The boys over at the fantastic Steve Dangle Podcast brought up an insane hypothetical situation. What would happen if Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin switched teams for this past season’s Eastern Conference second-round matchup?
First of all, how dare you Steve, Adam, and Jesse even pose this question and second, let’s discuss because I know many of you have wondered it yourself.
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Jesse: Will Ovechkin make it out of the second round at any point in his career?
This question could also be phrased, “How much of an Olympic sized swimming pool could Chris fill up with tears at the end of Alex Ovechkin’s career?”
Jesse: He’s never won a second round series.
Steve: That’s crazy. Neither has Braden Holtby, neither has Nicklas Backstrom. Everyone is always like “OVECHKIN” and I’m like *shrugs*.
It’s refreshing to see someone get what has really gone on with Ovechkin and the Caps, and not just commit to Mike Milbury levels of narrative. This must have been like what Ferdinand Foch felt like after World War II started.
Adam: What pisses me off about the way legacies are kind of tracked is that people base so much on how many championships you won. If Wayne Gretzky had never won a Cup, he would still be the best. If Bobby Orr never won a Cup, he would still be f—ing Bobby Orr!
Can I get an Amen? Preach it Brother Wylde.
Jesse: If you took Ovechkin and put him on the Penguins and you took Crosby and put him on the Capitals, does Ovechkin have a Cup? What if we just took 2017 rosters?
I’ve never been so unprepared to answer a question in my entire life.
Steve: The Capitals win the Cup in three [games].
Adam: Remember that Crosby is going up against Malkin, but Steve you are correct he is not one of the top 100 players of all time.
Yep, not a Blackhawk. Let’s continue.
Adam: You got Fleury/Murray vs. Grubauer/Holtby, it’s a wash right?
Jesse: No, Penguins win the goalie match-up, they won it in real life.
I wish I could argue this, but I can’t.
Steve: The Caps defense was really disappointing too.
Remember when Barry Trotz put Karl Alzner and Brooks Orpik out on the ice at the same time in the playoffs. I do, it flashes before my eyes in nightmares every time I go to sleep tonight.
Steve: What did (Capitals) management and ownership do to help any of that (pressure). They made it way worse. “We have to win this year”. They basically told fans, “We have to win this year or we are f—ed”.
I don’t think this is really talked about enough. Argue the merits of quotes like that having any real effect, but is there really a sports city outside of DC or a franchise outside of the Caps under the same pressure in the postseason? It’s almost like management was playing poker with their cards face up the entire year.
Adam: Nate Schmidt on defense, who was like a revelation and then they lost him.
That’s the main gist from what the boys talked about on their podcast. I figured it would be fun to come up with a list of things that would also happen if Sidney Crosby were to become a Capital.
- The Caps would get a lot more penalty calls in their favor.
- Whine/60 would be at an all-time high in DC.
- Pierre McGuire would make Iron Horse his permanent home.
- I don’t think this website would exist, which means I too would also kind of not exist.
What do you think?
