Smarter hockey player: Crosby vs Datsyuk

[Rengorlex]

Who would you say was the smarter player?

Click to read more...

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Crosby was obviously "better", it's harder to say who might have been smarter. Sid had a better and more robust skillset that allowed him to do more things and hold onto the puck longer for things to open up. Idk if that counts as him being smarter though.

 

[mrv52]

Datsyuk never ran into Steckel so him.

 

[tabness]

obviously Datysuk

miss him so much now

Detroit Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk is best player in NHL, according to poll of 250 players

Datsyuk finished No. 1 in six of 15 categories; only two other players were No. 1 in more than one.

www.mlive.com

 

[danpantz]

Yes

 

[SillyRabbit]

Crosby has always been great at thinking on his feet.

 

[Coffee]

Who would you say was the smarter player?

Love this series, op. Please continue it and I kindly ask to do different tiers too.

Kind regards,

Coffee

 

[Mrb1p]

Crosby wtf

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Crosby by a lot. He is constantly reinventing himself and adjusting to a changing league while remaining an elite player his entire career, 17 years now. Datsyuk was an elite player for about four years.

 

[Rengorlex]

Crosby by a lot. He is constantly reinventing himself and adjusting to a changing league while remaining an elite player his entire career, 17 years now. Datsyuk was an elite player for about four years.

Datsyuk was an elite player for his entire NHL career, barring maybe the first couple of years when he was stuck playing very low minutes in a stacked team.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

If you vote for Datsyuk you fundamentally do not understand the sport.

 

[Crow]

Crosby even though I like Datsyuk more.

 

[Rengorlex]

If you vote for Datsyuk you fundamentally do not understand the sport.

Not that I necessarily consider them an authority, but it's pretty funny to say this considering Datsyuk won the NHL players poll for smartest player as has been posted in this thread.

 

[Amazinmets73]

Crosby was obviously "better", it's harder to say who might have been smarter. Sid had a better and more robust skillset that allowed him to do more things and hold onto the puck longer for things to open up. Idk if that counts as him being smarter though.

Uh, no he wasn't. Datsyuk was the better player.

 

[wetcoast]

obviously Datysuk

miss him so much now

Detroit Red Wings' Pavel Datsyuk is best player in NHL, according to poll of 250 players

Datsyuk finished No. 1 in six of 15 categories; only two other players were No. 1 in more than one.

www.mlive.com

Came here to say this, Dats was just the smartest player with the highest level I have ever seen.

Many had way more talent and some just a special gift like Gretzky and Orr but Datsyuk is simply a better version of Igor Larionov who was also an incredibly smart hockey player.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Datsyuk kept his head up.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

Uh, no he wasn't. Datsyuk was the better player.

Lol no. Crosby is top 5-15 all time. Datsyuk might be top 100.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Crosby, easily

 

[Filthy Dangles]

Uh, no he wasn't. Datsyuk was the better player.

wat....

I hate pittsburgh and enjoyed Datsyuk but i don't even think Pavel's mom could make this claim with a straight face

 

[TopShelfYzerman]

Datsyuk.

Otherworldly skill as an offensive dynamo yet juggled his offensive acumen with stopping the offense of the opposing team.

Datsyuk was limited to mostly 19-20 mins/gm and played average minutes on the PP. Detroit never relied heavily on star power and that hurts his numbers when compared to other star players.

 

[Pavels Dog]

If you vote for Datsyuk you fundamentally do not understand the sport.

It's the other way around. Datsyuk would have gotten nowhere if not for his IQ. Probably one of the least physically gifted superstars of all time.
Crosby could have had the IQ of a potato and still been a good player.

 

[norrisnick]

It's the other way around. Datsyuk would have gotten nowhere if not for his IQ. Probably one of the least physically gifted superstars of all time.
Crosby could have had the IQ of a potato and still been a good player.

Hm...

 

[Machinehead]

If you've never seen either player and you asked me what Datsyuk was good at, I would recall the many times he made an opponent look dumb with his hands.

If you asked me the same about Crosby, I would say "well, he's a bit of a grinder for a top guy, and his defining trait is probably getting good at things he used to be bad at."

The second one stands out to me as a player that relies on IQ.

Obviously they're both highly skilled and have strong IQ but I would go with Crosby.

 

[Machinehead]

Not that I necessarily consider them an authority, but it's pretty funny to say this considering Datsyuk won the NHL players poll for smartest player as has been posted in this thread.

When those polls were being conducted, Crosby was a snotty kid and most opposing players hated him.

Crosby would win that now, even with McDavid in the league.

 

[Midnight Judges]

My answer is a bit more nuanced.

IMO Crosby has the higher offensive hockey IQ. Better playmaker. Better vision. Crosby has eyes in the back of his head when it comes to the offensive zone, and I think he is a few levels above Dats in this respect. I think the offensive output data supports this position.

Datsyuk was obviously far superior in terms of the 200 foot game, defense, and playing a shutdown role - which is something Crosby has never done in his career. Datsyuk clearly had a talent for preventing goals and controlling the game in ways that Crosby never excelled at. The goals against in their respective careers supports this. This difference is enormous.

So where does that leave it? Not sure. Obviously for a forward offensive creativity can vastly outstrip the ability to prevent goals, so I think Crosby's offensive IQ advantage translates into a more impactful player. But that doesn't make him smarter.