Ranking players in any sport is an inexact science. Hockey is particularly difficult because it?s hard to quantify a player?s value outside of goals and assists. Thus, Obe?s Comprehensive Player Rankings are meant to be taken as another means of evaluating a player?s impact on the ice, and not meant as the be all and end all of player rankings. The OCPR-Forwards rankings are no different. In an effort to give fair value to the players who may not light up a score sheet, but do all of the little things necessary to succeed as a team, the formula for these rankings takes into account the ?grinder? qualities and defensive qualities that a forward contributes with, on a different scale than those on the defensemen rankings. As a result, you will see some players in the second half of the top-100 that you may be surprised to see. You will also see some ?star? players a little lower in the rankings than you would have anticipated. But that is all part of the fun, and gives fans something to debate about. The formula was derived using the following statistics: - Goals, assists, game-winning goals, plus/minus, shots on goal, shooting percentage, shifts per game, ice time per game, power play goals and assists, short-handed goals and assists, hits, blocked shots, giveaways, takeaways, minor penalties taken, face-off percentage and the percentage of the team?s face-offs a player took. The end result had Sidney Crosby fourth, and not first. While there is no questioning his offensive prowess and his much improved face-off work, his total was hampered by 33 minor penalties, second highest out of anyone in the top-39. He also had the most giveaways out of anyone in the top-25, and fewest takeaways out of anyone in the top-10. These things matter and couldn?t be discounted just because it kept Crosby out of first place. Of course, the salt in the wounds of Crosby fans is that Alexander Ovechkin finished in the top spot last season. 2009-10 Rankings with Point Total 1. Alexander Ovechkin, WSH ? 276.11 2. Nicklas Backstrom, WSH ? 260.00 3. Henrik Sedin, VAN ? 248.95 4. Sidney Crosby, PIT ? 237.98 5. Steven Stamkos, TBL ? 236.54 6. Zach Parise, NJD ? 235.02 7. Martin St. Louis, TBL ? 223.12 8. Patrick Marleau, SJS ? 222.90 9. Patrick Kane, CHI ? 222.28 10. Anze Kopitar, LAK ? 220.82 11. Ryan Kesler, VCR ? 219.78 12. Jonathan Toews, CHI ? 219.67 13. Pavel Datsyuk, DET ? 217.46 14. Alexander Semin, WSH ? 213.47 15. Daniel Sedin, VAN ? 211.71 16. Daniel Alfredsson, OTT ? 207.09 17. Marian Gaborik, NYR ? 205.12 18. Travis Zajac, NJD ? 204.68 19. Dany Heatley, SJS ? 204.62 20. Alexandre Burrows, VAN ? 197.63 21. Brad Richards, DAL ? 196.29 22. Patrick Sharp, CHI ? 194.66 23. Rick Nash, CBJ ? 192.76 24. Paul Stastny, COL ? 192.48 25. Jeff Carter, PHI ? 191.84 26. Henrik Zetterberg, DET ? 191.25 27. Joe Thornton, SJS ? 187.49 28. Jussi Jokinen, CAR ? 186.71 29. Mike Richards, PHI ? 181.07 30. Stephen Weiss, FLA ? 179.75 31. Ilya Kovalchuk, NJD/ATL ? 178.65 32. Bobby Ryan, ANA ? 176.75 33. Brooks Laich, WSH ? 176.60 34. Vinny Prospal, NYR ? 175.91 35. Eric Staal, CAR ? 175.62 36. Jason Pominville, BUF ? 175.36 37. Loui Eriksson, DAL ? 173.40 38. Matt Moulson, NYI ? 173.07 39. Mike Fisher, OTT ? 170.48 40. Evgeni Malkin, PIT ? 169.65 41. Jarome Iginla, CGY ? 169.08 42. Mikko Koivu, MIN ? 