McDavid already has poise of a veteran
Coach, teammates commend the maturity and professionalism of the 20-year-old star
When Connor McDavid met with the media at the Bell Centre before Sunday afternoon’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, he looked like your typical 20-year-old Canadian kid — a little awkward physically as he continues to grow into his body at six foot one and 190 pounds, soft-spoken and battling a bit of acne.
But there’s nothing typical about McDavid once he hits the ice. The young Edmonton Oilers captain didn’t score a goal as his team beat the Canadiens 1-0 in a shootout, but he was named the first star and was exciting to watch every time he hit the ice, logging 25 minutes and seven seconds of playing time. He had a game-high six shots on goal and drew three penalties with his blazing speed.
You could sell tickets just to watch McDavid skate by himself. It’s a thing of beauty with his effortless stride and incredible quickness, and he’s only going to get better as he gets stronger. That’s pretty scary for opponents considering McDavid leads the NHL scoring race with 60 points (18 goals and 42 assists), one point ahead of Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.
Oilers veteran Milan Lucic was asked if he could describe McDavid in one word.
“I would say electrifying … for a lot of reasons,” the 28-year-old said. “His speed, his skill, his ability to finish, his ability to pass — I kind of compare him to the Cristiano Ronaldo of hockey. That’s my comparison that I use. It’s been fun to play with him.”
While Ronaldo is one of the best soccer players in the world, he’s not an athlete who is easy to like. McDavid is. He’s the humble all-Canadian kid. Hockey has been lucky that way in that the sport’s greatest players have been its greatest ambassadors: Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Crosby and, now, McDavid.
The Oilers arrived in Montreal in the wee hours of Saturday morning after losing 2-1 in Carolina on Friday night and were given the day off. A 20-year-old in downtown Montreal on Saturday night with money in his pocket can be a dangerous thing, but Oilers head coach Todd McLellan doesn’t worry about McDavid. “Not one bit,” the coach said. “I find that Connor’s a typical teenager when he’s in the locker-room and around the guys,” McLellan added. “As he goes and leaves that sanctuary, if you will, he becomes a very mature individual. He’s an ambassador for the game. His etiquette’s excellent. He deals with the media and the media pressure on a daily basis. So he’s well-versed in those areas, but he’s allowed to be Connor the young player in the locker-room. Yet he still finds a way to lead and to set the tone.”
Lucic might have been another story when he was a 20-year-old with the Boston Bruins on a Saturday night in Montreal. Lucic smiled when asked if he worried about McDavid.
“No, you don’t,” Lucic said after enjoying a post-game hotdog. “He has that professionalism in him already at a young age. You don’t have to worry too much about him when it comes to that stuff.”
When asked what impresses him most about his young captain as a person, Lucic said: “Just his ability to want to be the best and his attitude to go out there and play and want to be the best every game and every shift.”
“He doesn’t take things too seriously. He doesn’t put too much pressure on himself, which is great to see,” Lucic added. “He’s got the weight of the world on him, to be perfectly honest. He handles himself with poise and grace and respect and love of the game, and it’s great to see a young guy like him in his 20s really enjoy and love coming to the rink and competing every day to be the best player he can be. As an older guy now, it’s something that you can feed off of, and I think that’s what’s made him a great leader and a good captain so far.”
So, what did McDavid do on his Saturday night in Montreal?
“Not too much … just kind of hung out,” he said. “It’s definitely a fun city and a good place to be at, but you got to keep it pretty serious.”
McDavid said he has close friends back home in Richmond Hill, Ont., who still “just go to school and do normal teenage things.”
They must be living vicariously through their superstar friend, no?
“I think it’s kind of the other way around,” McDavid said. “I kind of live through them on Saturday nights when you’re in bed by 9. You wake up and hear the stories and I think they definitely follow what I’m doing and stuff like that. But they’re all having a good time and doing their thing.”
So is McDavid. He’s just not your typical 20-year-old.