Who is the Greatest Hockey Player in the World?

Despite the fact that he can be a notorious whiner, Sidney Crosby is in the process of proving that he is, in fact, the greatest hockey player in the world. There are greats, such as Alexander Ovechkin, and Steven Stamkos, but neither of them are currently on the same level as Sid the Kid. Stamkos had a ridiculous start, and still sits 2nd in the league in both goals and points. Unfortunately, he has stalled and is pointless in his last three games, with only two points in his last five. Ovechkin, third in assists and goals, is proving he can be a team player and is still producing at an outstanding rate with 35 points in 29 games this season. However, he isn’t scoring goals in bunches as we’re used to.

While Ovechkin and Stamkos have been held back this season, Crosby has broken through every obstacle that has come his way thus far. By doing so, he’s led the Penguins back from a mediocre start and carried them on an 11 game winning streak. Their incredible winning streak trails only a 17 game win streak by the 1993 Penguins. To go along with a team winning streak, Crosby has a 17 game point streak, second best in his career (19 games). Crosby and the Penguins now find themselves first in the NHL with 42 points in 30 games.

To break down Crosby’s personal streak even more, we’ll find that he has gone more than a month since he was last held off the scoresheet. Over that time, Crosby has found the back of the net 20 times. He’s also assisted on another 15 goals, giving him 35 points through his streak. But it doesn’t just end there. All season long, number 87 has been dominating the league. He has only been held pointless in four games so far this season! To make things better, at one point we were all talking about Steve Stamkos going for 50 in 50 this season. Now, however, Crosby has the best chance to do it, as he has 26 goals in 30 games. A couple more multi-goal efforts, and he’s right there.

Beyond his success this season, you can look at his past for additional proof. The only season in his young career where he failed to reach 100 points was an injury filled campaign in 2007-08. Despite his injuries, he still picked up 72 points in only 53 games. On top of that, he’s a proven winner. The Stanley Cup was his in 2009, and he personally secured the Gold Medal for Team Canada in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

But part of what makes Sidney Crosby so special is that he is such a humble individual. He doesn’t rely on his natural talents alone to get him through each NHL season. The guy has plenty of skill that he has developed over hours upon hours of hard work. Whether it is between games or during the off season, the guy works harder than anyone trying to improve what he thinks are shortcomings in his game. For example, in 2008-09, Crosby scored 33 goals. He was second on the Penguins squad to only Evgeni Malkin (35). That offseason, he decided he was going to shoot more, and be a more productive goal scorer. He came back the next season and broke the 50 goal mark for the first time in his career. Before too long, I think fans and players alike are going to realize that there are no longer any areas for him to improve. But he will continue to work hard, because he loves the game, and wants to be the best player that he can be.

As part of the Red Wings faithful, you can bet its hard to write such an article. Praising Sid the Kid is not something I would like to do, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I’m not saying you should respect everything Crosby does, but if you can’t respect the talent, skill and work ethic that Crosby brings to every single game, you’re not a good hockey fan. With that in mind, it’s easy to say that Sidney Crosby is the greatest hockey player in the world today.