168.79 43. Tomas Plekanec, MTL ? 167.42 44. Antoine Vermette, CBJ ? 167.39 45. Matt Duchesne, COL ? 166.38 46. Derek Roy, BUF ? 166.14 47. Nik Antropov, ATL ? 165.60 48. Patrice Bergeron, BOS ? 165.17 49. Shane Doan, PHX ? 163.95 50. Tim Connolly, BUF ? 163.03 51. RJ Umberger, CBJ ? 162.63 52. Ryan Callahan, NYR ? 162.17 53. Marian Hossa, CHI ? 159.47 54. Patric Hornqvist, NSH ? 158.52 55. Jamie Langenbrunner, NJD ? 157.70 56. Kristian Huselius, CBJ ? 157.65 57. Joe Pavelski, SJS ? 156.72 58. Andrew Brunette, MIN ? 156.39 59. Ryan Getzlaf, ANA ? 155.84 60. Troy Brouwer, CHI ? 155.70 61. Mason Raymond, VAN ? 155.00 62. Mike Knuble, WSH ? 154.96 63. T.J. Oshie, STL ? 154.31 64. James Neal, DAL ? 154.00 65. Tomas Fleischmann, WSH ? 152.50 66. Milan Hejduk, COL ? 152.39 67. Rene Bourque, CGY ? 150.73 68. Vincent Lecavalier, TBL ? 150.60 69. Corey Perry, ANA ? 150.57 70. Kris Versteeg, CHI ? 150.52 71. Brandon Dubinsky, NYR ? 150.31 72. Jarret Stoll, LAK ? 150.22 73. David Krejci, BOS ? 150.15 73. Ray Whitney, CAR ? 150.15 75. Brandon Sutter, CAR ? 149.90 76. Brian Gionta, MTL ? 149.48 77. Saku Koivu, ANA ? 148.99 78. Andy McDonald, STL ? 148.64 79. Dustin Penner, EDM ? 148.62 80. Jordan Staal, PIT ? 148.17 81. Alexander Steen, STL ? 147.35 82. Rich Peverley, ATL ? 147.00 83. Wojtek Wolski, PHX/COL ? 146.98 84. Jason Spezza, OTT ? 144.39 85. Teemu Selanne, ANA ? 143.63 86. Nathan Horton, FLA ? 142.74 87. Chris Stewart, COL ? 142.26 88. Lee Stempniak, PHX/TOR ? 140.92 89. Matt Stajan, CGY/TOR ? 140.51 90. Mike Cammalleri, MTL ? 139.55 91. T.J. Galiardi, COL ? 138.53 92. Phil Kessel, TOR ? 138.30 93. Eric Fehr, WSH ? 137.89 94. Matt Cullen, OTT/CAR ? 137.87 95. Thomas Vanek, BUF ? 137.57 96. Claude Giroux, PHI ? 134.97 97. Kyle Okposo, NYI ? 134.64 98. Jason Arnott, NSH ? 133.66 99. Radim Vrbata, PHX ? 133.61 100. David Backes, STL ? 133.15 The Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers were the only teams to finish with only one forward in the top-100, and thus it should be no surprise that they were the two worst teams last season. Toronto traded away two players that finished in the top-100; Stempniak and Stajan both ended up ahead of Kessel. Stempniak used a late-season scoring surge in Phoenix to jump into the rankings, while Stajan was no doubt helped by playing with Iginla. On the other end of the spectrum, the Washington Capitals (seven) and Chicago Blackhawks (six) had the most forwards within the top-100, and were the two best teams in the regular season. Duchesne (45th) was the top rookie forward last season, and only one to crack the top-100. Number one pick John Tavares (121st) didn?t make the list. Changes for the upcoming season: Horton was traded from Florida to Boston; Versteeg was traded from Chicago to Toronto, giving them a big upgrade up front; Whitney left Carolina for Phoenix as a free agent; Cullen signed with Minnesota as a free agent. As the regular season progresses, you will be able to find the rankings for every position ? all within one article ? under the Player Ranking section on the bottom right of the main NHL page. To check out the 2009-10 Defensemen Rankings click here, Goalie Rankings click here, and the final Team Rankings click here. Nick can be reached via email nickobergan@hotmail.com or on twitter @NickObergan