Like the great hockey debates of old (remember Wayne Gretzky vs. Mario Lemieux?) two of the brightest – and youngest – superstars are the focus of a rivalry for the ages
By Damien Cox
Sports Columnist
The Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/
Oct 04, 2008 04:30 AM
Tonight's the night. Or rather, today's the day.
Time is relative, after all, when the NHL's regular-season opener takes place overseas as it does today when the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning drop the puck in Prague at noon EST. A few hours later, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators drop the puck in Stockholm.
AP PHOTO/REUTERS
Alexander Ovechkin, left, has brought needed excitement to the Capitals, while the Penguins' Sidney Crosby is the youngest NHLer to register 100 points.
Only the NHL, you have to believe, would kick off its season and have its top attraction, Sidney Crosby, about as far from home and about as far from key North American media markets as possible.
Did we say top attraction? Perhaps it's fair to say one of its two top attractions, as the explosive season rolled out last year by Washington Capitals super-nova Alexander Ovechkin once again underlined the reality that the NHL is blessed with a talented tandem the likes of which hasn't been seen on the rinks since Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux shared exclusive ownership of the NHL scoring title for 15 years.
Gretzky or Lemieux? Lemieux or Gretzky? That debate went on for years, and it was never more fierce than during the two seasons from 1987-89 when they went toe-to-toe for the Art Ross Trophy, with Lemieux winning both times with astronomical totals of 168 points and 199 points.
After that, Lemieux ran into injury and health problems, and even retired for a period of time. The fact that Gretzky was in his seventh year of pro hockey when Lemieux was just a rookie meant that while their careers overlapped, they weren't in their primes at the same time.
That's the true beauty of Crosby vs. Ovechkin. They came into the league together out of the wreckage of the lockout. They have each won a Hart Trophy, Ovechkin last year and Crosby the year before.
Ovechkin just turned 23 and Crosby is 21, but they are essentially contemporaries still scratching the surfaces of their respective potentials.
Having both in the same conference is an added benefit. Gretzky and Lemieux only shared the same conference very late in their careers when Gretzky joined the Rangers from 1996-99, and Lemieux only played one of those seasons.
For Crosby and Ovechkin, every meeting this season – the first is Oct.16 in Pittsburgh – will be a heralded occasion. At one point, you have to believe, the chatty Crosby and the bullish Ovechkin will collide on less than friendly terms, and a playoff series between the two clubs would provide another platform to add spice to their rivalry.
Finally, while Gretzky and Lemieux played on one memorable occasion for Canada, the '87 Canada Cup, Crosby and Ovechkin are both slated to be at the Vancouver Olympics in 16 months as leaders of their respective countries, Canada and Russia.
Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux at the 1990 NHL All-Star Game in Pittsburgh (Getty Images)
While Crosby wasn't selected for Team Canada for the '06 Olympics in Turin, a massive oversight as it turned out, Ovechkin did skate for Russia and scored the winning goal in a tense playoff victory over Canada. Last spring, with Crosby's Penguins still in NHL post-season play, Ovechkin led the Russians to victory in the gold-medal game over Canada at the IIHF world championship in Quebec City.
Really, then, the difference between Gretzky-Lemieux and Crosby-Ovechkin as individual rivalries is that Crosby and Ovechkin have the opportunity to be much, much bigger, and with international ramifications.
Happily, they are contrasting characters. Crosby, the youngest NHLer to ever register 100 points, is the quintessential, earnest all-Canadian boy, happy to deliver season tickets to the homes of subscribers during the off-season.
Ovechkin, with 163 goals in his first 245 NHL games, is a happy-go-lucky rock star, the owner of a 13-year, $124 million (U.S.) contract who radiates energy on and off the ice.
They are more Bird and Magic than Mario and The Great One.
And they're just picking up steam.
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