For the past six seasons, nothing has flip-flopped more than the infamous "who is better?" question. Is it the playmaker from the 'Burgh or the sniper from D.C.? Sid the Kid or the Great 8? Even though hockey is by far a less popular sport than most in our country, I don't believe any rivalry is more debated. And it is by far the best one that hockey has ever had. Yes, even better than Lemieux or Gretzky. Le Magnifique and the Great One rarely played each other, which left their rivalry much more open for debate and was a bit of a guessing game. Not the case with these two. They are in the same conference and we get to see them play all season. Plus, they have played in a playoff series against each other. Another thing that makes it great is that these two guys genuinely don't really like each other. Which, as far as I'm concerned, is the most important ingredient in any real rivalry. Rarely do two players, who came into the league together, compare so closely. They are so different, on the ice and off, in character as well as playing style. Sid is cool and collected while Ovechkin is wild and charismatic. Sid is quiet, Ovechkin is loud. Sid is the Beatles, Ovechkin is the Stones. Polar opposites, but so comparable. In their six years in the league, they have EXACT same amount of points for God's sake. They are both ultra-competitive. They legitimately want to be "the best".
Okay, now I'm going to be biased and tell you why Sid is better. Until this season, it was always a toss-up. But Sid is playing out of his mind and Ovie is having by far his worst season. Their teams are following suit. The debate is over... for now. Although their talents are comparable, Crosby has proven to possess a winning pedigree that Ovenchkin simply does not. Crosby has been playing for, and winning championships since high school. He has captained two Stanley Cup Finals teams. The first lost to powerhouse Detroit. The second got their revenge a year later, making him the youngest captain in history to hoist the Cup. Oh and he has an Olympic gold medal too. On the other hand, Ovie has been a loser at all levels. He has a gold medal from the '03 World Juniors, but he was 16 and was not a leader on the team, and he has an '08 World Championship gold... from a tourney that Crosby did not play in. Sid was busy leading his team to the Cup Finals while Ovie was already sent packing. Which bring me to their respective team's playoff records. Sid's Pens are 38-24 with two trips to the Finals. Ovie is 13-15 which is not totally awful, but they have only won one series out of four. Ovie's Caps also blew a 3-1 series lead to the Pens and he is 1-3 in game sevens. Sid shines brightest at the biggest times, where it seems Ovechkin takes it all upon himself and crumbles under pressure.
I think you must next look at the all-around play of each guy. Obviously they both play on the power play. But sid has a regular shift on the PK where Ovechkin does not. This should hurt Sid's +/-, yet this yer he is a +16 where Ovie s a +8. Sid has also improved his face-off percentage from 45% in 05-06 to 56% in 10-11. That's about 200 more faceoff wins per season. On top of this, Crosby is a much better defensive player that Ovechkin. A lot of this has to do with the fact that he is a center and Ovie is a winger, therefore it is in Sid's job description. But he has learned in just a couple years what it took guys like Sakic and Yzerman much longer to realize - the importance of defense. They did not become the all-around player that Crosby already is until much later in their careers. Because of this, Bylsma is able to put Crosby's line up against opposing top lines, simply because he is so good on both ends of the ice.
Another thing that we have to take into consideration is the fact that they have similar numbers year in and year out, but Crosby does it with less talented linemates. In five of six seasons Sid has outscored both of his linemates combined. Ovechkin has only done it twice. Ovie's linemates have 733 points in those six years, where Sid's only have mustered 389. And even despite this, Sid still has a higher career points-per-game average.
Age is another factor. Sid is two years younger than Ovechkin and has four less years of professional experience because Ovie played four pro seasons in Russia before joining the NHL. Sid's game is constantly improving where Ovie's seems to have stalled for now.
Style of play is another important component that falls in Crosby's favor. Sid makes everyone around him better. Ovechkin makes everyone around him irrelevant. He hogs the puck, takes bad shots, and tries to do it all himself when things get tough.
While Crosby has taken the indisputable lead in this race, it is by no means over. If and when Alex Ovechkin makes the effort to become a better all around player, and learns to use the extremely good players around him, he and the Washington Capitals have the potential to become an even more dangerous team. And Ovie might be considered the better player. Until then, no one can deny that Sidney Crosby is the best player in the world. Bring on the Winter Classic
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