The Top 30 Arguments and Debates in Sports | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Consider Crosby. No player since Wayne Gretzky has been better prepared for greatness. He is skilled, tough and dependable. If Ovechkin thinks Crosby whines too much, he is tarring the Penguins captain with a mostly outdated reputation that was established his rookie year and is way overblown. Crosby might loose (sic) his emotions too often, but bigger bellyachers in the NHL -- Anaheim's Teemu Selanne and Buffalo's Derek Roy, to name two -- generally get a free pass. (And never forget that Gretzky himself was not above a bit of strategic whining.)

Now consider Ovechkin. He's a force of nature, as improvisational as Crosby is programmed. The Capitals left winger is the most exciting player in the game since Gilbert Perreault, maybe even Bobby Orr, and if at times there appears there is not enough mustard in the world to smear on this guy, well, make ours with sauerkraut.