Ovi or Sid the Kid?
The question has been asked ever since both players stepped on the ice of the National Hockey League! It's like the famous chicken or the egg debate! This is not about bad faith or bias. It's about analyzing the facts.
"Ovi" was the first pick in the 2004 Entry Draft. Of course, he won the Rookie of the Year award in his first year in 2005-06. In subsequent seasons, he won the "Rocket" Richard trophy awarded to the league's top scorer nine times! He won the Conn Smythe Trophy for best playoff player when the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2017-18!
He has eight seasons of 50+ goals. I add 11 seasons of 40+ goals. Which is in the realm of the exceptional. As of this writing, he is the 4th all-time goal scorer! He is 15 goals short of Jagr!
"Sid the Kid" was the first pick in 2005. He did not win the Calder for rookie of the year, because a certain Alexander Ovechkin won it with his 52 goals!
Sidney has won two Conn Smythe Trophy and three Stanley Cup. He has one 50-goal season and two 40+ goal seasons, and add six 100-point seasons.
But Crosby is also very much in the intangible leadership in a players room and on the ice. His numbers, to tell the truth, are not the exception of the exception. They are simply not the numbers of Gretzky, Lemieux or Orr. He has the numbers of a Marcel Dionne, Joe Sakic or Steve Yzerman, which is fine, they were the best in their time while Gretzky, Lemieux and Orr, it is of all times.
At the end of his career, "Ovi" will be the best scorer of all time. This is exceptional: his record will have been made in the era of the best goaltenders in the world, in the era of the best coaching, etc. He didn't score all his goals in the era of the goalkeepers who stayed up in brown pads.
To me, there is no picture at the finish line for now. For me, Alexander "The Great" won the debate. Better hands, faster, stronger and almost never hurt. The leadership for me is too much in the intangible to make an important point!
Both will be in the Hall of Fame at the same time, but as in their rookie years, "Ovi" will be in front just a little bit more.
