Best Player in the NHL?

[Check my Stats]

Okay, Ovechkin is a beast, I agree, but I think he is vastly overrated in the way pretty much everyone declares him the number 1 player in the NHL.

 

Sidney Crosby is the best player in the NHL, and it'd be a complete fact if he had the ability to go one on 5 like Ovechkin and Malkin, but even without that he is a better player than both of those players.

 

First off he has a better PPG ratio than both Malkin and Ovie... add to the fact Crosby is constantly covered by the opposing teams best defender almost every game almost all night... then add to that as well Crosby is playing a far more demanding position than Ovechkin at C, compared to wing where Ovie just floats around the blue line (often times outside of his own blue line) until he gets the puck in which probably no one can match is straight away speed. Crosby is forced to come deep in his own end and play actual defense.

 

There is a reason Zetterberg was the one shadowing Crosby in the finals and not Malkin, there is a reason the Penguins made it to the finals this year, Malkin might be the main key to them winning it, and they wouldn't have one if they were missing either, but Crosby was the more dominant player in the first 3 rounds, but being covered by arguably the best defensive forward in the game took a toll on his production.

 

What is Crosby? The best positional forward in the game, best playmaker in the game, plays actual defense, I've also never seen this guy get knocked off his feet when he has his feet set down low. Whether you want points, wins, championships, anything besides goals, no matter how you look at it Crosby is the best player in the NHL, regardless of his reputation as a whiner or a baby.

 

Not to mention Ovechkin gets playing time with much better finishers than Crosby, Backstrom and Semin? Hot damn imagine Crosby with just Semin on his wing? He'd be putting up HUGE numbers, Ovechkin fails to utilize his teammates the way Crosby does, his assists seem to mostly come from rebounds of his own shots. Crosby plays mostly with guys like Guerin and Kunitz, hell even Fedotenko and Talbot and 3rd line players get to play with Crosby, and they get goals because he finds them when they are open all they need to do is keep their stick on the ice, anyways these guys are nowhere as skilled as Backstrom, Federov or Semin etc.

 

Please tell me how Ovechkin is a better player than Crosby.

Edited July 1, 2009 by travesy3

[EastCoastNiner]

I'm not going to respond to that, but if you need more detailed opinions, go to "HFBoards".

 

 

Take it for what it's worth(probably not too much), but Sidney Crosby ranks third in the latest poll there.

[EastCoastNiner]

Also, Sidney Crosby gets a [expletive] load of "Secondary Assists" and gets a lot of his points of the PP.

[fly3rs18]

Okay, Ovechkin is a beast, I agree, but I think he is vastly overrated in the way pretty much everyone declares him the number 1 player in the NHL.

 

Sidney Crosby is the best player in the NHL, and it'd be a complete fact if he had the ability to go one on 5 like Ovechkin and Malkin, but even without that he is a better player than both of those players.

 

First off he has a better PPG ratio than both Malkin and Ovie... add to the fact Crosby is constantly covered by the opposing teams best defender almost every game almost all night... then add to that as well Crosby is playing a far more demanding position than Ovechkin at C, compared to wing where Ovie just floats around the blue line (often times outside of his own blue line) until he gets the puck in which probably no one can match is straight away speed. Crosby is forced to come deep in his own end and play actual defense.

 

There is a reason Zetterberg was the one shadowing Crosby in the finals and not Malkin, there is a reason the Penguins made it to the finals this year, Malkin might be the main key to them winning it, and they wouldn't have one if they were missing either, but Crosby was the more dominant player in the first 3 rounds, but being covered by arguably the best defensive forward in the game took a toll on his production.

 

What is Crosby? The best positional forward in the game, best playmaker in the game, plays actual defense, I've also never seen this guy get knocked off his feet when he has his feet set down low. Whether you want points, wins, championships, anything besides goals, no matter how you look at it Crosby is the best player in the NHL, regardless of his reputation as a whiner or a baby.

 

Not to mention Ovechkin gets playing time with much better finishers than Crosby, Backstrom and Semin? Hot damn imagine Crosby with just Semin on his wing? He'd be putting up HUGE numbers, Ovechkin fails to utilize his teammates the way Crosby does, his assists seem to mostly come from rebounds of his own shots. Crosby plays mostly with guys like Guerin and Kunitz, hell even Fedotenko and Talbot and 3rd line players get to play with Crosby, and they get goals because he finds them when they are open all they need to do is keep their stick on the ice, anyways these guys are nowhere as skilled as Backstrom, Federov or Semin etc.

 

Please tell me how Ovechkin is a better player than Crosby.

 

 

thats a lot to respond to but ill try. might take a few posts.

 

 

what PPG are you talking about? power play goal, points per goal, i have no idea. and of course crosby is going to be covered by the opposing teams best defender. do you think ovechkin isnt? that is not a very good arguement to prove that crosby is better. if anything it shows that teams might not always have their best defenders on crosby because they also have to focus on malkin. ovechkin will always have the top defensive forwards and top D pairs on him the entire night because the caps dont have anyone on any other line.

