Alex Ovechkin: NHL's Undercover Superstar

See Pittsburgh? It’s not just the Philadelphia contingent that thinks Sid is overhyped.

It happens in other sports as well.  The NBA consists of Kobe Bryant and Lebron James and nobody else of note.  However, the NHL is making a mistake by overpromoting Crosby.  The NHL had its biggest success, in terms of appealing to U.S. fans, in the early ’90’s..when the league was carried by two major superstars, Gretzky and Lemieux.  The NHL needs to promote rivalry between Crosby and Ovechkin (like the NBA did with Magic and Bird during the ’80’s).  Also, it’s to the NHL’s advantage that they play in the same division.  With that said…Crosby isn’t even the best player on his own team this year…it’s Evgeni Malkin.

They should find two guys named Nash and Stills, teach them to play hockey, then put them on the same line as Crosby.

So a Washington writer thinks Ovechkin is being underpremoted, and Crosby overpremoted. What a suprise. Is Crosby overpremoted, yeah but Ovechkin is by no means underpremoted. Everytime one of these player’s name comes up the other’s is usually right after. The only player who is truely underpremoted is Malkin.
 
Zetterberg and Datsyuk are this generations versions of Yzerman and Ferderov, great players within the game (potentially future hall of famers) but not legends who draw people outside of true hockey fans. Ovechkin, Crosby, and Malkin are the three players that fans outside of hockey will be drawn to (they like flash and offense and I would agree that Ovechkin is the tops in flash for sure). Right now only one speaks English well enough that fans that don’t follow hockey in American can follow. The NHL should premote all their big stars in there home countries if they are trying to be more international. As Ovechkin and Malkin become more comfortable in English and lose their heavy accents they will be more marketable to the USA.

PS: There are tons of great players that were underpremoted. But the most glaring of the past generation to me is Lidstrom, one of the best defensemen ever (IMO second to Orr).

oveckin plays fearless.

crosby fears physical confrontation.  at least, until someone else starts up, he jumps in as third man, keeps his gloves on, and punches the guy in the groin.  crosby flops, and whines to the refs.

i would take the likes of oveckin, despite his racial handicap (sorry, am flyers fan), anyday over that pretty boy.

I think Sid is great spokes person. Yeah hes everywere but he not an ass hole like other leages stars.

He’s not an asshole, he just cheapshots people in them.

Ironcity, AO isn’t an asshole, but Crosby sure complains when he’s caught for the same crap he cries to the refs about.  For that matter, most top players aren’t assholes.  This article is way overdue, as it shows that it isn’t just the "Filthadelphia" "jealous" "Cryers" crowd.  It’s a fact Pitt, face it.  Crosby is overmarketed.  I’m so sick of the NHL jamming this guy on everything associated with the NHL when they have just as good or better players around as well.  Here’s a short list Pens "fans" (if they truly exist when the team isn’t stacked with 1st overall picks) of other stud players you might know about if it weren’t for Bettman’s Crosby-fetish:

Ovechkin, Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Lidstrom, Malkin (hey, he’s good), Brodeur, Mike Richards

Here are some up and comers too while I’m at it:

Jeff Carter, Nick Backstrom (Was – W), Kane, Toews, Setoguchi, Phil Kessel, Lucic

Neither of those lists are complete, but you get the point.  Instead of marketing ANY of those guys as well, the NHL funnels in primarily Crosby.  I love it so much, Pitt fans actually have to face this now.  Are you guys going to thumb down the article too?

first off i could care less whos on the radar an whos flying under the radar….

The best player in the league is Ovechkin…he is amazing to watch on the ice.  You dont get the same feeling when crosby grabs the puck as you do when Ovechkin does.  You feel he can score from almost anywhere on the ice at anytime.

As a Flyers fan, Im very content with our players flying under the radar…Carter, Richards, Gagne

OV is way better then the sucker punching diver.

I finally got a chance to see Ovechkin play against the Rangers in msg. Ove’s not out for himself, he is a  team player wanting to give it all for the game of hockey and his team mates. Never self boosting, infact I see him celebrate more so when his mates score. WOW what a talent!

