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George Zoran
Top Prospect
Canada
55 Posts |
 Posted - 11/22/2005 : 09:26:04
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The number one draft pick in ’04 and the number draft pick in ’05 will go head to head at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh tonight in the first of four “Clash of the Calder Trophy Candidates”. This has got to be the most anticipated match-up of this young 05-06 season.
So far, Sidney Crosby has proven to be the real deal, and is leading all rookies with 25 points. After 21 games he has 10 goals and 15 assists and leads the Penguins in scoring. Sure it doesn’t hurt playing with Mario Lemieux, Mark Recchi, Sergei Gonchar and Ziggy Palffy. However, his skill set was evident to anyone who saw him play last week against Philadelphia where he took a beating from Derian Hatcher and came back to score the OT winner in a huge two goal performance. Stitched up face and all, he looked great.
Ovechkin leads all rookies in goal scoring with 15. His six assists put him right behind Crosby with 21 points in 20 games with the Capitals. He also leads his team in scoring, but does not have the luxury of playing with a cast of all stars. In fact, the next highest scorer on Washington is Steve Eminger with 13 points. Had there been a 04-05 season, Ovechkin would have walked away with the Calder Memorial Trophy leaving Crosby a shoo-in for the award this year. However, the lockout has made for a great rookie rivalry, and the rookie of the year honor will most likely be decided during the final few games of the season.
This year’s freshman class is definitely the strongest that I can remember. Dion Phaneuf, Marek Svatos, Henrik Lundqvist, and Pavel Vorobiev could all be Calder Trophy winners in a non-Crosby/Ovechkin year. However, tonight is all about Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin…
Stay tuned.
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Jack Kayden 66
Top Prospect
Canada
61 Posts |
Posted - 11/23/2005 : 09:35:40
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| Crosby takes this one in a 5-4 Pittsburgh win. With a great back-hand goal and an even greater pass to set up Palffy for a tap in, Crosby finished the night with two points in 19:16 of ice time. Ovechkin also had a strong performance with one assist and 25:17 of ice time, looking dangerous every shift. He also thought he had a couple goals in the third, and raised his arms to celebrate - only then he realized he was denied by Caron on both attempts. Overall, what a great start to a rivalry that we will continue to enjoy for the next two decades. |
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Ripley
PickupHockey Pro
USA
365 Posts |
Posted - 11/24/2005 : 11:30:13
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Ovechkin reminds me of a Pavel Bure/Peter Forsberg combination. Forsberg's strength & puck sense. Bure's speed and ego.
Imagine if Ovechkin was on Pittsburg and Crosby was on Washington....... |
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dallasj
Top Prospect
Canada
29 Posts |
Posted - 11/25/2005 : 09:20:29
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| I don't think we can consider this a player v player rivalry like we could back in the 80's like Bird v Magic, etc. Hockey is so much more a team game and Crosby and Ovechkin could each play 20-25 minutes of the game and not face each other on the ice that much. It would be different if we had Dion Phaneuf playing against one of these two in the same division, then we could see more of a rivalry where the two players face each other throughout the game. |
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Sidney Crosby vs. Alexander Ovechkin… 
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