The media demands for the two men at the centre of the Crosby v. Ovechkin matchup have been simply incredible the past few days. For one player more than the other, it seems.

For all the criticism he's faced for being bland, Crosby was the one on the front lines in media appearances yesterday, on ESPN, with the print media — everywhere — talking about something he's been asked to talk about far too often in his career.

Ovechkin. The rivalry.

You know the rest.

The interesting thing from my perspective is that what Crosby began saying was actually, well, interesting. And I think, over time, we'll see more and more of that as he comes of age.

He does, after all, have a bit of an advantage over his "rival."

As much as you have to love Ovechkin's enthusiam, his grasp of the language still isn't quite there. His quotes come with words missing, his thoughts — in English, anyway — are not quite fully formed. The hockey media's obviously not looking for Shakespeare, but I wouldn't be surprised if, when the networks want their sound bite, it's Crosby they begin to go to more and more.

His thoughts on Ovechkin yesterday show, in my mind, a growing maturity and a greater understanding of what the media's asking of him (as repetitive as it may seem).

"We're different people, that's the bottom line, and people like to make a lot of stories behind that," Crosby said. "Some people like his style, some people like my style, it doesn't matter. We're just different and that's why I think a lot of people find it interesting. Because you have two guys who've had success pretty early in their careers and do it a different way or show it in a different way.

"Yes, it's a rivalry ... but I don't know how you want to describe it. What's a rivalry? It's intense. We compete and we're competitive, and usually when we play each other we both try to raise our games."

And how does he feel about his so-called rival?

"Do I wake up hoping to see Ovechkin fail? No, I don't," Crosby said. "He's a guy I play against and he's a great player and we're competitive against each other but, you know what? There's an element there where the media puts us up against each other, and that's just the way it is. We're not best friends, but a lot of that [animosity] is made up."

And Ovechkin's take on his "relationship" with Crosby?

"Just normal. We're not friends, we don't call each other every day, but when we see each other we just shake hands, you know, what's going on, ask each other, something like that. But nothing serious."

Crosby's not dead wood, but I can see why Alex Semin made the comparison earlier this year. There aren't many 21-year-old athletes with anything compelling to say, especially when faced with the same silly questions everyday, but I think Crosby's beginning to catch on and offering a little more than some of his peers.

We're starting to see what he could be, and it's not a role unlike the one Gretzky took on when he went to Los Angeles 20 years ago. Hockey needs a face in the U.S., someone instantly recognizable even to the casual fans, and it needs to be someone at least a little bit compelling.

He's working on it.