Who will have the longer NHL legacy? Ovi vs Sid

[ricky0034]

Ovechkin individual trophy case is better, he has more Harts, way more Richards, the same number of deserved Conn Smythes. The rest is irrelevant bullsh** like QMJHL or the consequence of him being Canadian and having Malkin, Letang etc

give it up dude

nobody in 2075 is gonna give a shit that Ovechkin scored the most goals ever when Crosby's legendary 2005 QMJHL Championship is right there

 

[gtrower]

I’ve made this argument a lot over the years. Forget who you think is the better player or has had the better career, because it’s not really relevant to the question posed in this thread. Their careers are too close for that to matter here. Ovi’s legacy is already bigger and if he hits 895 it’s going to be a fairly large gap.

Ovi’s name will be at the top of every goal-scoring graphic they pop up during a game for the next 30-40 years (probably longer than that). Sitting right above Gretzky. Total goals, Rockets, PP goals, 30/40/50+ seasons, etc. Every time they do, it’ll further reinforce that Ovi is an all-time player. Crosby doesn’t really have any stat like that. He’s elite at so much but not all-time at really anything. Smythes is the closest he has, but that’s only going to get talked about for a few days if somebody wins a second one.

Ovi’s individual trophy case is enormous. 3rd all time behind Gretzky/Lemieux. And he’s still competing for Rockets. People tend to understand tangible things when the memories of players fade. Crosby might have had more if he stays healthy, but nobody’s going to know or care about that in 50 years.

The hype around 894/895 is going to be massive. Every Caps game is going to be nationally telecast. Broadcasts will be doing cutaways from other games for Ovi shifts. Hockey fans will remember where they were when the watched Ovi pass the Great One. Gretzky has said he plans to be there when it happens. The picture of the two of them together celebrating 895 will be truly iconic.

One thing I haven’t heard mentioned here is Ovi’s on-his-back-behind-his-head goal. That thing gets replayed every year hundred of times. NHL just released a video last week of a bunch of todays stars saying that’s their favorite goal all time. Those are the kind of iconic moments that build legacy. That things gonna be replayed for eternity and is going reinforce the idea that this guy is the best scorer ever when people are too young to have seen him play live.

And finally Ovi is just a bigger personality. Which isn’t really fair to Crosby because I respect more reserved athletes. But it’s reality. The guy is drinking cokes between shifts, smashing guys over the wall, rifling hat tricks, spitting broken English through a toothless smile, and then hitting a keg stand in a fountain. The guy is larger than life.

 

[Future GOAT]

Crosby's. I think Ovechkin's legacy is tarnished at this point due to off ice antics.

People want to ignore it right now for whatever stupid reasons they want to ignore it for, but it's definitely going to be a thing moving forward.