[Cage Match Tournament] #1 Ovechkin vs. #2 Crosby

[Ross The Boss Palmer]

I know I am supposed to be impartial but I can’t shake the accusation that people voting for Crosby are doing so because of what he has done in recent games. While there are no doubt people who are doing this I for one had Crosby as my first overall player back when the selection committee was deciding things and Crosby was still comatose. He is the best player on the planet when healthy and I think it is worth the risk because he can put up points at a pace no one else can touch. Other players can be just as dominant for stretches but the difference is when Crosby cools off he still scores at a point per game pace.

Right on!


I don't care how many games he has missed in the past two seasons. The guy had a broken vertebrae, and the symptoms are the same as a concussion. Who knows if he even had a concussion, and if he did, then new research is showing that the best way to recover and cause neurogenesis is exercise.


Regardless, Crosby has my vote.

[dyzfunctioned]

I know Ovi's had a rough season but people thought Crosby's career might be over recently..

[buck0198]

I agree. I am a Penguins fan and Crosby is such a joy to watch. Best player in the league because of his work ethic, heart and skill combined. However, I cannot vote for him due to the c-factor.

[Big Ev]

How are people voting for Crosby only because of what he's doing in recent games? I disagree, it's his past and his immense potential for more that is the reason why he is the best fantasy forward in the game. The concussion issue is so overblown it's unreal. Go ahead and pick Ovechkin, you'll get a underachieving, coke head, off-the-roids Russian who will give you under PPG for years to come.

[Big Ev]

and before I get flamed yes I was joking about coke head and off-the-roids

[SeaDawg]

I know I am supposed to be impartial but I can’t shake the accusation that people voting for Crosby are doing so because of what he has done in recent games. While there are no doubt people who are doing this I for one had Crosby as my first overall player back when the selection committee was deciding things and Crosby was still comatose. He is the best player on the planet when healthy and I think it is worth the risk because he can put up points at a pace no one else can touch. Other players can be just as dominant for stretches but the difference is when Crosby cools off he still scores at a point per game pace.

Crosby's concussion history doesn't completely scare me off him. I'd still pick him in the top 5. But he "used" to be number 1 for me before the concussions. And now I'd take Malkin, Ovechkin, and possibly Stamkos over him.

You simply cannot downplay the concussions and anyone who says that just doesn't understand the medical facts here. More often than not, a person with a history of concussions, like Crosby, will take longer to recover from another concussion. He could easily miss many more months and, just like Lindros and Primeau, eventually be forced into early retirement. There is no downplaying the seriousness of his situation.

And in the off-season when no one knew when Crosby would return, almost every draft I was involved in had Ovechkin go before Crosby, and there were dozens of threads on this site with people saying they'd take OV over Crosby.

Now that Crosby is back and "apparently" healthy again, I am shocked at the change of heart.

[SeaDawg]

Heck, in one of my leagues I could have acquired Crosby for Tavares and Seguin, and I posted a thread about that, and EVERYONE who replied to my thread say they'd never do that deal and most people said they wouldn't even make the deal for Tavares alone. Just saying that although some people may have always had Crosby's back, there are quite a few people who are looking pretty fickle right about now.

[dyzfunctioned]

Fantasy hockey managers are about the most short sighted bunch out there.

If Crosby wasn't pencilled in to come back until playoffs, Ovi would be winning this hands down. But the fact he's back and has put up a bunch of points, he's #1 again in the minds of poolies.

[Big Ev]

Fantasy hockey managers are about the most short sighted bunch out there.

If Crosby wasn't pencilled in to come back until playoffs, Ovi would be winning this hands down. But the fact he's back and has put up a bunch of points, he's #1 again in the minds of poolies.

Crosby has been the #1 in my mind since the day he was drafted.

[metaldude26]

I’m not going to downplay the seriousness of his concussions. I just think that against any ONE other player I would rather have Crosby because he’s worth the risk.

[hockeyrobot]

The concussion issue is so overblown it's unreal. Go ahead and pick Ovechkin, you'll get a underachieving, coke head, off-the-roids Russian who will give you under PPG for years to come.

How can you say it is overblown with all of the players that have missed significant time because of it?

Teams are clearly taking it VERY seriously now and taking the right precautions in every situation. You may think that maybe these concussions aren't serious enough to garner a player misses months and months of time until they are absolutely 100% symptom free, but that doesn't not change the fact that the franchises of the leagues clearly disagree.

[Big Ev]

How can you say it is overblown with all of the players that have missed significant time because of it?

Teams are clearly taking it VERY seriously now and taking the right precautions in every situation. You may think that maybe these concussions aren't serious enough to garner a player misses months and months of time until they are absolutely 100% symptom free, but that doesn't not change the fact that the franchises of the leagues clearly disagree.

It's come to the point where teams are way too cautious and are misdiagnosing these things. For example, Crosby's recent setback was cause by a neck injury and not a concussion, yet they thought it was a concussion.

I look at Patrice Bergeron who looked dead on the ice at one point and I am not overly concerned with concussions anymore. Especially with younger players.

[blayze]

I look at Patrice Bergeron who looked dead on the ice at one point and I am not overly concerned with concussions anymore. Especially with younger players.

If you want to use examples here are some other ones to add to your already extensive sample set of one player:

Players who have come back strong post-concussion:
-Bergeron

Players who's careers have been shortened:
-Savard
-Lafontaine
-Gagne
-Lindros
-Stevens
-Kariya
-Primeau
-Richter
-McDonald (Andy)


Crosby's missed most of the last 2 seasons, and he's been out for extended periods twice... hmmm I wonder which list he's more likely to land on?

[Big Ev]

Mostly all those players are pre-lockout/90's. The true concussion diagnosis and treatment is 100x better now. I have no concerns and I would not risk taking a scrub over Crosby 1st overall.

and David Booth, Claude Giroux, Sergei Gonchar, Milan Michalek, Daniel Alfredsson, Daniel Briere, Kris Letang, etc. all have had concussions recently and all are doing fine.

[phickey]

It's sad that Crosby is walking away with this one. How "what have you done for me lately?" can GM's be? If this poll was taken in December, even with OV playing like he was, it would be no question in his favour. Bottomline, on a ppg basis, it's Crosby all the way. But the truth is, he's after getting too fragile. I'd hedge my bets and go with OV.