shmenguin wrote:RxBandit66 wrote:so when are people going to get off of Sid's back about him having an "off" year when it is so plainly obvious that Sid is the most dominant athlete in hockey?
ummm...is anyone still on sid's back? that ship sailed once he started playing well. and are you really taking offense that people were questioning the quality of sid's play early on, when in fact, he wasn't playing close to his potential?
it's becoming evident that both guys are slow starters. health issues have also become a problem for both. so it's pretty pointless to call either of them out when they just showed that they are champions and that they both have been battling nagging injuries throughout most of the season. the people who were jumping to conclusions a few weeks ago about malkin being better are just as bad as people now saying that sid is better and using malkin's short-term stats as support.
this season hasn't proven squat about either guy. all we know is that they are both phenomenal and capable of being the best.
Sid had an injury at the beginning of the season. So did Kunitz who was on his wing. His other winger is a 38 year old veteran who is a slow starter.
I'll defend Sid always to the end. He is the franchise player. In my lifetime, I saw Bonds, Lemieux, Jagr, Roethlisberger, Bettis, etc. and now Sid. Sometimes we take it for granted. Having said that, Sid did not play well for a strtech of games, 6 games with two points or whatever. He was very very bad during that stretch. But now he is playing well. Despite the ebb and flow, he'll lead the league in points once again this season.
And as long as he is a healthy player, I will stand by my statement that he is the game's overall best.