Team Rivals Make the Game

by Melissa Cunningham

Rivalries have been around since sports were invented. Whether your rival is another person, team, or country you have some kind of rival. Living around the Pittsburgh area we have all sorts of rivals. We you come to this area you learn very quickly what teams to hate. Steeler fans do not like the Baltimore Ravens, Penguin fans do not like the Washington Capitals or the Philadelphia Flyers, and Pirate fans just learn to hate whatever team is coming to town that week. During this blog I am going to be discussing the rivalry between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals.

This rivalry is so big and so well known that HBO ran a special four-part documentary that aired on Wednesday, December 15, 2010. The last episode was about the NHL Winter Classic, which was held at Heinz Field on January 1, 2010. This special show cased the stars of each team and what they do to get ready for a game each week. It also showed how the teams as a whole got ready for a game.

The main star for the Pittsburgh Penguins is Sidney Crosby. He was drafted 1^st overall in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He won the Art Ross Trophy in 2007, which is a trophy given to the player with the most points. He also won the Hart Trophy in 2007 for being judged the most valuable player to his team. He is the team captain and is nicknamed “The Next One.”

The main star for the Washington Capitals is also their team captain, Alex Ovechkin. He was also drafted 1^st overall in the NHL Entry Draft, however, he was drafted in 2004. Just like Sidney Crosby he also won the Art Ross Trophy and the Hart Trophy both in 2004. He is also the most important player to that team and pushes them to become the best team that they can be.

Whenever these two teams face each other it is like a whole different game. They are more aggressive when it comes to taking shots on goal and also taking shots on each other. There are usually more fights and penalties, because of the team agitating one another. The fans also get more involved when the two biggest stars in NHL get together on the same rink. There is more yelling and booing at one of these games no matter which city the game is being held in and the more that the crowd gets involved during the game, the more the players get excited to go on the ice.

During this season of NHL hockey, the teams have faced off four times. The Capitals have claimed the victory three times; however, Crosby has only played in two of those games. Right now in the player stats given by the NHL, Crosby’s 66 points are beating Ovechkin’s 62 points. These standings can change in one game, so next week Ovechkin could possibly be beating Crosby. The only thing you can be certain is when these two rivals get together you are going to have an amazing game with the two biggest stars in NHL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_NHL_Winter_Classic

http://www,nhl.com/ice/playerstats.htm