Crosby, Ovechkin renew rivalry Thursday

[Forkboy]

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Alex Ovechkin woke up in St. Petersburg, Russia the morning of June 13, 2009 only to hear from a friend that Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup while he was tucked away in his bed eight time zones away.

His heart sunk.

"I was like, 'Jesus,' " Ovechkin said Wednesday from Kettler Capitals Iceplex. "You know, maybe we could have been there, too. I was disappointed."

Ovechkin stopped watching hockey last season after the Penguins decisively eliminated the Capitals from the playoffs with a 6-2 whipping in Game 7 of the classic Eastern Conference Semifinal round series. He tried to relax, have fun, and not worry so much about the sport that pays him millions to put a puck in the net.

Eight months later, everything about that series and especially about his rivalry with the Penguins' captain, which got ramped up by about 1,000 notches or so after those seven games in May, is back and is again front and center.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=514319

Let the fun begin!

[Onceuponalife]

1. Who and who?

Marleau and Heatley are making everyone* forget about those two has beens.


*except for the East Coast bias folks, of course.

[TZ]

2. Who and who?

Never heard about either of those two guys. Personally I think its Ovechkin and then everyone else. But what do I know. I only live near the city he plays in.....Maybe if you had a hockey team that you know, won a playoff series every now and then people might take y'all seriously. At least the Caps lost to the Stanley Cup Champions. I don't even remember who the Sharks lost to. Just that they lost in the first round again...

[JonLP24]

3. A couple of high scorers

I follow hockey very little and the Coyotes are not on TV very much. When they are on TV for some reason it's when they play the Sharks so I do watch which makes for some exciting games, 2 shootouts. I think it was last week or so when they played where the Coyotes lost 1-3. That Marleau guy scored two goals which prompted the announcers to mention he was first person of the year to score 30 goals so I imagine he's the league leading's scorer.

[TZ]

4. Ah well since Ovvie been injured

naturally someone else has to be "high scorer". Prolly won't last though...:)
I don't follow hockey that closely but they talk about the Caps/Ovechkin here alot as it is the only team that is doing well around here of late...:)

[BulletproofLandshark]

5. Are you for real?

You know damn well you'd take Crosby and Ovie over those two any day of the week. So would any sane person.

[Forkboy]

7. Heatley would be tempting if he had a better attitude.

I wouldn't pass up Ovie or Sid on a guy with a proven shitty disposition to the teams he's on. He'll light the lamp for them for this year and next and then pull his trade me act.

Marleau is excellent but needs a feeder, which he has in Thornton (my current pick for MVP). Without that he's not the threat he is at the moment. They're both great players that any team would like to have, but I doubt many would take either of them over Ovie and Crosby. Ovie is the purest goal scorer I've seen come down the pike since Selanne hit the scene, and Crosby is the best all around player in hockey (kind of whiner though...but so was Gretzky).

[Forkboy]

6. LOL...until the Sharks win a playoff series again no one cares what they do in the reg. season.

And tell Upton I said hello when you roll over to kiss him. ;)

[JonLP24]

8. "no one"?

I'm a beginner small time hockey fan and I think the Coyotes are doing pretty well(maybe not-but they are in second place in the division).

I care how the Sharks are doing because I'd like them to lose quite a few games so the 'Yotes can climb into the #1 spot in the division.

Remember I said I would try to get into hockey? Well I watched a few games(there aren't many televised) ironically against the Sharks and saw a couple shootouts so it was pretty fun. :)

I'm afraid of being labeling a front runner though because I didn't care at all about hockey before this year and the Coyotes are doing alright this year when that hasn't always been the case. :scared:

[Forkboy]

9. Not over Ovechkin and Crosby.

If you have all four on the table to choose from maybe 1 time of 50 someone would take Marleau or Heatley above the other two. Maybe. And that's not a knock on Marleau or Heatley, because as I said, any team would love to have either.

The Coyotes have been a pleasant surprise this year. With the off ice issues about the team in bankruptcy at the start I think it served as a rallying point for them, and they adopted an us against the world mentality (always a plus in sports). I've watched quite a few games of theirs and they play solid hockey. I'm not sure how they'll fare down the stretch when the hockey increases in intensity, but if they even get into the playoffs it would be a success for them.

It's cool that you got to see some Sharks game because they're one of the most exciting teams in the NHL. They play an extremely up tempo style with aggressive forechecking and they always just drive, drive, drive to the net when they have the puck. They play physical as well, and have an exciting goalie in Nabakov, and they're very well coached. Outside of Vancouver they're the team in the Western Conference I most enjoy watching, and one of the best teams to watch period.

The Bruins stole a game from them a week ago and they were lucky as hell to win the game 2-1. The Sharks had around 41 shots, and then Thomas stopped all the penalty shots. I was biting my nails the whole damn time waiting for the Sharks to pull it out.

[JonLP24]

10. I don't know much about hockey

I do know that guy Marleau leads the league in goals because that's what the announcers said last week when the Sharks beat them 3-1 and he scored two goals. That has to count for something right meaning something to look at when comparing the 3?

Maybe what you're saying is Crosby and Ovechkin always score more goals and this just happens to be the year Marleau is ahead?

The Coyotes, a surprise? Ha! I knew they would be solid all along! j/k :) I had no idea how they would fare good or bad.

[Forkboy]

11. Marleau's career high before this season was 38 goals (which it looks like he'll shatter this year)

And he's usually in the high 20's to mid 30's otherwise. This is over 12 seasons.

Ovechkin has played 4 full seasons and has scored 52, 46, 65, 56 and is on pace for 60 more this year.

Crosby isn't so much a goal scorer, but he still has numbers as good or better than Marleau's. He's scored 39, 36, 24 (only played 2/3 of the season), 33, and 32 so far this year. What makes Crosby so valuable is that he also racks up over 100 assists per year. He's got 102, 120, 72 (injury year), 103, and 63 so far this year. Marleau's career high in assists is 52. Ovechkin also gets more assists on average than Marleau.

So, it's pretty easy to see what the wise hockey GM should do. :)

Marleau was a 2nd pick overall in the 97 draft, and was kind of considered a bust for awhile. He developed into a solid two way hockey player, but he wasn't the type of player most expected, and until recently was never really the goal scorer the Sharks hoped for when he come out of juniors.

[JonLP24]

12. Ok I see what you're saying

That was what I thought would be the case.

[Captain Hilts]

13. The NHL wants Crosby as the face of the NHL. nt

[Forkboy]

14. Understandable.

He's not my personal favorite (neither is Ovechkin), but I can see why the NHL would want Crosby in that role.

[Yavin4]

15. And The Game Was No Where To Be Found

You'd think that VS would showcase this game, but no.

No wonder the NHL is struggling.

Meanwhile, the NBA had Kobe vs LeBron tonight on TNT, primetime, available to the entire nation.

[Captain Hilts]

16. And you no longer see games on free TV. I had to go to a bar. nt