Today's obligatory Crosby-Ovechkin comparison - 11

Before we get into this too deeply, let's make one thing clear regarding the alleged slew foot by Sidney Crosby on Rangers forward Ryan Callahan last night.

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If it's Chris Conner or Max Talbot delivering this hit, it's not big news. But it's Sidney Crosby. When he sneezes, NHL.com writes a story about how it's the best sneeze since Jaromir Jagr had one in 1997-98. Anything Crosby does is amplified.

And the same applies to Alex Ovechkin.

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Ovechkin was given a minor penalty for that hit on Thrashers Rich Peverly last season and was assessed a fine. If Brooks Laich delivers that hit, no one cares.

Are the hits similar? A little. We would argue that Ovechkin's was less subtle. But if you follow the NHL with any regularity, you should know better than to expect NHL discipline czar Colin Campbell to hand down justice with any sense of consistency. For all we know, those two hits could be as drastically different as an a horse and airplane in Campbell's eyes.

The bottom line is stars get more attention for anything do. Even it it's something fairly insignificant like this.