I hate him!

I remember well when I was in elementary school that you either loved Wayne Gretzky (or the Oilers) or you loved Lanny McDonald (or the Flames). Both were great Canadian hockey players playing for Canadian hockey teams. And what made it even better was that they were playing for Alberta's rival teams during some of the greatest years of Alberta professional hockey. I remember kids saying things like "Gretzky is such a whiner". OK so that is really the only specific thing I can remember. But I do remember being frequently asked who I liked better Gretzky or Lanny. It was a big thing. I don't ever remember committing to one or the other, it really depended on who I was with. I'll admit it, I had no idea about anything hockey...not NHL hockey.
So just moments ago I had one of the young men form our ward at my house with his mom to pick some stuff up. Hanging on the hooks at the back door was a Washington Capitals Jersey with the name and number of Alexander Ovechkin to be sewn on. This young man sees it and exclaims "Oh, Ovechkin". I responded with, "Oh, are you an Ovechkin fan?" and he said "Yeah! I hate Crosby". I was immediately taken back to my days as a youth debating over Gretzky and Lanny. Maybe it's not quite the same thing. Sydney Crosby (Pittsburg Penguins) is a Canadian player, Ovechkin is a Russian. They are both playing for american hockey teams. They are both about the same age and at the same point in their hockey career. Where as Lanny was 8 years older and had 5 years on Wayne in his NHL career.
But...both Crosby and Ovechikin have been compared to some of the greatest hockey players that have ever lived. They are both great goal scorers, Both of them have their loyal following of fans who will swear that one is better than the other, or that one is humble and the other has a bit of an ego problem. They have both been big players on their respective teams, and with out them, some will say that their team would not be where they are today. Sound familiar?
So maybe it is the same debate, but different.

By the way....I am an Oilers fan these days and apparently I know enough about hockey these days to write a little blog post. Some day I'll share with you all my conversion story.