He is not a Lebron James. Baseball is totally different from basketball. So many busts in baseball. xD
Hockey isn't popular enough here. He gets plenty of attention in Canada. Plus, one of his teammates is better than him. They are trying to push Crosby but many people in the hockey world feel that guys like Malkin, Datsyuk and Ovechkin are superior players.
Malkin may have equally good passing skills and ice vision. On top of that, he's better at almost every other apsect of the game. He's a better goal scorer, a better two-way player, more crafty with the puck, more difficult to knock off the puck, better at using his body and finishing checks, etc... Crosby is a tremendous talent but right now, Malkin is slightly better, in my opinion. That could change over the next few years. It's ridiculous to think that Pittsburgh once again has two of the top few players in the game on their team considering the new salary cap era. Malkin's big contract kicks in next season. It'll be interesting to see how they handle that situation.
Yes. If you wanted to make it like basketball though it would be like Wade and LBJ on a team together. Ovechkin would be like Kobe. He is definitely LBJ like in the fact that ESPN worships him, just in a lesser degree due to it being NBA vs. NHL. They've desperately tried to make Crosby the face of the NHL.
2008-09 Hart finalists: Malkin, Datsyuk, Ovechkin 2008-09 Conn Smythe: Malkin 2008-09 Art Ross: Malkin 2008-09 Rocket Richard: Ovechkin 2007-08 Hart finalists: Ovechkin, Malkin, Iginla 2007-08 Hart: Ovechkin 2007-08 Pearson (voted for by peers): Ovechkin 2007-08 Art Ross: Ovechkin 2007-08 Rocket Richard: Ovechkin
Correct. Crosby won the Hart, Pearson and Ross in 06/07 and Ovechkin won the Calder (ROY) over Crosby in 05/06. I wasn't arguing that Crosby sucks. He's awesome and may end up trumping them all in the end. As of right now though, I don't think he's better than Malkin at anything, including passing/playmaking. You responded to somebody earlier saying you disagreed that Malkin was better than him because of his amazing passing skills. I then pointed out that it's not even clear that he's a better passer than Malkin, who has equally phenomenal passing skills and ice vision. You could just as easily argue that Malkin is a better passer/playmaker. You add in all the other things that Malkin clearly does better (some of which I mentioned above) and it's hard to see how Crosby is currently the better player. I guess pointing out all the awards and stuff over the last two years was beyond the scope of the mini-discussion but I sensed a "Crosby is the best player in the NHL" argument coming from somewhere. Plus, Crosby missed a bunch of games last season with an ankle injury so that killed his chances to win any of those awards. Regardless, without even considering awards and just going off my own impressions, Malkin and Datsyuk are both better players than Crosby right now. I am more willing to accept the argument that Crosby is better than Ovechkin than Crosby is better than Malkin or Datsyuk.
I don't watch enough Hockey to judge all these players, especially Datsyuk. Crosby and Malkin interestingly enough have very identical stats in terms of goals and assists. I really don't know how to measure defense. I just love watching Crosby with the puck. I'm not complaining that you think Malkin is better, but I think Crosby is better. They are very equal. None of them are Gretzky.
I hear you. To each his own. As far as defense, they give out a separate award (Selke) for best defensive forward. There are at least a few stats that get considered. Takeaways are a big one used to evaluate forwards. A takeaway is similar to a steal in basketball. When a forward has a high number of takeaways as well as a low number of giveaways (like a TO), it's a good sign that he is a responsible player that doesn't ignore backchecking and playing defense. Malkin led the league in takeaways which is fairly incredible considering he is most known for his offensive genius. Dastyuk was second. Malkin didn't get nominated this year but I think he should have and I do expect him to get nominated at some point in the future. This year's nominees are Datsyuk (last year's winner), Richards and Kesler. So, Datsyuk is being nominated for both MVP and the Selke, not to mention the Lady Byng (sportsmanship). Malkin has an uncanny ability to not only dangle and hold onto the puck but also to backcheck and take the puck away from opposing players. I would say that, hands down, Malkin is the best puckhandler in the league. Crosby is great too, one of the best but, in my opinion, this is where Malkin is totally in a league of his own. Despite being a Caps fan, I love watching Crosby with the puck but I really, really love watching Malkin with the puck. He is a wizard like I haven't seen since the days of Lemieux. Honestly, I'm not sure that Crosby will ever surpass Malkin as an overall player. He may never do anything better than Malkin to be perfectly honest.
I'll try to pay more attention to Malkin next year. The Pens are pretty much the only NHL team I will watch(I fell in love watching Lemieux's game). Perhaps I am spending to much time watching one player. You can tell theres no Astros game tonight with you in here so much today.
yeah, i'm hating it. i think the brewers are on ESPN tonight, though...so i'll be rooting for a loss there.
The bottom line is they are both on your team you lucky bastid'. For the sake of the rest of the league, I'm praying that the Pens have to part with one of them for cap reasons. They don't necessarily have to do it but it's hard to build balance and depth under a hard cap with $18 mil tied into two players and the max for next season likely staying about where it was this season at $56.7 million. If they do ever trade one of them, it will certainly be Malkin, even if most people consider Malkin to be the better player. They'll keep Crosby just because he's Crosby. Yup, no Stros tonight. Big series coming up in Arlington. We got schooled last time and need to exact some revenge. I've been a Tribe fan all my life so I'll be watching that game.
I would kill for something like that on the Rockets or Stros. I live and die with those two teams. I'm more of a POF in the NHL, though I'd love to get more into it. Same goes for soccer. Great passes, goals, & saves are very exciting in those sports.
Last night, I was listening to 610 on the way home and MattJ asked Rich Lord what he thought about this kid and the fact that he was basically skipping HS to go to the minor leagues, etc. Rich Lord said he had never heard of him. Didn’t even know the name and had no idea who Matt was even talking about. Way to do your homework for the show, Rich……..
