The players have spoken: Crosby, McDavid headline NHLPA Poll

The players have spoken and Sidney Crosby stands above his peers as the most difficult NHLer to play against.

The National Hockey League Players' Association revealed the results of its 2017-18 Player Poll on Wednesday and the three-time Stanley Cup Champion of the Pittsburgh Penguins received almost 30 per cent of the votes in the category. Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid was second at 23.7 per cent.

More than 500 players were surveyed by the NHLPA on more than 20 hockey-related questions during their annual team meetings between the preseason and last month, covering topics regarding skills, coaches, officials, arenas, teams and on-ice matters.  

Other highlights include Washington Capitals centre Nicklas Backstrom voted as the league's Most Underrated Player and Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens voted as the goalie who is most difficult to score on. 

Crosby took the most categories in the poll, as he was also voted the best role model and the player who would be a great coach once he retires. McDavid led in two categories - for fastest skater and player you would select to start a franchise.

The players were polled on several other questions, such as which player they would want on their team to win one game, which coach they would most like to play for, which team has the best fans and their opinions about some of the game's all-time greats.

The full results of the Player Poll are as follows:

Who is the league's fastest skater?

Connor McDavid - 81.0%
Michael Grabner - 3.6%
Nick Leddy - 2.4%
Dylan Larkin - 2.2%
Chris Kreider - 1.6%

 
(Skaters only): Which goalie is the most difficult to score on?

Carey Price - 41.0%
Jonathan Quick - 12.1%
Pekka Rinne - 9.3%
Sergei Bobrovsky - 8.2%
Braden Holtby - 5.0%

Who is the most difficult player to play against? 

Sidney Crosby - 29.9%
Connor McDavid - 23.7%
Patrick Kane - 4.6%
Shea Weber - 4.1%
Anze Kopitar - 3.2%

Who is the toughest player?

Ryan Reaves - 44.7%
Milan Lucic - 14.8%
Zdeno Chara - 4.0%
Micheal Haley - 3.2%
Matt Martin - 2.7%

Who is the most underrated player?

Nicklas Backstrom - 8.6% 
Jaden Schwartz - 6.8%
Nikita Kucherov - 6.2% 
Aleksander Barkov - 6%

Which player is the best role model?

Sidney Crosby - 33.0%
Jonathan Toews - 9.6%
Patrice Bergeron - 6.0%
Shea Weber - 3.1%
Patrick Marleau - 2.6%

Which player would you select to start a franchise?

Connor McDavid - 48.6%
Sidney Crosby - 23.8%
Auston Matthews - 5.8%
Jonathan Toews - 3.1%
Erik Karlsson - 1.9%

Which coach would you like to play for?

Joel Quenneville - 16.5%
Jon Cooper - 14.2%
Gerard Gallant - 11.6%
Mike Babcock - 7.5%
Peter Laviolette - 4.9%

Which current assistant coach should be the next head coach?

D.J. Smith (Toronto Maple Leafs) - 8.3%
Todd Reirden (Washington Capitals) - 7.4%
Ulf Samuelsson (Chicago Blackhawks) - 5.1%
Steve Ott (St. Louis Blues) - 5.1%
Lindy Ruff (New York Rangers) - 4.2%

Which player would be a great coach once they retire?

Sidney Crosby - 5.7%
Derek Stepan - 4.5%
Jason Spezza - 4.5%
Matt Cullen - 4.5%
Jonathan Toews - 3.6%

Who is the best referee?

Wes McCauley - 47.8%
Kelly Sutherland - 17.7%
Tim Peel - 4.4%
Dan O'Halloran - 2.7%
Trevor Hanson - 2.7%

Which is your favourite rink to play in?

Bell Centre (Montreal) - 24.8%
United Center (Chicago) - 21.9%
Madison Square Garden (New York) - 14.6%
Staples Center (Los Angeles) - 5.4%
Bridgestone Arena (Nashville) - 4.9%

Which rink has the best ice?

Bell Centre (Montreal) - 28.0%
Rogers Place (Edmonton) - 21.7%
Bell MTS Place (Winnipeg) - 6.6%
Xcel Energy Center (Saint Paul) - 6.0%
Scotiabank Saddledome (Calgary) - 6.0%

Which rink has the worst ice?

BB&T Center (Sunrise) - 16.8% 
Gila River Arena (Glendale) - 10.7%
Barclays Center (Brooklyn) - 10.7%
Honda Center (Anaheim) - 8.6%
PNC Arena (Raleigh) - 5.9% 

Which team (excluding your own) has the best fans?

Chicago Blackhawks - 30.4%
Nashville Predators - 19.4%
Montreal Canadiens - 18.8%
Toronto Maple Leafs - 4.8%
Winnipeg Jets - 4.3%

Who is the best forward of all time?

Wayne Gretzky - 72.7%
Mario Lemieux - 11.3%
Sidney Crosby - 4.9%
Jaromir Jagr - 3.1%
Peter Forsberg - 2.3%

Who is the best defenceman of all time?

Bobby Orr - 61%
Nicklas Lidstrom - 29.1%
Ray Bourque - 2.6%
Paul Coffey - 1.8%
Scott Niedermayer - 1.3%

Who is the best goalie of all time?

Patrick Roy - 39.3%
Martin Brodeur - 33.2%
Dominik Hasek - 13.6%
Carey Price - 3.0%
Ken Dryden - 3.0%

Who is one player, current of former, you would like to have as a teammate?

Wayne Gretzky - 13.4%
Sidney Crosby - 8.0%
Mario Lemieux - 6.3%
Peter Forsberg - 4.6%
Nicklas Backstrom - 3.7%

Who was your favourite player growing up?

Peter Forsberg - 8.4%
Steve Yzerman - 8.2%
Joe Sakic - 7.4%
Nicklas Lidstrom - 5.3%
Mats Sundin - 4.2%