Crosby & Ovechkin Showcase Contrast In Styles

By Mike Chen
October 13, 2008

Crosby versus Ovechkin. Sid the Kid versus Alexander the Great. 87 versus 8.

Is it getting blase to constantly compare these two great players? That depends on your point of view.

Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin came together in a bit of serendipity. Here were two all-world talents that gave the re-born NHL something to latch on to following the lockout. Their so-called rivalry had less to do with actual on-ice competition and more to do with fan debates over a pizza and beer about who's better.

But really, isn't that the point, especially in today's sports world? Crosby and Ovechkin may hardly know each other off the ice but their respective fans are passionate enough to endlessly argue for their guy as being top dog.

The funny thing is that they couldn't be any more different, both on and off the ice. Here's Ovechkin, slamming into people at full speed while doing anything to score goals, including, as his most popular YouTube highlight shows, sliding on his back. On Versus Monday night you will see Ovechkin take on Roberto Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks. If you focus on Ovechkin the whole game, you’ll see his energy any time he rams someone into the boards or wears his emotion on his sleeve after a goal. It’s infectious and often refreshing to see in today’s world of athletic quote-o-bots.

Then you have Crosby, creative and yet methodical. His quiet intensity differs from Ovechkin's boisterous enthusiasm, but they produce similar results. With Crosby, you never know if he's going to shoot, pass, or go with Plan C, which usually elicits a "How'd he do that?" response.

Steady and disciplined, when Crosby takes on the Philadelphia Flyers Tuesday night on Versus, you probably won’t see the same raw emotion as Ovechkin. Instead, you’ll see Crosby control the boards or burst past the defense or pull a miracle pass out of nowhere. And when the Penguins score, you’ll see Crosby with arms raised and the TV microphones might even catch him yelling, but you won’t see him flailing full-speed into the glass. Groomed to be a professional since he was a kid, Crosby never seems to let his emotions go over the top; instead, his on-ice performance speaks for him.

Stick a microphone in front of them and this pattern continues. When introduced at a recent community function, the ever-exuberant Ovechkin announced himself by saying, "Heeeeeeeeeey, I score goals!" In contrast, Crosby has been known to break down his thought process for reporters, such as the time he explained how he once scored a on-one-knee sliding tap-in goal because he recognized that his teammate's pass was going long and he'd have better reach if he simply kneeled down and lunged his stick out.

(Short aside: Of course, I always have the same thoughts going through my head in my beer-league games. Seriously. I just don’t act on it as much as Crosby because, you know, I don’t want to make everyone look bad.)

Here are two guys, joined together by immeasurable skill and the fact that they were rookies in the same post-lockout season, yet they’re separated by approach, demeanor, and personality. Rivalry? What rivalry? While Washington/Pittsburgh games are a treat for fans and media, for Sid and Alex, there's a good chance that it's just another two points up for grabs.

However, just wait until the inevitable playoff series between these two teams. Rivalries, after all, are truly born in the postseason and a playoff-mode Crosby versus Ovechkin battle will be something to behold. Maybe they'll actually even start to dislike each other, at least a little bit.

Imagine that—the intensity of the Stanley Cup playoffs pitting the genius of both Ovechkin and Crosby against each other. The season’s just starting, but there’s a little gift that all hockey fans can hope for when all is said and done.