Ovechkin vs Crosby

[Jay21NY]

whos bettter and why give your opinion

[Money99]

For me, this is a bit of a loaded question.

If I were to build a team from scratch, and I need to pick one guy, I'd take Crosby. But it's oh-so-close.

AO is a more dynamic goal scorer, and more entertaining on and off the ice.

However, what makes me choose Crosby over AO is that he's more defensively responsible and he uses his teammates a bit more.

Also, while their numbers are very close to one another, AO has a lot more offensive support than Sid.
Not only does he play in a more offensively minded system, he has a 40-goal, and 30-goal scoring linemates. Heck, his center broke 100 points this year too. And I haven't even mentioned Mike Green.

Imagine if Sid had a 100-point winger on one side, and a 40-goal scoring winger on the other?
He's able to put up 100-points every year playing with 3rd line teammates.
If Sid were plucked into a situation similar to AO's, I believe he could top 130+ points every year. Maybe more.

The only thing that I wish Sid could work on is his temper flares. He can act childish at times. I'm going to tack that up to being young. Gretzky certainly had his share of tantrums on the ice.
But overall, I think Sid is the better of the two players - but it's razor, razor thin.

[TSOLEliot]

Sid...But I like watching the pedal to the metal way AO plays more if that makes any sense...

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by TSOLEliot

Sid...But I like watching the pedal to the metal way AO plays more if that makes any sense...

That's exactly how I feel. I'd rather watch AO, but Sid's a slightly better player at this point.

[tyler289]

At what point does AO get any credit for helping make guys like Backstrom the players they are? We all hear about he has so much more help, but people forget he put up ridiculous numbers with the following linemates his first two years:

Brian Willsie
Chris Clark
Kris Beech
Alex Giroux
Joe Motzko
Dianius Zubrus

No one ever gives him credit for making terrible players better, or being the primary reason for a guy like Backstrom's 100 points. He draws more attention on the ice than anyone else in the NHL. That opens up the ice for everyone else - ESPECIALLY Green.

[dickey1331]

I think Ovechkin is better. I also think Crosby is overrated but I think some of my hate goes to him due to my roommate in A-school was a huge Crosby fan and you just get tired of hearing about him all the time.

[Money99]

Quote: Originally Posted by tyler289

At what point does AO get any credit for helping make guys like Backstrom the players they are? We all hear about he has so much more help, but people forget he put up ridiculous numbers with the following linemates his first two years: Brian Willsie Chris Clark Kris Beech Alex Giroux Joe Motzko Dianius Zubrus No one ever gives him credit for making terrible players better, or being the primary reason for a guy like Backstrom's 100 points. He draws more attention on the ice than anyone else in the NHL. That opens up the ice for everyone else - ESPECIALLY Green.

Those are excellent points Tyler. And I don't think anyone is saying he doesn't make those around him better because he certainly does.
But I don't think you can say that Semin and Backstrom are equivalent to Guerin and Kunitz.
Also, while AO was out, Semin, Backstrom, Green and Fleishman all continued to put up very good numbers. In fact, I think Fleish scored 8 goals in the 10 games AO was out of the lineup.
AO is an awesome hockey player and I don't begrudge anyone for thinking he's the best player in the world right now. His stats and play on the ice vouch for that claim.
However, I don't think anyone can deny that he has a lot more offensive support than Sid has. That not only includes teammates, but also a generous system provided by his coach.

But if the Caps don't get past the 2nd round, I think Beadreau's gone and they'll probably replace him with a defensive-minded coach. Only then will we be able to see how his numbers react to a change of that magnitude.

[tyler289]

No, I definitely don't think they've had equal talent around them - I'm not saying that. Just saying that with terrible players around him, he's still produced as much as he ever has.