Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin: Past, Present, and Future

In this article I will look at the young rivalry of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. We'll review their past milestones and trophies, as well as any disappointments that we have seen.

So far in the career of Sid “the Kid” Crosby, the player has already had two 100-point seasons. He has also won the Lester B. Pearson, Hart, and Art Ross Trophies. Crosby has twice been named to the first team all-stars, but due to an injury was unable to play in 2007-08.

Sidney Crosby is also the youngest player in history to be named captain of an NHL team. At 19 years and 297 days old, he was 37 days younger than Vinny Lecavalier was when he was named captain by the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Crosby has scored a total of 294 points in his three years in the league, with only 99 of them goals. In only 25 career playoff games he has managed to rack up 32 points, including 23 assists.

Crosby has all the tools an NHLer needs to be successful and more. He is without a doubt a future Hall of Famer, and I predict he will break Wayne Gretzky’s point record of 2,857 at some point in his career.

Now for Alexander “The Great” Ovechkin. With 310 points in only 245 career games, Ovie has already shown he is up on top, ahead of most of today's stars.

In three years Ovie also has collected two 100-point seasons, having missed the chance for three in a row by only eight points in 2007. He has won the Rocket Richard, Lester B. Pearson, Art Ross, and Calder (rookie of the year) trophies.

Ovechkin won the Calder trophy in 2006, beating Sidney Crosby and Dion Phaneuf. Ovie was a first team all-star in 2007 and 2008, and was also named to the NHL all-rookie all-star team in 2006.

In his first season Ovechkin was named to the Russian Olympic team (which was the same year Crosby wasn’t named to the Canadian team), collecting five points (all goals) in eight games.

I think Alex Ovechkin is the only who has a chance to break both Gretzky’s season record for goals in a season (93) and his career record of 894.

Both these players are great, but which is better? It is still way too early to say, but they both have bright futures with their respective clubs.