Sid and Ovi: Exceeding the Hype

Expectations were low for Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin ahead of their eagerly-awaited NHL debuts back in 2005. Their respective teams, the Penguins and Washington Capitals, only needed them to help resurrect once-proud franchises that had fallen on hard times. The NHL was simply looking for the duo to resuscitate life into a league coming off of missing an entire season due to a lockout.

Scratch that, because in retrospect, after remembering those facts, which only tell a fraction of the story about where hockey stood as a major sport within the United States, expectations were actually ENORMOUS for Crosby and Ovechkin as they broke into the league. Factor in the quickly-emerging technological advances that were coming in the form of the iPhone and social media, both ready to capture and critique the pairs’ every move to fans in real-time, nobody would have been surprised if Crosby and Ovechkin failed to live up to the hype.

Twenty-one years later, after Crosby and Ovechkin squared off for the 100^th – and possibly final – time, we all know how this story played out. In an era where nothing seems to live up to its advance billing, these guys did the impossible, they EXCEEDED the hype.

By a wide margin.

Who better to attest to how Crosby and Ovechkin have exceeded their impossible expectations than Crosby himself. Always eloquent and forever classy, Crosby’s post-game comments on Ovechkin can easily sum up what both of them have meant to the sport.

“He's had a huge impact on (hockey), on and off the ice,” Crosby said. “Came in with such high expectations, and I think he matched them, if not more. I mean, how do you live up to those kinds of expectations? But to be the greatest goal scorer of all time, and to do what he's done as consistent as he's been, is pretty impressive. Definitely honored that I've had the opportunity to play with him all these years.”

Sadly, for hockey fans, Sunday afternoon’s 3-0 Washington win at Capital One Arena very well may be the final chapter in what is arguably the greatest individual rivalry in the history of the NHL. Last week, in a sit-down interview that aired on the Capitals’ official website, Ovechkin told Caps’ radio voice John Walton that he has not made a decision yet on playing next season, but will do so in the summer after talking to his family.

If Sunday was really the end, Penguins’ fans, Capitals’ fans, and really, hockey fans across the globe, should take a moment to appreciate how fortunate we all were to witness these two all-time greats going head-to-head so frequently. This rivalry – Sid vs. Ovi – was unlike anything the sport has ever seen. As Crosby and Ovechkin battled for NHL supremacy, they not only etched their names high atop every NHL all-time leaderboard, but more importantly, in their own unique ways, they made hockey cool again by ushering in a high-flying era that currently sees the game in as great of a place here in the United States as the sport has ever been.

Ultimately, that will be their lasting legacy as players and rivals. They saved the NHL, restoring its status as a top North American professional league. Whenever they do finally hang up their skates, they will leave the game in a better place than they found it. There are only about a handful of players – at best – who can make that claim.

The Origins                                                                                    

Ironically, both the Penguins and Capitals have Jaromir Jagr trades to thank for the paths each franchise embarked upon to land their respective icon.

Following a Mario Lemieux-return-from-retirement inspired run to the Eastern Conference Final in 2001, Pittsburgh traded Jagr to Washington in July of that year due in large part due to financial limitations. Pittsburgh aimed to extend its window of playoff contention by allocating the money it saved from the Jagr deal to keep Alexei Kovalev, Martin Straka, Robert Lang and Darius Kasparaitis long-term. Washington was hoping that adding the defending four-time NHL scoring champion in Jagr would elevate the club to title-contending status.

The deal didn’t work out as expected for either club. Within a year the Penguins were in a full-fledged rebuild, and Washington joined them by 2004 when it dealt Jagr to the New York Rangers following what became a very brief marriage.

As the Pens trudged their way towards a last-place overall finish in 2003-04, fans dreamed of ping-pong balls bouncing their way, with the reward the chance at adding the sharp-shooting Ovechkin to convert Lemieux one-timers into Civic Arena nets. Ultimately, those balls fell the Caps way.

While disappointed at the time, Penguins fans didn’t have to wait long to see the universe worked out in a favorable fashion for their charmed team. By earning the second pick in 2004, the Penguins received one of the best consolation prizes – Evgeni Malkin. Nobody knew it at the time, but by NOT getting the top pick in ’04, the Penguins received an extra ball in the ‘Sidney Crosby Lottery’ that ushered in the NHL’s post-lockout era.

