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Alex Ovechkin tops Sidney Crosby in players’ poll

Alex Ovechkin

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8), of Russia, celebrates his goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Calgary Flames, Sunday, March 28, 2010, in Washington. The Flames won 5-3. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

AP

Admittedly, I “slept” on the results from ESPN’s Confidential Players poll for a bit, but after hearing some complaints about the answers being restricted by “Insider” status on Twitter I thought I’d share some of the more interesting results. (Yes, I am an Insider. Yes, I paid for it myself.) Now, naturally, all the results can be found here (although I must warn you that there will be laborious clicking since every answer is within its own link).

Anyway, here are some of the highlights of the poll. First, I’ll start with the more “typical” questions.

Best Player

  1. Alex Ovechkin (64 percent)
  2. Sidney Crosby (24 percent)

Ovechkin nearly tripled Crosby’s results. Interestingly enough, Roberto Luongo was named the league’s most overrated player (although he only received 6 percent of the votes).

Best franchise

  1. Detroit (60 percent)
  2. Pittsburgh (14 percent)

Jeez, the Penguins are getting second place often enough that I have to check and see if Marian Hossa is back on their roster. (Phoenix was named the worst franchise, for the record.)

Should the NHL contract teams? If so, which one?

  • No: 48 percent
  • Yes: 38 percent (and if yes: Atlanta received 41.3 percent while Phoenix received 31 percent.)
  • No comment: 14 percent (Boo that isn’t a fun answer.)

OK, now for a few fun ones.

  • John Tortorella won the “last coach you’d want to play for” award in front of former coaches Mike Keenan and Ken Hitchcock. Somewhere in Russia, Nikita Filatov smiles.
  • Edmonton and Montreal apparently have the best ice. Want bad ice? Just go to the state of Florida.
  • The Minnesota Wild have the best visitor’s locker room, while the relatively ancient Mellon Arena is found to be the worst. Do hockey teams really want to be that accommodating, anyway?
  • Montreal’s groupies are apparently the best. Vancouver comes in second. Have some pride, American groupies!
  • Derek Boogaard was named the best fighter while Chris Pronger was named the dirtiest player.

(Again, for more results, click here. You will need an “Insider” subscription, though.)