Why do people think Ovechkin is better than Crosby?

Question

It isn't even a competition anymore. How many MVP's does Ovechkin have 0. How many scoring titles does he have 0. And how many time has he been to the playoffs 0. Crosby is the king of the NHL

Answer 1

Every society/group has it's morons hockey is no exception.There are people who claim Gretzky wouldn't have been so good if he hadn't had a great team around him (like the idiot above me) It never occurs to them that playing with Gretzky made these players better. Just like Orr made the players around him better on the Bruins. (how else does Dallas Smith hold one of the top +/- numbers of all time?) There are people who slag Mario for whatever reason. What galls me most is these pissants have never laced on a pair of skates, couldn't hand out a hip check or rip a slapper into the top corner but have high and mighty opinions about the game. They call Sid a whiner but they did the same with Gretzky too. The only reason Ovechkin isn't being called a whiner is that he barely speaks English. It's hard to complain when the guy you're gabbing at doesn't understand you.
Ovechkin is NOT as good as Crosby and he never will be. He is simply too selfish on the ice to ever be as good. End of story.

Answer 2

Its all about the goals. Ovechkin racks em up more often than crosby does, although Crosby is by far the better playmaker and thus his presance produces much more goals than Ovechkin ever could. Also, Ovechkin is a much more physical player, and that is somthing you have to take into consideration, which is why both Forsberg and Thornton were both once considered the best players in the world, the ability to score, make plays, and have a strong physical game. Although ten to twenty years from now, no one will even remeber Thorton, Forsberg, and possibly Ovechkin, while names like Gretzky and Crosby will be infamous with hockey as long as its a sport, assuming Crosby continues to do what he's doing for the years to come.

Answer 3

I laugh at the "Crosby had much more talent around him." Crosby has not had great linemates and he has that ability to MAKE THOSE AROUND HIM BETTER a la Gretzky. Also, to this point, Ovechkin has averaged more ice time per game.
Ovechkin had more points in his rookie season? HE WAS 2 YEARS OLDER. If you want a true read for comparisons, compare Ovechkin's rookie season to Crosby's upcoming season. Then you get the same age. Crosby will probably have about 40-50 more points than Ovechkin did as a 20 year old.
Would Ovechkin have had 100 points as an 18 year old? HELL NO. Probably a max of 60 or 70.
I chalk it up to lack of hockey knowledge, homerism, jealousy etc.

Answer 4

Sidney Crosby. He is the best over all player in the game. He knows how to win, score goals, defend, and make the players around him better. Ovechkin is more of a one man show, while Crosby allows other players to share the spot light. Crosby has been to the Stanley Cup playoff finals twice, winning the cup, and hoisting it as the youngest captain ever. He knows how to win, and be successful. Ovi does not. Even if Ovechkin wins the cup this year, it still won't make him the best, because Crosby had already done it, and better. His work ethic proves he is the best. And, he simply is.

Answer 5

Anyone who thinks Ovechkin is better than Crosby just doesn't know hockey, plain and simple. Especially the people who are saying that Crosby just has a better team around him. Crosby (just like Gretzky) makes the players around him better. He is the complete package. Don't get me wrong, Ovechkin is unbelievable too, but he's not Sid the Kid.

Part of the reason people say this is because Ovechkin has had a lot more "highlight reel" goals. I think some people think this makes him a better player. They're entitled to their opinion, I disagree with them.

Only time will tell, but I think this season its gonna be clear to a lot more people just how good Crosby is. This debate will end pretty soon.

Just reading some of the remarks in here, its pretty clear the pro-Ovechkin comments are made by people who don't know hockey. Just because you play hockey or watch it on tv doesn't mean you KNOW hockey....

Answer 6

Once somebody is King, there will always be supporters of the pretender to the crown.

Gretzky was king. He has 9 of the 11 best point per game seasons, he broke 200 points 4 times (no one else did)

Yet, there are people who think Mario was better.

Mario's first injury came 5 seasons into his career. By that time in his career, Gretzky already had two 200 point seasons.

In the end, Crosby will win the battle of Ovechkin vs Crosby.

Answer 7

Anyone who says Alex Ovechkin is better than Sidney Crosby doesn't understand the basic intangible of hockey: they are two different players! Many people compare Wayne Gretzky to Mario Lemieux because not only did they play the same position, they played the same role: playmaker. The same thing with Mike Bossy and Rocket Richard, or Patrick Roy and Martin Brodeur. With Ovechkin, you get a pure goal-scorer (and believe me when I say this: there are not a whole lot of those to go around in the NHL), a flamboyant talent who puts the asses in the seats on an occasional basis. With Crosby, you get a guy who carried his team on his back during his rookie year, especially when he had no one around him (the two best players on the team retired at mid-season, another veteran couldn't hack it, one vet was traded, and Crosby was the centerpiece of an ECHL team). The Penguins are nothing more than the Blue Jackets without Crosby. The Capitals are no better than the Kings with or without Ovechkin. Both players are forwards, yes. However, they play distinct, but nevertheless vital, roles for their respective franchises. Crosby's Penguins will make the playoffs because of him. Ovechkin's Capitals will make the playoffs in spite of him. There is a difference.