 

i havent focused on crosby's defense enough to talk alot about it, but in the games that i have watched, i have not noticed him as the best positional player in the league. maybe its just because i havent focused on it, maybe not. and if crosby is so good at this, why can he never kill penalties? he does occasionally, but most of the season he just sits on the bench for the PK. not much of an all around player if you ask me

 

but you do have a legit point with the guys on crosby's line vs the guys on ovechkin's line. these guys do help ovechkin out a lot, but he would still be a great player regardless of who he plays with. yes crosby usually plays with a bunch of third liners, but dont forget that on the powerplay and usually multiple times a game malkin and crosby play on the same line. that is not no one.

 

i have seen crosby knocked on his [expletive] a few times, but most of the time he is just throwing his head back and falling whenever he gets touched. ovechkin has balls and hits guys. i can not say that a guy who acts as much as crosby does deserves to be the best player in the league. 10 year old girls are not deserving of being the best player in the NHL

 

(i think there are a few points that i missed, but ill get to them later)

[Check my Stats]

Points per game, should have explained that sorry.

 

He is the best positional forward in the game, maybe not defensively but offensively he is always in the right place, his offensive awareness is off the charts. And have you seen the way Ovechkin hits people? The guy is going to end his own damn career one day, he throws his entire body at the guy, you see what happened when he missed Malkin that one time? He couldn't even stop and flew into the damn boards. And the difference is that you don't shadow a winger because a winger doesn't come much deeper than the top of his own circle, a center is all over the ice and a lot easier to shadow, Ovie is primarily covered by defensemen, who let's face it are much slower than forwards like Zetterberg.

 

Crosby utilizes his teammates better than any player in the NHL, and like I said if he had that 1 on 5 ability like Malkin and Ovie he'd be the undisputed best player in the NHL.

 

That is a good point about the PK, but I can't think of any star forwards who DO get run on the PK besides Zetty and Datsyuk... Crosby isn't physical enough to play on the penalty kill IMO. Hitting players doesn't make you a good hockey player.

 

And yo what are the HFBoards?

[EastCoastNiner]

Points per game, should have explained that sorry.

 

He is the best positional forward in the game, maybe not defensively but offensively he is always in the right place, his offensive awareness is off the charts. And have you seen the way Ovechkin hits people? The guy is going to end his own damn career one day, he throws his entire body at the guy, you see what happened when he missed Malkin that one time? He couldn't even stop and flew into the damn boards. And the difference is that you don't shadow a winger because a winger doesn't come much deeper than the top of his own circle, a center is all over the ice and a lot easier to shadow, Ovie is primarily covered by defensemen, who let's face it are much slower than forwards like Zetterberg.

 

Crosby utilizes his teammates better than any player in the NHL, and like I said if he had that 1 on 5 ability like Malkin and Ovie he'd be the undisputed best player in the NHL.

 

That is a good point about the PK, but I can't think of any star forwards who DO get run on the PK besides Zetty and Datsyuk... Crosby isn't physical enough to play on the penalty kill IMO. Hitting players doesn't make you a good hockey player.

 

And yo what are the HFBoards?

 

Ummm, you can say that Sidney Crosby has a better PPG ration, but Alexander Ovechkin has more points in 3/4 seasons.

 

Also, I read some statistic that says PP v.s. PK time, Sidney Crosby plays the 2nd least PK time in comparison to the time he spends on the PP, getting all of his secondary assists.

 

Also, Alexander Ovechkin is a more feared player than Sidney Crosby.

 

 

Alex Ovechkin, Exgeni Malkin, and Sidney Crosby are very close in talent, and you can make a strong argument for any of them.

[fly3rs18]

it is true that crosby is always in the right place on offense. he gets so many BS goals because the rebound just happens to bounce right to him.

 

and crosby has under .1 PPG better then ovechkin. that is nothing. not to mention crosby should be getting way more points because you can get more assists then you can get goals.

 

 

who cares if ovechkin will end his career one day. he plays with balls. he puts everything he has into being the most aggressive player he can be. he does a damn good job at it too. crosby doesnt at all. crosby just gets in the right spot and gets lucky with rebound goals and secondary assists.

 

and most star forwards play. obviously not all, but a lot do. doesnt malkin?

 

 

and ovechkin is by far a more feared player then crosby. its not even a discussion

[Diesel]

I think Malkin is the best player. It's absolutely absurd that Crosby is marketed so much when he's not even the best player on his own team. Something tells me if Malkin could speak legit English then the Crosby hype wouldn't be as high as it is. Malkin has all the tools. He is huge at 6'4 and strong as hell. He's nearly impossible to knock off the puck and is very dangerous at full speed(he's very fast), nearly impossible to stop without commiting a penalty. He has a nice touch for finding his teammates in good positions and unlike Crosby he doesn't have all those secondary assists. His vision is incredible. Malkin just has everything you need in a hockey player.