilled the man is, until having watched him in the grueling 7 game series they played against the Pens. The kid can dangle the puck around players, skate through people, dance with the puck, and his best weapon is he can shoot from anywhere. I remember thinking that every time he had the puck I was nervous because I didn't know whether he was going to shoot or not. He has one of the hardest shots in the league, and is very accurate. Ever since he has come into the league, Alex has lead the NHL in shots year after year. Really that's all the kid does. He shoots the puck. He basically leads the league in goals every year because he shoots the puck so darn much. I mean if any player shot as much as him, sure they'd have a ton of goals, but does that make them the best player in the league?
Yo buddy if you didn't notice theirs more then one person on the ice. Their's 4 other players and a goalie. Their whole team is setup around one man. The Power play and everything. The guy is talented don't get me wrong, and probably has more skill then anyone in the league right now, and anyone that has been in the league maybe since Mario and Wayne Gretzky? But from the argument sake of who's a better team player, I think the point is quite obvious that its the kid Sid Crosby.
Sid makes everyone around him better. Its proven because his goal to assist ratio is about even, or he will even have more assists then goals. I know the object in hockey is to score, so if you looking at that aspect of the game of who's the better player I think the answer is quite obvious in that it is Ovechkin. But the argument I'm trying to make is Sid is a better team player as well as overall a better play than Ovechkin.
Yes you can make the argument that Sid has Malkin on his team. Another world class player. Yes that definitely helps, but Alex had Mike Green, Backstrom, Semin, and Federov. Those are all world class players as well. So that point is moot I think. Theirs no grounds for argument sake there. Yes both teams were talented. Both teams have world class players on them, but the reason the Pens have made the Stanley Cup finals the last two years is because Sid makes his teammates around him better. Hockey is a team game, not an individual sport. Yes it helps when you have great individuals around you, but ultimately if you have a player that makes his teammates better, that team is going to succeed more. In the Washington series, Malkin didn't even show up. Sid really had to step it up and carry the team. He did, and ultimately the Pens advanced past the Caps, and to the ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup.
Both Crosby and Ovechkin were first picks in their respective drafts. Ovechkin has won the goal scoring titles a number of times, as well as had the most shots, the most goals, and the most points. Yes Alex puts up numbers, but is success measured by numbers, or is it by your performance in the playoffs, and ultimately in Stanley Cups? Yes again their are exceptions to measuring your performance in championships. You can argue Dan Marino was one of the best QB's to ever play the game, but he never won a Super Bowl? Karl Malone in widely considered one of the best Power forwards in NBA history, but never won a championship.
I would ultimately measure one's performance in how they did in the playoffs and what their stats are when it came down to crunch time. Ovechkin can have all the stats he wants in the regular season, but has only made the playoffs twice. Sid has made it three times. He was named youngest captain ever in the league, as well as the youngest captain ever to win a Stanley Cup.
We are lucky today to have both players in the league. They really have revitalized hockey, and brought the casual fan into the game. But for argument's sake Crosby is a better overall player. He makes his teammates around him better, he has more assists then goals, and is just a better leader then Alex. Alex sure is a darn talented player, and is a great individual player, but if your going to build a team around one player, you gotta go with Sid. If you want to score goals, and get shots on net, yeah go with Ovechkin, but if you want a pure leader who does the dirty work, makes regular guys look like Superstars, draws penalties, and much more, I think the choice is quite obvious in that you choose Sid the Kid.
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I'd like to start out by saying I'm glad you led this post off by explaining that you've never really watched Ovechkin play and ended by explaining that these players have brought the casual fan into the game. In the 7 paragraphs between the first and last, these were the only two points you successfully made clear.
ReplyDeleteYes, you eventually came to the right conclusion that Crosby was the best player in the world, however the means by which you got there are questionable at best. Let's go over a few highlights:
You start by saying that Ovechkin is the better skill player, only to end the paragraph by bringing up the extremely valid criticism that anyone that shot nearly as much as Ovechkin does would net more goals than most others who are not quite as one dimensional. BUT WAIT...Ovechkin's not one dimensional, right? Because we've all seen him run around recklessly with the intent to injure knowing he won't be suspended for blasting a guy with his head down or throwing a knee while the refs aren't looking and will instead be praised for the passion with which he plays the game. Additionally, I was unaware that Ovechkin "basically leads the league in goals every year", as he has only been awarded the Rocket Richard twice. This right here would have been enough to prove your point that Crosby was the better player.
But why stop there? Why not bring up the fact that when they went head to head in the playoffs Crosby came out victorious? Or the fact that Crosby is 11-4 vs. Ovechkin in the regular season with 24 points to Ovechkin’s 18? Ovechkin’s played 33 more games than Crosby, taken 852 more shots than Crosby, and still only remains 31 points ahead of Sid. These numbers show that even the argument that Ovechkin is a better offensive player seems pretty questionable.
How many times does Crosby have to go head to head with the competition and come out victorious before the doubters stop making this even a conversation topic anymore? After the lockout the NHL didn't need a circus act...they needed a savior...and that's just what they got in #87. Crosby's the better player...Lord Stanley thinks so too. Stick with the Duquesne Sports talk and leave the hockey chatter to the people who actually know what’s going on.