Answer 8

Ovechkin scores more Goals than Crosby. To some people thats what matters...

In regards to Lemieux vs Gretzsky, the difference there is that Lemieux played on the Pittsburgh Penguins, a team that basically had no one except Lemieux for many years until one year when Jagr, Recchi and Stevens all showed up and surprise surprise... a Stanley Cup was won...

Gretzsky on the other hand played for the Edmonton Oilers; a team that was for all intents and purposes about on par with allowing one of the All-Star teams to play in regular season. They are still recognized today as probably the greatest regular season NHL hockey team ever assembled.

How many of those 200 pt seasons did he score once he went to the Los Angeles Kings; thats right... 0. In fact Mario Lemieux had 31 more points that season.

Answer 9

well Ovechkin and Crosby are two diffrent styles. and have two diffrent supporting casts.

Crosby had much much more talent around him then ovechkin did so hense he had a more productive season. while Ovechkin had one truely NHL player along his side in Semin. Ovechkin is also a much better Goal Scorer then Crosby while Crosby puts up better Assist numbers.

And lastly Ovechkin is Bigger Stronger and More Physical. he is not afraid of a fight and he will hit.

Crosby is more scrauny. he tends to shy away from Physical Contact. and crosby's numbers wern't that much better then Ovechkins ( 30 or so points on a much better team) with Ovechkin Leading in Career goals 98 goals to Corsbys 75.

and the career points are only a differential of 24 points

Ovechkin 198
Crosby 222.

it will be intresting to see Ovechkins production increase now that he has a center that can feed him the puck. Ovechkin could very well pass crosby in points this year. only time will tell.

Answer 10

What a silly question.
Let me ask you why do people think mashed potatoes are better than pumpkin pie on Thanks Giving?

Who was better, Reggie White or Jerry Rice?

What's the most important thing on a car, functioing breaks or a stearing wheel?

There is not only a fair share of patriotism involved here, but the whole comparision between the two is a testament to poor hockey knowledge.

What either team would have been able to achieve without these young superstars is yet another silly speculation.

Who has had better players around them? Wrong question.

Crosby is a playmaker, and a damn good one at this age. His job is to make other people better. He has done a good job at that and he has that role. He is given the puck to create.

Ovechkin is a sniper. He may log more icetime, but if he isn't given the puck at the right time or the right place, he will be ineffective.

They are responsible for different areas of execution, different roles, within their teams, and the idea of who is better or more valuable has just as much to do with coaching and style of play as anything else. It's easy to build arounf a playmaker, and virtually impossible to build for a sniper. We'll see this year though. Washington has brought in some really sold playmakers, so Alex may have to prove that his worth the contract they gave him.

Another thing that I always think of when I see these discussions is that people completely disregard and forget that these players are still human are subject to psychological highs and lows. Ovechkin, Malkin, etc. are coming into a competely new arena in life, with a new language, culture, absense of family, friends, favorite foods, etc. They are young, and in the beginning it's all fun, new, and exciting, but as you settle and try to create "a new life," it can be VERY CONFUSING AND DIFFICULT to battle senses of loss, confusion, home sickness, stress, and lonliness to avoid slipping into depressions. It can't be easy to be that young and all of a sudden have that much money while looking for "new friends" and make sense out of all the new concepts of life that slams into you every day you step outside your door (yes, I came over here myself at the age of 19 and went through some of this as well as having seen others have a heck of a time trying to handle all this and re-define life).

Kids like Sid, Staal, Kessel, etc. DO HAVE AN INCREDIBLE ADVANTAGE right out of the gate. The question is always how quickly the guys from overseas can adapt and continue to develop with their surroundings. Some manage that better than others, but many times that has nothing to do with their skills and abilities in icehockey. Just look at the Super-5 from the old SovietUnion (Fetisov, Kasatonov, Makarov, Larionov, and Krutov). It took years for them to adapt to life here (and yes, I know they were older when they came here), but nobody can argue their ability and skill, yet it took quite a while for Larionov and Makarov to blossom. Kasatonov and Fetisov never became more than mediocre at best, and Krutov fell apart completely and ended up in a third tier league in Sweden for a short 3 months before even they fired his 100 lbs-overweight-***.