Crosby vs. Ovechkin

The most heated debate in the hockey world, is who is better Sidney Crosby or Alexander Ovechkin. There is no doubt that they are two of the best hockey players, but the debate goes on. Sidney Crosby was drafted in 2005 1st overall, and had more hype surrounding him then any other player before he was drafted. The 2005 draft was the first draft to happen after the 2004 lockout, and it was the first draft to use the newly installed lottery. Leading up to the 2005 draft it was called the "Sidney Crosby sweepstakes." Alexander Ovechkin was drafted 1st overall in the 2004 draft, granted he was drafted 1st overall, but he did not have the hype surrounding him like Crosby did.

Because of the NHL lockout in 2004, both of there rookie years were the same year, 2005. Right away before the year began, the cameras were all on Crosby, and it didn't help that The Great One himself said that if anyone could break his record's it would be his fellow Canadian, Sidney Crosby. But slowly throughout the season, you couldn't help but notice that Ovechkin was all over the highlight reel and putting up ridiculous numbers, just like Crosby. The attention then became who would win the Calder Trophy (rookie of the year).

After the 2005 season it was Ovechkin who received the Calder Trophy as the rookie of the year in the NHL after he posted 52 goals and 54 assists, totaling 106 points. Crosby who also had a memorable rookie season finished with 39 goals 63 assists, totaling 102 points. But this would just be the beginning of the rivalry between the two.

During the 2006 season, into both of their second NHL seasons, after getting their feet wet, they both exploded onto the scene, making their names known as the two best players in the NHL and the faces of the game of hockey. Ovechkin's season wasn't as well as his rookie campaign but he still put up great numbers tallying 46 goals and 46 assists, totaling 92 points. But it was Crosby who took center stage that year tallying 36 goals, 84 assists and totaling a ridiculous 120 points. Taking home the Art Ross trophy (most points in the season), the Lester B. Pearson Award as the MVP voted on by the players, and the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league MVP.

The Crosby-Ovechkin debate is the most debatable topic in the NHL, and one of the most debatable in all of sports. Some compare this rivalry to the Kobe-LeBron rivalry of the NBA. I believe that this is a better rivalry because Crosby and Ovechkin just flat out don't like each other at all. Ovechkin has been quoted saying that Crosby is a whiner, and Crosby thinks that Ovechkin is a dirty player. Both sides can be seen, because many players claim that Crosby whines if he doesn't get a call, and just by watching Ovechkin play, he goes out of his way to hit someone(hence this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZkPn9kjRFE), after you watch this video, you can Oveckin went right after Malkin, and well Malkin knocked him out.

This rivalry really took a turn to Crosby's side after he was the youngest captain to lead his team to the Stanley Cup in 2007 and then the youngest captain to win the Stanley Cup in 2008 and also scoring the game winning goal in overtime in the Gold Medal game against the United States, capturing the Gold Medal on home ice. Ovechkin though has more individual trophy's and more top 10 plays on Sportscenter, at the end of the day the only thing that matters, is winning and that seems like the only thing Sid the Kid knows how to do.

The future is bright for these two stars, and it will be exciting to watch.