Two Generations of Greatness. One Hockey Era. And We’re Lucky to Watch

Every once in a while, a hockey number comes along that makes me stop for a second. This is one of those numbers. Connor McDavid has played 797 career games and has 1,229 points. Sidney Crosby needed about 200 more games to reach that same total.

Think about that for a minute. That’s a ridiculous pace. If McDavid somehow maintained his current scoring pace all the way to 1,039 games, we’d be talking about something around 1,900 points.

I’m not predicting that. Hockey doesn’t work that way. Players get older. Bodies get tired. Injuries happen. Careers take turns nobody sees coming. McDavid’s 1,229 points in 797 games is an extraordinary pace, while Crosby’s total came after years affected by injuries and missed time. For context, Crosby reached 1,000 points in his 757th game and 1,500 points in his 1,188th game. Crosby now has 1,763 points in 1,422 games.

But just doing the math is fun. And it’s also a reminder of what we’re watching.

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Elite players from two generations. Same ice.

The easy thing to do with a comparison like this is to start arguing about who’s better. I’m not sure we need to. Crosby and McDavid are different players. They came into the NHL at different times. They have played on different teams and in different hockey environments.

What makes this moment so interesting is that we don’t have to compare them from a distance. We aren’t looking at Crosby through old video clips and trying to remember what it felt like to watch him at 20. And we aren’t waiting 20 years to figure out what McDavid’s career meant. They’re both still here.

We’re watching it happen. That’s pretty special. Crosby has been one of the defining players of his generation. Now McDavid is doing something similar for the generation that followed. And for hockey fans, we get to watch both of them at the same time.

And then there’s the other part of greatness.

The thing I appreciate about Crosby and McDavid isn’t just what they do with a puck. It’s how they carry themselves. I’ve never played in an NHL dressing room, but over the years, you hear the same kinds of things about both players. Teammates respect them. Opponents respect them. People who have spent time around them tend to talk about their character as much as their talent. That’s worth noticing.

Many hockey players are very talented. Few become the kind of players people talk about decades later. Even fewer manage to do that while earning the respect of the people around them.

So I’m going to try not to spend too much time deciding who wins the McDavid-Crosby argument. I think I’d rather just watch. Because someday we’ll look back at this period of hockey and realize how lucky we were.

Two of the best players the game has ever produced. Same era. Same ice. And we’re getting to see the story unfold while they’re still writing it.

As a hockey fan, I think that’s pretty special.

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