Name something in our short-attention-span world that can remain awesome and relevant for two full decades.
The Simpsons? Eminem’s bars? Your grandparents’ marriage?
Maybe.
Well, how about the NHL careers of Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin?
Definitely.
If it’s difficult to believe that the Kid and the goal-scoring GOAT will both enter their 20th NHL seasons this week — a rare convergence of health and excellence — what’s even more astounding is that the league’s two longest-serving active captains are still front and centre when it comes to hockey’s most gripping characters and storylines.
Sure, the league kicked off Week 1 by dropping a commerical spot highlighting the wave of Gen Z superstars taking the baton as faces of the league, but it’s been a gradual and reluctant pass from the Metropolitan superstars/heroes that essentially saved their respective franchises and injected the sport with a double shot of hype back in 2005-06.
Infinitely distinct yet forever linked, no-brainer Hall of Famers and Mount Rushmore candidates Crosby and Ovechkin delivered on their promise to usher in all the things we might hope from our generational talents.
Ovechkin was the first-overall pick in the 2004 draft, but the following season was scrapped due to a labour dispute. Crosby — poster child of the Pittsburgh Model — was the first prize in 2005, so the ’80s babies entered the league as freshmen together.
All they’ve done since is combine for 1,445 goals, 1,701 assists, 3,146 points, 219 game-winners, 43 hat tricks, and a plus-262 rating over 2,698 games played.
Not to mention the four Stanley Cups, three Art Rosses, five Harts, 11 Maurice Richards, 20 all-star nods, three Conn Smythes, and one helluva duelling hat-trick night.
Oh, and lead a couple of previously middling franchises to glory.
No Penguin has appeared in as many seasons as Crosby, whose dominance at age 37 flies in the face of logic and has long put concerns over his frightening bout with concussions to rest.
Crosby comes into 2024-25 hot off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign — his most productive in five years. He finished in the top 10 in both Hart and Selke voting last spring, and his diligent summer training sessions with Nathan MacKinnon & Co. have the Cole Harbour, N.S., native poised to make more history.
Milestones are within easy reach.
Crosby sits a mere eight goals shy of 600 and four points short of 1,600. Sometime this winter, he’ll become just the ninth NHLer in history to hit those marks, and he should have no issue piling the 46 points needed to leap Joe Sakic for ninth on the all-time points list.
Not too shabby for a guy who declined to push for a raise, re-signing for two more years at his relatively modest $8.7-million salary so the Penguins have a little more budget to build a playoff roster.
“He can play until he’s 50,” said Kris Letang, one third of the longest-tenured trio (with Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) in team sports history.
Fifty might not be necessary. But what Crosby will try to accomplish before 40 is bound to be must-see TV — regardless of if you believe in Pittsburgh’s plans to delay a rebuild.
That’s because international hockey is back.
Crosby, MacKinnon and Connor McDavid will all be on the same team, representing Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off this February and again in Italy at the 2026 Winter Games.
MacKinnon says the author of the Golden Goal was motivated over the summer by another long-awaited chance to don the Maple Leaf.
“I’m thinking about it a lot,” MacKinnon told reporters at last month’s NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas. “It’s a lot of fun thinking about playing with all the best players from your own country.
“I idolized Sid growing up. It’s not a secret. I think a lot of us did.”
Ditto Ovechkin, whose bulldozer style and cannon of a one-timer may never be replicated.
With a Cup championship secured (public fountains never had it so good) and his native Russia banned from international competition, Ovechkin’s goals have become more individual than team-oriented.
The Great 8’s overtaking of Wayne Gretzky’s NHL-record 894 career goals now feels as inevitable as the salt overtaking the pepper in the sniper’s hair.
After a productive second half last season, Ovechkin (853 goals) enters this one just 42 goals away from replacing Gretzky on the list and becoming the sport’s undisputed goal king.
No 39-year-old has ever scored 40, but we’d be foolish to write off a durable, nine-time Rocket champ. Plus, the Washington Capitals power play still revolves around his office and Ovechkin is under contract for a 21st season, too.
As Ovechkin inches closer to 99, The Chase should swell into a story that transcends hockey and dominates the sporting conversation.
“It’s on the top of our list in terms of potential events that we want to promote and make sure we don’t let it slip under the radar screen,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said. “Some people kind of suggested, because Alex is Russian, that somehow this should be marginalized in some way.
“We couldn’t disagree more with that. He’s been a terrific ambassador for our game for 20 years now, and his enthusiasm for the game and passion for the game is infectious, and he’s done a lot to lift the tide for the league and for all players during his tenure there. So, it’s something definitely we want to celebrate.”
Crosby included.
“It’s really cool,” Crosby told reporters last month. “To be able to play in the same division, to have the history we’ve had over the years. To come in at the same time, with pretty high expectations, to see him this close to what was thought to be an untouchable record, it’s incredible what he’s doing. I feel grateful to be [witnessing] that.”
Just as hockey fans should be grateful to have witnessed the feats of not one but two true generational talents. For 20 years and counting.
“As a player, you want to compete at the highest level. To be in that conversation with him over the years, I hope that we’ve gotten the best out of each other,” Crosby said.
“And hopefully we’ve got some strong years left here.”