The Best Player In the World

[daver]

That's certainly up for debate.

Let's have at it then!

- Crosby actually beat the other #1 candidate, Thornton, clearly in PPG in 2007. Thornton's previous season was among the very best post lockout so I have the 2007 version of Thornton very close to the 2017 version of Crosby

- Crosby lived up to expectations moreso than McDavid in their 1st playoffs, or rather did not leave any questions that he would not be able to perform at the more intense level. McDavid's production has been underwhelming at the World Cup and playoffs.

- Crosby dominated the WHC's the previous spring vs. McDavid's solid but nothing spectacular showing

- while McDavid's PPG in his rookie year was impressive, Crosby's 6th place in his rookie year was more impressive and simply made him more proven to be closer to the #1 position

- Crosby came into the league as the higher rated prospect and showed more after two seasons that he was meeting the hype. McDavid has shown he can match Crosby if one looks at particular segments of their careers (i.e. sophomore regular season, CHL playoffs in their draft year) but cannot when looking at everything.

 

[daver]

A myth right up there with Santa Claus, Crosby plays defense and the Easter bunny.

And that Malkin has always been better than Crosby despite what an 11 season sample size indicates.

 

[yuri28]

Malkin takes the easier match ups for this reason alone his numbers can never be as impressive.

Yeah, especially when you know he has much better stats without Sid than with Sid in the lineup (so when he is facing the toughest match ups, following your reasoning) and that's over almost 150 games so not a small sample.