Who is "the MAN"?

[allstars]

Maybe they were chanting "winner" lmao

I'll take Ovechkin over C & M. Obviously the Pens compliment each other immensely. Alex is better IMHO.

Also G, don't my Flyers have a hot Young Gun coming up too? I forgot his name but I know UD is hyping him in the upcoming series 1.

Bleed Orange

 

[jeff550]

Sidney Crosby seems like a cool kid, and obviously a great player *BUT* I have noticed alot of people say he cries and whines alot. In fact, there was a league survey amongst the NHL players who complained the most and it was Crosby by a landslide. There are numerous youtube videos on it as well. What's that all about? True?

Wayne Gretzky was also known as the biggest crybaby back in his days as well. Infact when him and the Oilers came to play Calgary the ENTIRE building would chant "Winer" whenever he touched the puck. Thats what happens when you are the best.

crosby and ovehkin are both great. but they wont be as good as Gretzky. there both young so we will see who is better when there is an even voting field.

 

[pghbuccos]

well I wouldn't go as far as comparing him to Chad Johnson but yes he is a little high on himself. I really think if the Caps can get him to believe in the team and not just himself they can win a few Cups but until then it will never happen.

oh and have you seen crosby complaning to the refs at least 20 times a game. and you also say ovechkin cant play defence well here you go. and you say we dont have a good goaltender. well here. alothough crosby is also great.

one good play on defense does not make Ovechkin a good defender. the fact is he doesn't care about back checking and will watch players skate by him and hope his defense stops them. no one said anything about Varlamov not being good. he is very talented and proved that during the Rangers series and the Penguins series.

 

[jeff550]

well I wouldn't go as far as comparing him to Chad Johnson but yes he is a little high on himself. I really think if the Caps can get him to believe in the team and not just himself they can win a few Cups but until then it will never happen.

oh and have you seen crosby complaning to the refs at least 20 times a game. and you also say ovechkin cant play defence well here you go. and you say we dont have a good goaltender. well here. alothough crosby is also great.

one good play on defense does not make Ovechkin a good defender. the fact is he doesn't care about back checking and will watch players skate by him and hope his defense stops them. no one said anything about Varlamov not being good. he is very talented and proved that during the Rangers series and the Penguins series.

ovehkin does need to work on preventing odd man breaks but he is also good at stoping odd man breaks. i have seen him make many great defensive plays during games. i think if the caps are going to win the cup they will need to sign a solid defender like a modern version of langway.

 

[G $MONEY$]

Also G, don't my Flyers have a hot Young Gun coming up too? I forgot his name but I know UD is hyping him in the upcoming series 1.

Bleed Orange

You must be talking about James Van Riemsdyk. He was the 2nd overall draft pick behind Pat Kane in 2007. I dont think he has made his NHL debut yet though. He just turned 20 in May and is an American born player from Middletown, NJ. I think 2007 was the first year that Americans went #1/#2 in the draft. You guys also had a popular RC this year as well, Claude Giroux and of course another great young player that i never mentioned Mike Richards.

 

[C.L.258]

Brodeur - one of the best goalies to ever play

u mean "THE" best goalie to ever play...

 

[jeff550]

Brodeur - one of the best goalies to ever play

u mean "THE" best goalie to ever play...

except for when he coked agains carolina and gave us the hard game one round to soon.

 

[G $MONEY$]

i think if the caps are going to win the cup they will need to sign a solid defender like a modern version of langway.

You might already have a future all star defender on your team, Karl Alzner. He is a great, young player, selected #5 overall a couple years ago.

 

[jeff550]

i think if the caps are going to win the cup they will need to sign a solid defender like a modern version of langway.

You might already have a future all star defender on your team, Karl Alzner. He is a great, young player, selected #5 overall a couple years ago.

::facepalm:: ::facepalm:: ::facepalm:: ::facepalm:: ::facepalm:: . i forgot to check the prospects before saying that. i have only been following hockey for a few years

 

[jarcar]

In my opinion, the top players are (in order):

Malkin - reminds me of Lemieux, which is just insane
Crosby - the best playmaker in the game right now, insane vision and awareness
Ovechkin - scores TONS of goals, but also shoots his ass off.....I'm not a fan of his celebrations and showing up the other team though
Datsyuk - the best defensive forward in the league and gets plenty of points
Iginla - he's just a badass, I'm sure GMoney will elaborate further
Brodeur - one of the best goalies to ever play

Pretty darn good list. Generally in the sport and the hobby, Sidney Crosby is presently "The man". He is the "poster boy" of the NHL and is just coming off winning his first Stanley Cup. Ovechkin and Malkin (Malkin won the scoring race this year in the regualr season and playoffs, Ovechkin won MVP of regular season)are also very, very popular, but are just a tiny step behind Crosby (imo), due to them being from Russia and Crosby being from Canada. Generally players that are Canadian or American born are the most popular in the Hobby, although in the last few years, Russians are proving they can be popular as well. The most popular born American player right now is probably Patrick Kane of Chicago. He is very young and won ROY (rookie of the year) in 07/08. Tims list above is very good, ill add a few more modern day players that get some Hobby love and are the stars of today...