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Here is mine. For those of you that think Crosby is a cheap shot artist, lets think back to when AO blindsided Daniel Briere or when he is always taking runs at other top opposing players, like Malkin. If i remember correctly Crosby has dropped the gloves once, while every single time AO does something like blindside a player, or tempted to get in a fight he does a bee-line straight to the bench, so the likes of Donald Brasher can handle the swarming mob. AO as an overall player, he is not nearly as good a Crosby or Malkin. AO has no idea what the defensive end of the ice looks like because he does not know how to be a defensive-forword. AO has the overall best shot in the NHL, but as a team player give me a break, he only gets assists because other players score off of his 4,000 shots a season. Sure AO loves to win, but what hockey player does not love to win. One thing to remember in all this is that Crosby has a target on his back every game, not because of what his name is or how much the NHL promotes him, but because of the talent he has. The NHL will not make AO the main selling point because he is a reckless, headhunting cheapshot artist, that looks out for no one but himself. AO has made it a personal thing that he always has to go after other talented players, blindside them and skate to the bench, hence the cheapshot artist of the NHL. There is nothing wrong with the NHL promoting Crosby, but I agree they should promote others as much if not more Malkin come to mind. Plus remember that Crosby has battled injuries and the constant changing of linemates every season, and he still over comes that to be the best he can be. We will all see how much AO complains when he gets smeared into the boards, and players know they can effect his game by hitting him hard. His day will come and the title for this article will be the same, with changed replys. The one thing most pens fans have come to accept is that there will always be Crosby haters, mostly Philly,washington fans, because of the promotion he gets from the NHL. Learn to deal with it and move on. Personally Malkin is best player in the NHL.

I’m going to echo everybody but IronCityboy, FINALLY the city of Pittsburgh and their fans realize that not everybody envies them cause they have Crosby LOL No, we are sick of them and turn the tv off everytime Bettman inserts them into prime time for no reason other than wanting to beat his meat to Crosby on the tube. Crosby is even over-marketed in Canada, his home country. Promotion is fine, but he’s just getting annoying. Besides, why not promote all the other young up and comers, especially Ovechkin, I mean, the NHL won’t exist with just Crosby skating around the ice on his own and Bettman not far behind begging for an autograph :-)

I’m going to echo everybody but IronCityboy, FINALLY the city of Pittsburgh and their fans realize that not everybody envies them cause they have Crosby LOL No, we are sick of them and turn the tv off everytime Bettman inserts them into prime time for no reason other than wanting to beat his meat to Crosby on the tube. Crosby is even over-marketed in Canada, his home country. Promotion is fine, but he’s just getting annoying. Besides, why not promote all the other young up and comers, especially Ovechkin, I mean, the NHL won’t exist with just Crosby skating around the ice on his own and Bettman not far behind begging for an autograph :-)

Look, Crosby is a fine hockey player, but Ovie is in a world all his own. He really gets what it means to lead a hockey team, and has a ball doing it. Second in points, second in goals, 4th in hits – come on, that’s flat out crazy!

There’s a crop of young guns in the league right now, and the NHL would do well to promote them: aside from Ovie, Malkin and Crosby, there’s Carter, Kessel, Parise, Getzlaf – on and on. The story is that hockey as a sport — and the NHL as a league — is entering a golden age, not that Sidney Crosby can read cue cards for TV commercials.

1. - Ovechkin is better than Crosby. That’s right I said it. Heck, Malkin’s probably better than Crosby.

1. - Crosby is overpromoted. In addition, the sky is blue.

1. - Sidney Crosby has little influence on how much the league promotes him. What is he supposed to say –  no, don’t promote me I’m not so great? Half the comments slamming Crosby in this thread are from Flyers fans. I seldom comment on Crosby because I feel that everyone else has covered that subject ad nauseum – especially Crosby’s detractors. He is not the antichrist because he plays for your arch rival and gets more press time than anyone else. Most importantly – if you’re Canadian, stop complaining about Crosby. He will invariably be our top centre at the Olympics and we’re going to need him bigtime. If you’re American – well, have at it. Patrick Kane deserves a little more love. In fact, every time one of you haters is about to denigrate Crosby again, direct your rage at Bettman. Why am I never able to see the awesome Chicago Blackhawks or San Jose Sharks on TV??

OK, I can understand saying he’s overhyped. In fact, I actually think Malkin is the better of the two. Where I get confused is when people seem to think it’s his fault that the league promotes him. How so?

Both are great players but the big difference at this point is that Ovechkin has a WAY higher ceiling.  Crosby hasn’t peaked but he really hasn’t expanded his game in the last year or so, especially when compared to Ovechkin or Malkin.  Maybe it was the injury but since the start of last season the top 2 have been Ovechkin followed by Malkin. 

