Sidney Crosby tops NHL jersey sales for 2013-14 season

The NHL released a top 25 jersey sales list for the 2013-14 NHL season and for the first time since 2010-11, Sidney Crosby took the top spot. Do any of these names surprise you?

For the first time since 2010-11, Sidney Crosby topped the list of jersey sales through the NHL’s online shop during the regular season. Do any of the other names who appear on the list surprise you?

A few takeaways from this season’s ranking: 1. Pavel Datsyuk holds strong at the No. 2 position, the same spot he held for the 2012-13 season. 2. Alex Ovechkin, despite a minus-35 and the fact his team missed the playoffs, jumped up 15 spots from last season’s ranking. 3. The Rangers, Penguins and Red Wings have the most representation in the top 25 with three players each. 4. Phil Kessel replaced Joffrey Lupul as the only Maple Leafs player to appear. 5. The best team in the Western Conference does not appear at all. Not Corey Perry, not even Ryan Getzlaf, who will get plenty of Hart Trophy love (though he won’t win it). The two Ducks are the only top six scorers who don’t show up. 6. T.J. Oshie has never appeared in these rankings, but got a good boost from his Olympic shootout performance. 7. Defensemen are not popular. Only one, Zdeno Chara, makes this list. In fact, for the past three years, he is the only defenseman who has made it. 8. Mild surprise: Last season, Joffrey Lupul had a strong year for Toronto and cracked the list. Two years ago, James van Riemsdyk made it as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. After a strong Olympic showing, and in a season in which he set new career-highs in goals and points with Toronto, van Riemsdyk was unable to make it for a second time. 9. Big surprise: Where is John Tavares!? Players who did not make this list after appearing on last year’s: Marian Hossa, James Neal, Joffrey Lupul, Ilya Kovalchuk, Brad Marchand, Patrick Sharp, John Tavares, Patrice Bergeron.

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