Babcock adamant Crosby still the NHL’s best player
TORONTO — Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews? Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid?
With debate ramping up about which player currently sits atop hockey’s throne as “best in the world” after some incredible early-season performances, Leafs head coach Mike Babcock went with a tried and tested third option for his pick — Sidney Crosby.
“This is what I think,” Babcock began as he made his case for the Penguins’ captain prior to Pittsburgh’s stifling 3-0 victory over Toronto on Thursday. “I think one guy’s got two Olympic gold medals and three Stanley Cups.” And the other guys? “They don’t.” McDavid, the captain of the Edmonton Oilers, owns back-toback NHL scoring titles and has won the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player, while Matthews, the Leafs’ deadly sniper, tops this season’s points race with 16 in just eight games.
McDavid and his blazing speed set an NHL record earlier this week by becoming the only player to either score or assist on the first nine goals of his team’s campaign. On the other hand, Matthews and his lethal shot that often leaves an opposing goalie looking up at the replay for a glimpse at a puck that just whizzed into the top corner, was just the fifth player in league history to record seven straight multi-point games to start a season.
Those accomplishments by the 21-year-old phenoms are nice, to be sure, but Babcock said personal accolades only matter so much.
Crosby, 31, has been on top of the hockey world for the better part of the last decade, winning the Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017 to go along with gold medals for Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. He’s also a two-time Hart and Conn Smythe Trophy winner.
“I don’t think he plans on giving anything away,” Babcock said of Crosby. “To me, it’s not even close.”
“I still think Sid’s an incredible player and McDavid’s definitely up there, and (Matthews) is creeping up there,” said Leafs centre Nazem Kadri.