This time, armed with an NHL-high three balls, and the luck of then-general manager Craig Patrick’s four-leaf clover by their side, those ping-pong balls fell in Pittsburgh’s favor. Crosby was headed to Pittsburgh.

The fates of two franchises were sealed, Crosby (and Malkin) versus Ovechkin was poised to save the NHL.

A Rivalry Begins

Not surprisingly, Crosby and Ovechkin displayed their superstardom from Day 1. Ovechkin buried two goals in his NHL debut against Columbus, and notched points in each of his first eight games. Crosby tallied points in his first six contests, which included his first NHL goal and three points in his October 8, 2005 home debut versus Boston. Their sizzling starts became the appetizer ahead of their eagerly-anticipated first clash on November 22, 2005 in Pittsburgh.

Neither disappointed, with Crosby scoring a highlight-reel goal, which was only exceeded by his spinning, backhand assist later in the game on a Ziggy Palffy tally. Ovechkin collected one assist, but was dynamic all evening.

If you were there that night, you knew what was going to unfold: The NHL had its equivalent to Magic vs. Bird.

Fittingly, that baton was officially passed to the NHL’s next generation ahead of Crosby-Ovechkin II on January 25, 2005. One day prior, Lemieux retired for a second time due to atrial fibrillation. The Penguins were now Crosby’s team, and the NHL was Sid’s and Ovi’s.

By season’s end, Joe Thornton edged out Jagr for the overall scoring championship, but the race captivating fans was Crosby versus Ovechkin for the rookie points title. Ovechkin came out ahead, 106-102, which earned him the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year. 

With Malkin entering the fray the following year, everyone was salivating at what was to come for this re-budding rivalry. The best was definitely yet to come.

Epic Postseason Clashes

Before long, the Penguins and Capitals re-emerged as playoff participants, which led to the NHL’s dream scenario in 2009: Crosby’s Penguins met Ovechkin’s Capitals with a trip to the Eastern Conference Final on the line.

I’m not sure if the written word can give the proper justice to summarizing the electricity Crosby and Ovechkin brought to that series. In arguably their most epic individual showdown, both players tallied hat tricks in Washington’s Game 2 win.

Washington won the first two games of that series; Pittsburgh the next three, including overtime winners by Kris Letang (Game 3) and Malkin (Game 5). A Caps’ OT win in Game 6 set up a winner-take-all-Game 7 at Verizon Center. Just as importantly, hockey was taking center stage atop the sporting world.

Ovechkin had a chance to be the early hero, but Marc-Andre Fleury robbed him on a breakaway by making a tone-setting glove save. Shortly thereafter, Crosby opened the scoring, and the Penguins never looked back. The final score was 6-2, with Crosby netting two goals and three points. Ovechkin tallied as well, but it was too little, too late.

The series victory was mammoth for the Penguins, but the totality of what transpired was colossal for the NHL.

Not only did Crosby and Ovechkin give the sport seven back-and-forth games, dominating national headlines as they filled the scoresheet, with each scoring eight goals. Ovechkin finished with 14 points; Crosby had 13.

Pittsburgh went on to defeat Carolina and Detroit to give Crosby his first Stanley Cup. At that point, Crosby was 21 and Ovechkin 23. Everyone assumed we would see this rivalry play out in the postseason on a yearly basis.

Fate disagreed, as Crosby’s health, combined with earlier-than-expected playoff exits by both teams meant seven years would pass before they met in the postseason again. While their individual scoring exploits didn’t match 2009, three-straight second round matchups between 2016 and ’18 lifted the rivalry into another stratosphere, while simultaneously punctuating both of their resumes as all-time greats.

Crosby and Ovechkin didn’t have to be Superman during these years, both were surrounded by complete teams around them. Yet they remained the straw that stirred the drink as one playoff showdown became another. The scorecard from those three playoff meetings couldn’t have finished closer. Pittsburgh owned the slight edge in series wins (2-1), overall wins (10-9) and Stanley Cup championships (2-1).

The final line item is what made all four playoff matchups between Crosby and Ovechkin such a crucial element of their co-authored tale. Even though those series came in the second round each time, they all had the feel of a Stanley Cup Final. The winner of each series between Crosby and Ovechkin went on to win the Cup later that spring. In order to reach the holy grail of the sport, they had to go through the other in order to do so.

Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky faced off 25 times in the regular season during the 12 seasons they overlapped. They never met in the postseason. Crosby and Ovechkin equaled that number in playoff games alone (Crosby missed one playoff game).

