Ovechkin more popular than Sid

Don't take it from us.  Take it from Hockey's prospects, via Dan Steinberg.  This from Gare Joyce, co-author of Ovechkin's unauthorizeded book. 

It's funny, though. I look through the questionnaires filled out by the top prospects in last year's draft, and in one of the goofier questions, you're asked to name your favorite NHL player. Ovechkins outnumbered Crosbys, 2-1. Taylor hall's favorite player? Alexander Ovechkin. It goes right down the line like that. I guess he has far more support and interest the deeper you get into the hockey community, which sort of explains why he wins the Ted Lindsay Award [voted on by the players] and not the Hart. The players appreciate him. People who play appreciate him more than the public does, more than the media does

Is this all that earth shattering?  I don't think so.  The fascination with Sidney Crosby comes from the US media more so than hockey fans and players themselves.  The US media, and particularly if you ever watch the Pittsburgh games on NBC are infatuated with Crosby, on the same level that John Madden was infatuated with Brett Farve.  That is precisely why, come Winter Classic 2011, I will be watching intently, but silently.