|
 The Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009 with Crosby
the centerpiece of a talented team that surely expected to win at
least a couple more by now but have since only reached the
penultimate round of the playoffs once.
Ovechkin's goal-scoring prowess with the Washington Capitals has
made him one of the most dangerous forwards in the game when he
wants to be but his team has never advanced beyond the second round
of the playoffs since he made his debut in 2005.
In the meantime, Jonathan Toews, who is the 26-year-old leader and
lifeblood of a Chicago Blackhawks team that won two of the last five
Stanley Cups and was a goal away from competing for another last
season, has emerged as an ultimate winner.
The NHL has long since caught on as Toews and the Blackhawks will
visit Ovechkin's Capitals on New Year's Day for the outdoor Winter
Classic, an annual event that has grown bigger than the Stanley Cup
in the eyes of many sports executives.
 Crosby came into the league in 2005 billed as "The Next One" and
heir apparent to Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky, who was known as "The
Great One," and was tearing up the league until missing nearly an
entire season from 2010-2012 with concussion symptoms.
But the 27-year-old Canadian has since returned to top form and won
the Hart Memorial Trophy last season as the NHL's most valuable
player after leading all players with 104 points.
Crosby has Olympic gold medals in 2010 and 2014 to go along with his
Stanley Cup while Ovechkin's resume in the team category is slight
by comparison.
Ovechkin has developed a reputation for playing more as an
individual than a team player which perhaps explains why the
29-year-old Russian has won the Hart Trophy three times but is still
seeking the game's biggest prize.
Toews, meanwhile, is just entering the prime of an already
glittering career. The Canadian won a world championship gold medal
in 2007, gold medals at the last two Olympics and was named most
valuable player of the postseason when the Blackhawks snapped a
49-year Stanley Cup drought in 2010.
He won another Stanley Cup in 2013 and earlier this year signed an
eight-year contract extension worth $84 million that will go a long
way in keeping the Blackhawks in contention.
[to top of second column] |
Heading into the NHL's 2014-15 campaign, which opens Oct. 8, Chicago
will have the same core group from last season and some notable
upgrades which, according to many experts, makes them the team to
beat.
The Penguins, however, are coming off an early playoff exit that led
to an overhaul of the team's managerial and coaching staffs in an
effort to snap a trend of disappointment in the playoffs following
impressive regular seasons.
As for Washington, they are coming off a disappointing season where
they missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years, also
leading to significant changes in personnel, management and
coaching.
The debate about who is the world's best hockey player is not as
one-sided as it was before Crosby's career was disrupted by
concussions. And while Crosby may still own that title in the eyes
of many, Toews is widely considered the ultimate go-to player that a
team can count on in the clutch.
Clear evidence of Toews's reputation as a clutch performer is that
Crosby, upon learning that he was named captain of the Canadian
men's team at the Sochi Olympics, reportedly wanted to get the
former's blessing before accepting.
The 2014-15 NHL season could go a long way in settling any debate
about who is the game's best player, but if Toews can lead his
strong Blackhawks team to a third Stanley Cup in six seasons, it may
be hard to deny him the crown.
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Gene Cherry)
[© 2014 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2014 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
