First, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.
There never will be another pair like them. They and Bobby Orr are the three greatest players in NHL history. Gretzky was on four Stanley Cup-winning teams and has all of hockey's major scoring records. Lemieux won two Cups and would have the records if not for an unfortunate series of health issues. It's a shame their era had to end.
Then, Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin.
There might not be another pair like them. Crosby is a top-5 player all time, Ovechkin top 10. Crosby, once described by Canadian Olympics coach Mike Babcock as being "addicted to winning," has three Cup rings and two Olympics gold medals. Ovechkin finally won his Cup in 2018 and could break Gretzky's career goal-scoring record. It would be wonderful if their era could go on forever.
Now, Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon.
Their place among hockey royalty still is to be determined. One will take a big step during the next fortnight when their teams meet in the Western Conference finals, which begin Tuesday night. Neither McDavid's Oilers nor MacKinnon's Avalanche has been that far in the playoffs. Their series will be must-see TV.
Sadly, Gretzky and Lemieux never met in the postseason because they played in different conferences. Fortunately, Crosby's Penguins and Ovechkin's Capitals have played in four playoff series with the Penguins winning three. You loved every minute, right?
Won't it be great if this is the first of many showdowns between McDavid and MacKinnon, each a No. 1 overall draft pick? It seems like they have been around forever, but McDavid is just 25, MacKinnon 26.
McDavid is the NHL's best player, all due respect to 60-goal man Auston Matthews of Toronto. I asked longtime hockey observers and former Penguins general managers Eddie Johnston and Craig Patrick if they had ever seen anyone skate like McDavid. Both said they had not, especially when McDavid is skating with the puck.
"His pace of play, he's so fast," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of McDavid, who had four-point nights in each of the Oilers' two wins against the Penguins this season.
"He's tough to handle. If you give him too much ice, he can pick you apart. If you get too tight to him, he can beat you with wide speed. He has dynamic, explosive speed and he has the ability to execute and make plays at a high rate of speed."
McDavid is a finalist for his third Hart Trophy in six seasons as NHL MVP. He is coming off a regular season in which he led the NHL with 123 points, the fourth time in six years that he won the Art Ross Trophy. He has been just as dominant in the playoffs with an NHL-leading 26 points in 12 games. It was appropriate he scored the winning goal in overtime to eliminate Calgary in Game 5 on Thursday night.
McDavid is averaging 1.45 points per postseason game, which will be third-best all time once he meets the minimum 40-game threshold. Gretzky averaged 1.84 points, Lemieux 1.61. Crosby is averaging 1.12.
But just as we were privileged to see with Lemieux and are with Crosby, McDavid makes his teammates so much better. Look at Leon Draisaitl, who also has 26 points in this post-season, including 17 in the five-game series against Calgary. He had 55 goals during the regular season. Look at Evander Kane, who has an NHL-leading 12 goals in these playoffs. He scored 22 in 43 games during the regular season after signing with Edmonton in January.
MacKinnon does the same thing for the Avalanche. There might not be a faster player with his combination of strength and physicality. Did you see his end-to-end rush for a goal against St. Louis in Game 5 last week on a night when he had a hat trick? It might have been the most spectacular goal of the playoffs.
But MacKinnon isn't just a scorer, although he has eight goals and 13 points in 10 playoff games this season, is averaging 1.37 points per postseason game in his career and had 32 goals and 88 points in 65 games during this regular season. He plays strong defense and is one of the best two-way players in the game, just like Crosby, his neighbor in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia.
"He lives to compete, and it's awesome," teammate Cale Makar said of MacKinnon during the Avalanche's first-round series sweep of Nashville. "He's definitely a different animal in the playoffs. That's why he's probably the best player in the world."
The only knock against McDavid and MacKinnon is that their team hasn't won in the playoffs. McDavid has been beyond the first round just once since coming into the NHL in 2015. MacKinnon, who came into the league in 2013, lost in the second round in each of the past three years.
"There have been some dark times," MacKinnon said of the Avalanche, although he could have been speaking about the Oilers, as well.
"Nice to get over this hump, for sure."
Now, McDavid or MacKinnon will be playing for the Cup.
Did I mention this is going to be must-see TV?
