Pittsburgh Penguins: Let’s Stop the Crosby-Ovechkin Narrative

Since Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin entered the NHL, they’ve been pitted against each other. It’s been over ten years now. Enough.

The Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Sidney Crosby first overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. The Canadian center had been highly regarded for years for his playmaking ability and innate hockey sense, not to mention his lethal scoring skills.

The Washington Capitals drafted Alex Ovechkin first overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. The Russian left winger had been watched closely during his time playing for Dynamo Moscow in the KHL and was so coveted that the Florida Panthers tried to sneakily draft him a year early despite age restrictions. His shot is a bomb and he’s a phenomenal pure goal scorer.

The two captains are obviously both incredibly talented, but they are vastly different players and leaders. Though their teams, as division rivals, meet frequently throughout the regular season, they’ve only met once before in the postseason – the 2009 Eastern Conference final.

The Pens took the series win in seven games and headed off to the Stanley Cup Final.

Now these two hockey titans are meeting again in the Eastern semifinals. The series hasn’t begun yet – in fact, the games were only scheduled today – and I am already dead tired of the “Crosby vs. Ovechkin” narrative.

Please. It’s been over a decade since they’ve both entered the league. Enough is enough.

Look, I understand that sports journalism is repetitive by nature – something you have probably also figured out if you’ve read too many of my articles in one sitting (which, if you have, thanks, you rock). But it’s time for a new story.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to look at the NHL’s weekly “Wednesday Night Rivalry” games and figure out that some of these rivalries are, at best, slightly argumentative. The NHL loves to market rivalries whenever it can, and the Crosby vs. Ovechkin narrative is no different.

Of course, the Pens and Caps are themselves two massive rivals. Their geographic proximity and repeated excellence at the top of their division naturally leads to it. The “Office Supply Rivalry” isn’t the biggest rivalry Pittsburgh has, but it’s up there.

(I’m gonna keep plugging that nickname until it catches on. Brace yourselves.)

So it’s only logical to take the two spearheads of these teams, Crosby and Ovechkin, and manifest that rivalry into them. Frankly, they aren’t that similar, beyond their sheer natural talent and captaincy duties. These differences coupled with the timeframe of their entrance into the league – following the 2004-2005 lockout, when the NHL desperately needed to revitalize itself – made it a soap opera of league-manipulated plotlines.

Even Sid and Ovi have gotten tired of it. Take a look at this golden tweet when Ovechkin finally put his foot down:

.@ChuckGormleyCSN; "Who's better, you or Sid?"
Ovechkin: "Are you kidding me right now?"
— Katie Brown (@katiebhockey) October 28, 2015

It’s played out and its usefulness has really run its course. It’s not a moneymaker for the teams or leagues anymore, because fans have realized on their own how talented Sid and his Penguins and Ovi and his Capitals are in their own respects.

Not to mention that as long as commentators like Don Cherry are around, the underlying tones of Sidney “good ol’ Canadian boy” Crosby as opposed to Alexander Mikhailovich “showboating selfish Russian” Ovechkin are going to be perpetuated – and that definitely needs to end.

What are some other rivalries we can use to replace it? Well hey, I’m glad you asked.

Evgeni Malkin vs. Alex Ovechkin. They’re friends off the ice and have played in myriad international tournaments for Russia together, but on the ice they’re stark enemies.

Their skills are much more balanced – particularly each forward’s wicked shot – as are their shortcomings (“why you say I’m never backcheck?” as opposed to this). Plus, this could lead to a fun marketing campaign where the rivalry commercials are entirely in Russian and no one watching them can figure out what’s going on.

Carl Hagelin vs. Nicklas Backstrom. The Pens’ forwards don’t really have a player to truly mirror Backstrom’s play, but I think Hagelin comes close. Backstrom, who is usually Ovechkin’s center, is a cerebral player who usually flies under the radar while defenders concentrate all their attention on Ovi.

Meanwhile, Hagelin has also flown under the radar when on a line with Malkin and even when Phil Kessel is also out on the ice. Plus, they’ve both got some really sick flow.