With Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin approaching the twilight of their legendary careers, Ovi said something that grabbed the attention of the hockey world.

While speaking with Rob Rossi of The Athletic, Ovi stated;

“We saved the league. Now they come in, and I guess we’re old news. But we saved it. It’s up to those guys to come in and prove me wrong that we’re not the best.”

And then, as though to make sure there’s no misunderstanding to what he’s saying, he follows up with;

“We saved the NHL.”

Usually a statement as bold and self-actualizing as this would be met with rolling eyes and vehement rebuttles, but the general reaction from the hockey world was to give a nod and a hat tip. The Crosby vs. Ovechkin battle throughout the early parts of the century are undeniably one of the main sources of attentive eyeballs and new fans.

Ovi and Crosby were both drafted 1st overall, in 2004 and 2005 respectively, but due to the lockout season they started at the same time.

The battle for the Calder Trophy set the tone for these two careers to contrast for two decades. Both rookies put up over 100 points, with Ovi ever so slightly earning Rookie of the Year honours.

There are some sports names that will forever be attached in narrative and rhetoric.

Tom vs. Peyton.

LeBron vs. Michael.

Cristiano vs. Leo.

You better believe Ovi vs. Sid belongs in that group as well.

The two have met four times in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and each time the winner has gone on to win the Cup. This is the sort of lore that you may not believe had it been cooked up by a fiction author.

It seemed only appropriate that we celebrate this legacy in the most honourable way we know how.

A BarDown Quiz, baby.

Jesse, Luca, Corwin, Jeff, and Sam compete in a classic 10-question quiz revolving around the careers of Ovi and Sid, and specifically how those two career have intertwined. For some of our eager contestants, the showing was notably poor. For others – particularly one humble man – it was domination.

 

 

BANG!

What a showing. We genuinely thought he may get something wrong. But then he genuinely didn’t!

What did you think of the quiz? Do you have any thoughts, feelings, suggestions? Make sure to leave a comment on the YouTube video. We read each and every one of them!