No. 1 vs. No. 2

I read the Orange County Register's Ducks updates daily, and today Mark Whicker caught my eye. He brought up the idea of Bobby Ryan and Sidney Crosby being on the same level now. I'm just not so sure I can agree with that. I know I constantly rant against Ryan -- sometimes a little unfairly -- but let's think about this. To Whicker's credit he points out their stats as of the past two months:

Since Nov. 16, Ryan has 11 goals and 14 assists.
Since Nov. 20, Crosby has 10 goals and 21 assists.
But Crosby has scored only three goals since Nov. 29. Ryan has nine.

You can't argue with stats, but I'd still take Crosby over Ryan any day. Sure, Ryan had some salary cap issues that kept him at bay, but the kid wasn't in tip top shape until this past off season anyway. I'm not sure what he was waiting for prior to that. Also, I still stand by his "I don't care" attitude he had before he secured a spot on Anaheim's roster. I can only imagine how frustrating it was for him to suffer through that knowing he was good enough to play in the show, but that attitude gets you no where. I don't want a guy on my team who feels like he's owed something all the time. That's not to say Sid doesn't have his brat moments, but they still have very different ways of handling and dealing with things.

Plus, I personally believe Crosby is just more talented overall. There's a reason he was the no-question number one draft pick. Then again, not many guys can be as talented as Sid the Kid. Bobby Ryan will be a fantastic player in years to come, there's no doubt about that (especially if he starts throwing his body around a bit more. The kid is huge). Just not my preference of the two.

And just for kicks -- if Ryan was on Crosby's level, he would've at least made the Young Stars game. ;-)

Update:

Just scanning over the Ducks message board, where someone posted this:

Talking with Bobby, he was actually hoping he wasn't going to be named because before the AS break, we have the east coast road trip and he wanted to hang with friends and family.

Another example. Rather chill out than be named an All Star? Okay, then Bobbo. You never fail to surprise me.