Alexander Ovechkin or Sidney Crosby: Who Is a More Valuable Asset?

I've debated or have at least mentioned in some previous posts who I believe to really be the better of the two between Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, but in case people haven't read those previous articles, here it goes again—Alex Ovechkin is the more superior player between the two.  Here is why:

First thing, If I asked you who the better player was between Alex Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, the majority of people will say Ovechkin.  But if I asked you who is better between Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby, then there would be a debate. But as of right now, and since mid-season last year, Malkin is the superior player to Crosby.

I was glad to finally see someone in the NHL say something over the hype surrounding Sidney Crosby.  Now some people could argue that they're jealous—but believe me, in no way is Alexander Semin jealous of Sidney Crosby.

Don't get me wrong. It's great what the NHL has done is promoting Sidney Crosby and broadening the NHL. Yet the NHL has so many stars to offer other than just Sidney Crosby. He is simply over-hyped and granted, I'm sure he does not want all this exposure.  What 21-year old would? He has taken it all in great stride, promoting the NHL and spend all his free time being the ambassador for hockey.

What was lost in translation on what Semin said of Crosby is more that the NHL is promoting one man as the best in the world, when he does not stand far above the other franchise players. Crosby is no Gretzky, or Lemieux for that matter. Not even in this era of the NHL.

Crosby has accomplished a lot in his brief career in the NHL, He was the youngest player in all of sports to win a leading-scorer award and league MVP. But while everyone stated Crosby would run away with the Calder Memorial Trophy, his rookie year he was ousted by Alex Ovechkin.

In the first two years Crosby has had the beneficiary of playing with better players than Ovechkin—especially in their rookie season. Sidney Crosby has had Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney to move the puck out of the defense zone, while Ovechkin had to wait til last season for Mike Green to emerge as a puck-moving superstar.

In Crosby's second season he had the benefit of having both Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal joining the fold as well as two other top-five draft picks. Crosby was surrounded by a better cast of players, but the Caps have caught up with the emergence of Alexander Semin, Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, and free agent pickups Sergei Fedorov, Viktor Kozlov, Jose Theodore, Tom Poti, Michael Nylander and Brian Pothier—although Pothier has been on the Injured Reserved list for some time.

Now that both teams have consistent depth, the rivalry is getting bigger and Ovechkin is emerging as the better player.

Ovechkin has won more hardware than Crosby has.  Both have won the triple crown of the Art Ross, Lester B. Pearson, and the Hart Memorial, yet Ovechkin has also won the Maurice Rocket Richard as well as beaten Crosby for the Calder Memorial for rookie of the year. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ovechkin evolve his game even further, and one day win Frank J Selke trophy for best defensive forward, as he does have one of the best as a mentor in Fedorov.

Ovechkin has been more valuable to his team as well. Ovechkin has scored 24 game-winning goals in his career, while Crosby has scored 13. Ovechkin has scored 71 power-play goals to Crosby's 37.

Ovechkin came out of the door late this season due to stress and emotional turmoil of his ailing grandfather whom he is quite close to back in Russia, but when Ovechkin came back, he was back to his dominating ways.

As of today, Crosby has 22 points in 18 games, and Ovechkin has the same in 16 games. Ovechkin has 14 points in the past five games, along with a five-game goal streak.  Over than span, Ovechkin has put up six goals and eight assists, and all were multiple-point games.

If Ovechkin keeps up this pace he'll no doubt catch up to Evgeni Malkin and take the lead in the NHL scoring race. With the chemistry of between him, Semin, Backstrom, and Fedorov, the pace should continue.

Contrary to my argument—because I know people are going to bring it up—yes, Crosby has lead the Penguins to the Cup Finals this past year after coming back from a high-ankle sprain that kept him out for 29 games last season. I know that, but everyone knows that hockey is not an individual sport. 

Most of a players success can be attributed to his teammates. Crosby would not have been in the finals if he was not on a team with such great depth. In Crosby's first appearance in the playoffs, the Pens were eliminated in five games by the Ottawa Senators who went on to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Ovechkin has only been in the playoffs once, but like I said, it is important to be surrounded by other good players. The Capitals had a very intense and one of the most exciting playoff series against the Flyers that went to a Game Seven in overtime.

That game could've gone either way.  Had the Capitals won, they would've faced the Penguins in the second round—and that for sure would have been one of the most anticipated playoff match-ups in recent years.

I don't think any two teams have been more anticipated to play against each other in the playoffs since the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry in 1996.

Crosby's team was eliminated in their first playoff appearance in the first round, as was Ovechkin's. Ovechkin has made a comment about that—except he has stated when the Capitals make the Stanley Cup Finals, they will win the Cup.

It'll be interesting to see as both players progress through their careers which player accomplishes more—but as of right now, Ovechkin is the better player. 

As I've stated before, the NHL should advertise more of its stars than Crosby to make more of them household names. By doing so, it will open the game up to more people. Ovechkin never shies away from interviews or doing various charitable events in the Washington area, despite his thick Russian accent, and has made a very good effort in adapting to the North American Culture.

The NHL should promote Ovechkin more.  He is one of the most exciting players to ever play in the NHL.  Other players that are exciting—even more so than Crosby—include Patrick Kane, Thomas Vanek, Ilya Kovalchuk, Mike Green, Henrik Zetterberg, and Jarome Iginla.