Calder Race – Head to Head
There is so much talk regarding the likes of Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin, and who will be the winner of this years Calder Trophy.
There are so many people who like to bash Sidney Crosby (for some reason), and put Ovechkin on some sort of pedastel.
This is a great year for rookies all around, and we’ve got two 1st overall picks going head to head.
If the labor dispute never occured, we wouldn’t have been able to see this. Ovechkin would have taken the Calder last year, and Crosby this.
There are 2 others that I put high up in the contention this year.
Marek Svatos 22g-14a-36p. -4
Dion Phaneuf 10g-14A-24p. +2
There are others of course (Vanek, Prucha, Steen, Meszaros, etc) but I’m going to leave them out, as I’m quite certain that this is going to be a 2 horse race, in the eyes of the NHL.
SIDNEY CROSBY. Born: Aug 7, 1987.
NHL STATS: 41 Games. 21g. 27a. 48pts. 60pim. -6.
PREVIOUS STATS – RIMOUSKI. 121gp. 110g. 183a. 293pts. 2003-04 & 2004-05 combined.
ALEXANDER OVECHKIN. Born: Sept 17, 1985.
NHL STATS: 39gp. 25g. 22a. 47pts. 24pim. -4
PREVIOUS STATS – MOSCOW DYNAMO. 151gp. 36g. 33a. 69pts. 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05 combined.
Now I know it’s completely ridiculous to compare MOSCOW DYNAMO to RIMOUSKI OCEANIC. These are two very different leagues indeed. But what these statistics somewhat tell me, and having seen Ovechkin in the past, he took a while to grow into his frame and needed a LOT of development to get where he is today. Alexander used to be a very skinny, chicken****, diver, afraid to pay any price at all.
Crosby had a bit of an easier path, but boy did he put up the numbers to warrant the hype that surrounds him.
Both of these guys have put on the weight. And both of these guys are not chickens. Ovechkin has come a long way in the last couple of years, and isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty, or take a hit.
These two guys have very similar stats, playing on two different types of teams.
The biggest difference is that Crosby has 1 more game winner. And has 2 OT winners. And he plays with more heart than Ovechkin (although that heart sure can put him in the penalty box, at times).
The fact that he is 2 years (exactly) Ovechkin’s junior tells me that Crosby is in fact winning this race thus far.
EDGE: CROSBY (by a C Hair).
Your thoughts?