It was the dream match up; it was Magic vs. Bird, Yankees vs. Red Sox or even Duke vs. Carolina. It was everything the NHL hoped for and needed to happen. To most it wasn’t the Washington Capitals vs. Pittsbugh Penguins; it was Crosby vs. Ovechkin in a meaningful playoff series, winner takes all and loser goes home. What a gift! It is extremely rare that fans get the opportunity to see the two best players of any given era face each other in the ultimate showdown, the playoffs! We never got to see Wayne Gretzky vs. Mario Lemieux and we have yet to see Kobe vs. Lebron(crosses fingers) but the NHL of today has given us something special and created some much needed interest in a sport that was hearing whispers of shutting down just a few years ago.

The two players could not be any more different, in fact they are polar opposites from style of play to demeanor and swagger off and on the ice. The one thing they do have in common is that few players can match their skill set during the regular season and even fewer players can elevate their game to a new level in the playoffs as they did. That being said only one player in this series did what truly matters, and that is deliver when his team needed him most. While Alex Ovechkin has more individual accolades and regular season wins, it was Sydney Crosby who brought his “A” game in the final match of the series against Ovechkin’s heavily favored Capitals. Crosby, the victim of constant criticism on his character by fans and the media alike for not basking in the limelight, showed up when only the great ones do(in the limelight). It was crunch time when Crosby shined, scoring twice and dishing out one assist to lead his team to a 6-2 shellacking over his arch rival.

What boggles my mind is the vibe of “disgust” or “disappointment” to see Crosby succeed. I have literally heard several Penguins fans voice their negative opinions of Crosby, even after leading their team to consecutive Conference Finals and a Stanley Cup Final appearance. They even gave him nicknames like “Cindy Crosby” or “Wish He’d Slip”. I asked some friends why they feel that way and I kept getting the same answers “takes to many dives” or “Doesn’t show up when needed most”. Well unless I missed something, I just watched a whole series where Crosby didn’t “dive” once (who are we to determine a dive anyway, are we skating out there?) and led his team to a victory in a 7 game playoff series against a player that has seemingly had his number all season and the rest of a very good Washington Capital squad. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I just don’t understand it. Well you know what they say; it’s lonely at top, but after last night I doubt “Sid the Kid” lost any sleep over it.