Is Crosby still number 1?

[Tavares to Marner]

McDavid overtook him a while ago

Crosby overtook Ovechkin which then McDavid overtook Crosby

 

[Nadal On Clay]

he wasnt though

He didn’t said 17-18, he said 16-17.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Yep, I pointed this out last season about Crosby and for some strange as hell reason, lots of people, mostly McDavid fans, got mad.

I guess Crosby is supposed to be the only player to ever beat Father Time or something.



I think Matthews has to win a scoring title or two first like McDavid, or show he is a dominant playoff performer, before he is put above Crosby.

Matthews was pretty ordinary in last year’s playoffs, so it’s only fair to expect one of the two above scenarios before he’s put in the same breath as the best player in the game argument.

Matthews is on a different level this year, he has taken another massive step forward from what I have seen. Guys started talking about it when he was at the Stares and Stripes event this summer. Kane, Larkin, Suter, people like Mickey Redmond that were at the rink started talking about how frightening the leap forward was. It was such a staggering performance in terms of skill and just playing around that Mickey has brought it up unprompted in every telecast this season.

Matthews has put on more muscle, looks faster and his reworked shot is Sakic lethal in terms of release speed and everything else. I used to say I could never see him being better offensively than Eichel in that old debate and well I have to eat crow, I was wrong. I am not sure about the Leafs as ultimate contenders this season with their backend but Matthews is as good as Toronto fans think. He is a dominant hockey player that is still scratching the surface of what he can be. I am conflicted though because as excited I am to watch it as a Team USA fan, I dread it as a rival in division.

 

[Tweed]

My favourite Thought Experiment:

Same two players and same two teams but with a caveat: Crosby is an Oiler and winning cups on a stacked team, McDavid is on a Penguin team that's scraping barrel bottoms.

McD still outscores Sid by the same margin that he just did last season. The year is 1987.

Who is the better player?

 

[pokey10]

Anyone have the patience to go through all of my old posts where I continuously say Tavares is a top 5 player every year since he came into the NHL? He is proving it now with actual talent around him. Zero reason he shouldnt be in the dynasty conversation with Crosby, Malkin, Toews, and Kane if the Isles gave him anything to work with.

F I V E G A M E S P L A Y E D

 

[socko]

My favourite Thought Experiment:

Same two players and same two teams but with a caveat: Crosby is an Oiler and winning cups on a stacked team, McDavid is on a Penguin team that's scraping barrel bottoms.

McD still outscores Sid by the same margin that he just did last season. The year is 1987.

Who is the better player?

Gretzky

 

[GlitchMarner]

McDavid overtook him a while ago

Crosby overtook Ovechkin which then McDavid overtook Crosby

I love how Ovechkin won three Pearsons in a row (as in, the f***ing PLAYERS who play the game voted him the best in three straight seasons) and some actually try to argue he was never better than Crosby and now McDavid has dominated him in awards and All-Star voting in two straight seasons (he was vastly superior last season and both were healthy) and beat him in PPG in three straight seasons and OMG CROSBY IS STILL DA BEST! according to some.

 

[Sugi21]

McDavid is the better player but if you asked me who I would take over an 82 game season and playoffs, I would take Crosby.

Won't be that way for much longer though.

Have you been watching the Oilers lately? Seeing McDavid in the playoffs again doesn’t look promising!!!

 

[The Best Leafs Ever]

Crosby who? I don’t remember anything named Crosby and haven’t heard this disgusting name for a while now.

 

[Fazkovsky]

No youth has taken over

He is top 5

 

[GlitchMarner]

McDavid passed him a little bit ago and I would argue it is hard to say Matthews isn't there also now. No shame it had to happen eventually, they both passed Ovie as well so there is a new 1-2 in my opinion.

You can't put Matthews above Crosby yet based on five games. MacKinnon was better than Crosby last season and I wouldn't rank him ahead of Crosby yet (if he's better again this season, then I may - it's not like MacK isn't in the good in the playoffs; his playoff PPG is better than Crosby's and Malkin's).

Matthews needs to at least put together a great season before he's declared better than Crosby.

 

[daver]

I love how Ovechkin won three Pearsons in a row (as in, the ****ing PLAYERS who play the game voted him the best in three straight seasons) and some actually try to argue he was never better than Crosby and now McDavid has dominated him in awards and All-Star voting in two straight seasons (he was vastly superior last season and both were healthy) and beat him in PPG in three straight seasons and OMG CROSBY IS STILL DA BEST! according to some.

Any more strawman you want to throw out there. Try quoting an actual post next time.

 

[dlawong]

Have you been watching the Oilers lately? Seeing McDavid in the playoffs again doesn’t look promising!!!

How Oilers still kept their GM after trading Hall away & watched the latter winning the Hart trophy? If they kept Hall the Oilers will be a much better team now assuming if it is true that a good core of blue line no longer matter as you see in case of Toronto this year so far and Pittsburgh 2 years ago. That Lucic contract is also one of the worst in the league too that real hampered this team.

They better fire their GM now and start to build a strong top 6 core plus a #1D around Connor over the next 3 years or he will follow through with what exactly Tavares did down the road after not missing playoff actions for years and he has more talent than JT.