Tp be quite honest there are a few players I would take over Crosby based on skill and upside but not that many.  This is the order of how I would rate the best players to build a team around (based on age, skills, upside, and leadership/personality)*(Not including John Tavares (projected perrenial 50 goal scorer) and Victor Hedman (projected as a Nic Lidstrom with Pronger size)

1-Ovechkin
2-Malkin
3-Phaneuf
4-Doughty
5-Kane
6-M. Richards
7-Getzlaf
8-Kopitar
9-Carey Price
10-Sidney Crosby
11-Luongo
12-Lundqvist
13-Shea Weber
14-Jonathon Toews
15-Kovalchuk

tsnmember:  Do you remember the reason he ran Briere?  And maybe he knows the best way to get Malkin off his game is to hit him.  You take him off his game then the Pens are down to Crosby pretty smart I would think.  It’s not like the CAPS are sending a thug out to hit Malkin.  What I want to know is what are they teaching in Pittsburgh?  Whitney spears OV in the Nads and now SC goes after another guys jewels, maybe the should promote SC more Sidney ‘BLB (below the belt)’ Crosby.  Talking about guys hitting OV remember the Habs broke his nose in one game and he came back and scored 4 goals to win that game.  I don’t think you will see OV shy away from hits.  Can’t count how many times this season he has taken a hit when both players go down almost always OV is the first one up getting back in play.  Sure the article is written by a guy stationed in DC but the fact is the NHL has done a piss poor job in marketing the league.  A article in the NY paper shows its not just Philadelphia and DC fans that don’t agree with the way the NHL execs are marketing the league.  I do agree though that this can’t be blamed on Crosby what is he going to say ‘no’ use somebody else.

Ovechkin makes dirty plays, too, bpete24. In a game against Pittsburgh, he skated around the ice looking for Malkin and when he hit him, he held him down. Charging should have been called 2 or 3 times on one shift. Every hockey player does something against the rules at some point.

a-roid wrote:

1-Ovechkin
2-Malkin
3-Phaneuf
4-Doughty
5-Kane
6-M. Richards
7-Getzlaf
8-Kopitar
9-Carey Price
10-Sidney Crosby
11-Luongo
12-Lundqvist
13-Shea Weber
14-Jonathon Toews
15-Kovalchuk

WOW….

I’m not a fan of Crosby by any means. Mostly its my disgust at having him shoved down my throat 24/7! Yet, as SlayerScott said, its more Bettmans fault than anyone else’s!

Regardless when I look at your list I start thinking to myself…… I gotta smoke some of what he’s having, it must be d*mned good! You have Crosby 10th…. WOW……..

If I was a GM, I would rate him top 5, behind OV, Datsyuk, and Phaneuf. You mentioned leadership then put Malkin #2? Getzlaf and Kopitar are good players, but Crosby turns a game around a heck of a lot faster than those two! Carey Price and Doughty still have to prove themselves IMO, and Kane, although very good, won’t put up the numbers Cindy will!

My only hope is that Crosby shuts his mouth for 3-5 years, plays his heart out, shows leadership and humbleness! He has the potential to be a top 10 center to ever play this game, but he has to earn it every step of the way!

Ovechkin will get the coverage he deserves……. once he signs in Toronto lol!!!

a-roid wrote:

1-Ovechkin
2-Malkin
3-Phaneuf
4-Doughty
5-Kane
6-M. Richards
7-Getzlaf
8-Kopitar
9-Carey Price
10-Sidney Crosby
11-Luongo
12-Lundqvist
13-Shea Weber
14-Jonathon Toews
15-Kovalchuk

WOW….

I’m not a fan of Crosby by any means. Mostly its my disgust at having him shoved down my throat 24/7! Yet, as SlayerScott said, its more Bettmans fault than anyone else’s!

Regardless when I look at your list I start thinking to myself…… I gotta smoke some of what he’s having, it must be d*mned good! You have Crosby 10th…. WOW……..

If I was a GM, I would rate him top 5, behind OV, Datsyuk, and Phaneuf. You mentioned leadership then put Malkin #2? Getzlaf and Kopitar are good players, but Crosby turns a game around a heck of a lot faster than those two! Carey Price and Doughty still have to prove themselves IMO, and Kane, although very good, won’t put up the numbers Cindy will!

My only hope is that Crosby shuts his mouth for 3-5 years, plays his heart out, shows leadership and humbleness! He has the potential to be a top 10 center to ever play this game, but he has to earn it every step of the way!

Ovechkin will get the coverage he deserves……. once he signs in Toronto lol!!!

December 29, 2008

Best forward?

Alex Ovechkin comes to town Tuesday, always a treat. At any second, he can do something you’ve never seen before. I think he’s the best player in the NHL. You?

John Vogl

Now you can  add the entire state of New York  and Philadelphia that think Ovechkin is better then Cindy

The media hype surrounding Crosby is old news. It’s great hockey fans are discussing it, but coming from a journalist, it’s just tired. Nothing against Ovechkin, and I realize English is his second language, but if he spoke it better maybe the NHL and its sponsors would feature him more. 

I kinda think Ovechkin’s broken English is a perk.  It adds to his character, which is also marketable.

Crosby gets bug money and will never score 40 goals.

This is the whining pouty face of the NEW NHL, as per King Bettman.
Crosby would wear the crown that Bettman gave him, but then you would all make fun of him.