Zach Parise- breakout year, very young, had RCs in 05/06, plays for New Jersey

Ilya Kovalchuk- Another Russian born player who has some hobby love, but plays in Atlanta so is not "seen" as much as the others 2 Russians.

Ryan Getzlaf- RCs in 05/06, plays in Anaheim, should be a top 10 scorer for the next 10 years at least.

Henrik Zetterberg- Plays in Detroit, was last years Stanley Cup MVP.

N. Backstrom- Plays with Ovechkin, top draft pick a few years ago, has RCs in 07/08.

Jeff Carter- Break out year, had the 2nd most goals last year, only Ovechkin had more. RCs in 05/06.

Jonathon Towes and Patrick Kane- I put them together, both had RCs in 07/08 and are both responsible for turning Chicago around, both are very popular in the Hobby, some compare them to a "mini" version of Crosby/Malkin.

Roberto Luongo- Goaltender, plays in Vancouver, one of the best.

Marc Andre Fleury- Goaltender, #1 draft pick in 2003, plays with Crosby and Malkin.

Henrik Lundqvist- Goaltender, plays in New York and has a very strong hobby following


2005/06 is generally known as the "best" year in Hockey cards. First year of the High end set called THE CUP (Hockeys Exquisite) and so many great RCs like Crosby, Ovechkin, Carter, Parise, Getzlaf, Lundqvist and many others. This year was very similar to Basketballs 03/04, that was B-balls first year of Exquisite with RCs of Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, Bosh Etc. Crosby's 05/06 Cup RC out of 99 is the entire Hobbys most expensive RC in the last 40+ years, no other rookies in any sport sell for as much as Crosby Cup RC (Lebron Exquisite is close though).

This is a great year to get into Hockey, 2009/10 Hockey cards are starting to be compared with 05/06 Hockey cards as 2 high profile rookies are playing this year. John Tavares for the New York islanders is gonna be HUGE this year, possibly as popular as Crosby or Ovechkin were in 2005. The other big RC this year is Victor Hedman, a 6' 6" defenseman for the Tampa bay Lighting.

Generally the best players of all time are Gretzky, Lemieux, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr. Also, much like Football, Defensive players dont get much love in the Hobby. The most popular players are Forwards/Centers followed by Goalies. Defensemen do get some Hobby love though as Dion Phaneuf proved in 2005. Hedman is a Dman but is supposed to be very popular this year.

Anymore questions? ask away... :lol:

Great list, the only name I'd add is to your all time best list, Maurice "the Rocket" Richard would have to be on it.

I agree with the Crosby is a whiner comparison to Gretzky's first few years. Everyone loves to hate a winner and the best.

 

[lumm0x]

I don't know....I grew up in Edmonton during the Oilers glory days and thought a guy like Messier was a great all around hockey player, did his talking with his skates, stick and fists if need be. Loved the guy along with quite a few other Oilers. I always thought Gretzky was a whiner and generally the biggest chicken$#*@ on the ice at all times. I fully respected his amazing talent with the puck. There was no better player ever to play the game in terms of pure skill and vision. He was not an all around hockey player and he was a full blown whiner.

As for Crosby he is a better all around player than Gretzky was but is not close in pure offensive talent. He guts out his goals where Gretz just finessed them and turned people apart. And yes, he is a whiner. He is maturing though and is growing to where his emotions elevate his game rather than show up in ways that he is ridiculed for.

I think Ovechkin is the most singularly dominant player in the game. He is not as good as Crosby in many aspects of the game, but he is the best pure scorer in the game. Malkin to me falls a close second to Ovechkin in terms of skill with Crosby finishing up the top 3.

But enough about abilities and skills for these guys. The answer to the question is simply this:

Alexander Ovechkin is "the man" in the NHL right now. I say this because if there is any one player in this league the masses would pay to see it would be him. Like it or not, people pay to see goals, highlight reel goals, big hits, crazy antics, etc. Ovechkin gives all of that. He has a rockstar type personality and he will not fail to give fans a show no matter how ridiculous it makes him look. He doesn't care. He knows he is the superstar and he acts like it. He does have the me first mentality.

I'll be honest as a Flyers fan. I despise Ovechkin, Crosby and Malkin. I'd struggle to apply the brakes if I came across them jaywalking. But the one player I fear to see us go against is Ovechkin. To me, he is the man in the game today.

 

[Viking4Alpha]

:shock: lummox holy crap man good to see you! Great write up. Agreed on OVY.