Seeing the two best players of a generation in that many high-stakes games is rare. It’s also one of the major components of their story, one that elevated the duo to its lofty standing as the game’s best rivalry.

Legendary Status Turns Foes to Friends

The circle of life gets everyone. Before long, the Penguins and Capitals were knocked off the ledge of the NHL’s elite by the next wave of dynasties, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers. While championship runs weren’t featured in this chapter, these years were important pages in the Crosby-Ovechkin story.

Having both won Stanley Cups to cement their status as all-time greats, Crosby and Ovechkin now began admiring the massive numbers each was compiling to make his move to the next level – all-time legend.

As each skated along the path to his next massive milestone, they didn’t have to compete for supremacy anymore. By this point they had long-ago established themselves as the preeminent stars of their era. Now they were almost skating in lockstep, proving that both of their names belonged in the same sentence as Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe.

The final stage of their rivalry, it was about catching and surpassing those names. Along the way, Crosby and Ovechkin forged a companionship built on recognizing just how historic what each was accomplishing. At the same time that the combatants on the ice were admiring one another, that respect for greatness was extended to the fanbases.

Last season, when Ovechkin did the unimaginable and broke Gretzky’s all-time regular-season goal scoring mark, Crosby, Malkin and the Penguins organization celebrated the achievement, which included a standing ovation for Ovechkin. He earned another on Saturday in what could have been his final appearance in Pittsburgh. Likewise, fans in Washington cheered for Crosby on Sunday whenever the Caps ran an in-game video celebrating their 100^th meeting.

"Yeah, it was nice,” Ovechkin said of Saturday’s ovation. “It was a show of respect. All that time that we spend on rivalries, like, you know, playoffs, other good [seasons], yeah. It shows respect."

“I didn’t really know that was going on, to be honest with you,” Crosby said afterwards of the classy video from the Caps on Sunday. “We were chatting about a faceoff play, I think, and I saw it at the last minute. So, definitely appreciate it. Didn’t really realize at the time what was going on. It’s nice.”

Amazingly for those who witnessed the duration of the rivalry, what started out so fierce in the early years of their careers organically transformed into a distant friendship in their final years. Sunday’s well-chronicled post-game meetup between them was immense because of the magnitude of it possibly being the final matchup. But it’s something that had been happening with more regularity when the two faced off.

“Yeah, I mean, I think (the rivalry is) still there,” Crosby said. “Maybe not to the extent that it was. But hopefully, people have been entertained. I think as competitors, as athletes, it's been pretty cool to be able to be part of some big games and that rivalry. That's something that obviously a lot of people have watched and cheered for, whether you cheered for or against, or whatever it was – it was something that has been special over that time period, and something I appreciate, and hopefully everybody appreciates.”

“We became friends,” Ovechkin said. “I think we understand the battle is out there. But off the ice, we can text each other, (say) congrats (to each other) on the moments. So, it’s been good.”

The Future

Ovechkin has stated that he’ll make a decision on whether or not he’ll retire this summer. He’ll be 41 when next season begins. Crosby has one year left on his current contract. He turns 39 in August.

In spite of joining Colorado’s Brent Burns as the three players who have been in the league the longest among current players, Crosby and Ovechkin remain among the best. They both lead their teams in scoring. Watching them play, you get the feeling they both have at least a few years left.

As they’ve defied Father Time, their teams have conducted impressive rebuilds on the fly. The Penguins are back in the playoffs this spring after a three-year hiatus. Washington made a surprising appearance last year. The Caps still have life to sneak in this year. If that dream scenario plays out, the Penguins would be their opponent.

Wouldn’t that be something, four-to-seven more epic matchups! Where is Craig Patrick’s four-leaf clover?

Regardless of whether we get a fifth playoff installment of Sid vs. Ovi or not, over the next few years, we’ll watch one and then the other exit the game. When they do finally hang ‘em up, they can do so with immense pride, because the league they’ll exit is a far better, far more entertaining and far more popular product than they entered.

Nobody did more on and off the ice over the past 21 years than Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. They have been not only great players, but tremendous ambassadors for this great game. They walked for miles when the league needed it most, creating an environment where the Connor McDavid’s, Nathan McKinnon’s and Macklin Celebrini’s can run.

That’s one heck of a legacy to leave for the future. 

If this was it, THANK YOU Sid and Ovi!