 

[Leafs87]

Crosby is not even the best player on his own team anymore. He's arguably #3. So the answer is a resounding NO

Okay Malkin arguably better but who’s the other ? Kessel ? No way

 

[Bertuzzzi44]

McDavid has clearly surpassed him. But I still have Crosby at #2.

 

[BlueBaron]

There is no clear cut number 1 but obviously McDavid is leading the race to pick up as heir apparent. Last year we saw that Kucherov and MacKinnon were both capable of leading the league and we know there are others on the rise.

If you're going to place a bet on a scoring title the best odds have to be McDavid but the league is currently too talented for one player to dominate every year.

 

[GlitchMarner]

Any more strawman you want to throw out there. Try quoting an actual post next time.

I never said anything about this thread. I haven't even bothered reading through most of it. I've just read comments saying Ovechkin was never the best player in the League and obviously some still have your boy at number one.

Grace period FTW.

 

[talitintti]

Crosby is still great... but if he gets outdone as badly as last year by a bunch of young talent in the league that'll really change things.

 

[LeafFever]

McDavid has been #1 for awhile. I may place Matthews ahead depending on what occurs at the end of the year.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Entertainment value is obviously very subjective; and to each their own. I don't find stationary one-timers on the power play to be very exciting. I don't know... the 'boring' guy routinely does things like:

1. Taps pucks to himself in mid air then subsequently swats the floating puck into the net. (multiple times the past 2 seasons)
2. Scores many goals from unheard of angles. Frequently enough to rule out 'luck'. Will utilize Lunqvist's head for redirection if necessary.
3. Receive any pass at any velocity without breaking stride. A nuance of his game that may not be 'entertaining' to all fans, but I find it to be ridiculous.

There's plenty more, as evidenced by the guy (xXLaflammeXx) who has put together several videos on Crosby's edgework, puck protection, dangles, footwork, deflections, etc. Again, to each their own, but I think you're in the minority on Crosby's game being 'boring'.

Anyone who has watched Crosby live knows he’s not boring. Even when he doesn’t have the puck you can easily tell he is the best player on the ice. Sort of an aura around him

 

[CoupeStanley]

He might not have the same firepower as McDavid right now but he's still number 1. There's more to hockey than pure offense and Crosby can pace the game, play defence and win.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

McDavid has been #1 for awhile. I may place Matthews ahead depending on what occurs at the end of the year.

Until Matthews or Mcdavid have a playoff abywhere close to 21 points in 12 games I don’t be convinced. Sure Mcdavid wins scoring titles but let’s not forget he didn’t pull ahead last year until the oilers had nothing else to play for

 

[Varan]

So let's see your list of #1 players since Crosby entered the league and tell me you aren't just going to list the yearly Hart/Lindsay winners.

there's only 3 players who have had a legitimate case vs. Crosby. they also show year after year why they should be considered for number #1.

 

[Sam Spade]

I love how Ovechkin won three Pearsons in a row (as in, the ****ing PLAYERS who play the game voted him the best in three straight seasons) and some actually try to argue he was never better than Crosby and now McDavid has dominated him in awards and All-Star voting in two straight seasons (he was vastly superior last season and both were healthy) and beat him in PPG in three straight seasons and OMG CROSBY IS STILL DA BEST! according to some.

I think it's the edgework that keeps him on top.

 

[Sidgeni Malkby]

F I V E G A M E S P L A Y E D

I know.

It's amazing how folks throw Matthews in there with McDavid and Crosby in the same breath after 5 games. The hype is unbelievable!

Let's see 1st 3 season....
Crosby

SEASON	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	SOG	%	PPG	PPA	SHG	SHA	GWG	GTG	TOI/G	PROD
'05-'06	PIT	81	39	63	102	-1	110	278	14.0	16	31	0	2	5	--	20:08	15:59
'06-'07	PIT	79	36	84	120	10	60	250	14.4	13	48	0	0	4	--	20:46	13:40
'07-'08	PIT	53	24	48	72	18	39	173	13.9	6	21	0	1	4	--	20:51	15:2

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

McDavid..

'15-'16	EDM	45	16	32	48	-1	18	105	15.2	3	11	0	0	5	--	18:53	17:42
'16-'17	EDM	82	30	70	100	27	26	251	12.0	3	24	1	1	6	--	21:08	17:20
'17-'18	EDM	82	41	67	108	20	26	274	15.0	5	15	1	3	7	--	21:33	16:22

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Matthews..

'16-'17	TOR	82	40	29	69	2	14	279	14.3	8	13	0	0	8	--	17:38	20:57
'17-'18	TOR	62	34	29	63	25	12	187	18.2	5	8	0	0	5	--	18:08	17:50
'18-'19	TOR	5	9	3	12	-1	2	17	52.9	4	1	0	0	2	--	18:33	7:44

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Nothing against Matthews, but can we reduce the heat in here?

*edit*
Oh, and the other 2...
Crosby is yesterday, and McDavid is tomorrow. Today is pretty even, with Crosby with an edge as he has won cups and has brought his team further.
*/edit*