Draisaitl chasing Sturm’s record
NHL: Oilers star could eclipse single-season scoring standard set by German great
Leon Draisaitl sits at 23 goals and 32 assists, good for 55 points on the year. With four more points this season, the Cologne, Germany, product will tie Marco Sturm for the most in a season by a German-born National Hockey League player. Sturm scored 59 points — 29 goals and 30 assists in 2005-06.
Oilers fans almost forget that Draisaitl, 21, isn’t from Prince Albert, Sask., that he merely played there for two years. You don’t think of him as the torch carrier for an entire hockey-playing nation, a role he wanted for himself before he was even drafted.
Who was this kid dubbed ‘The German Gretzky’ and the ‘Deutschland Dangler’ before somebody handed him an NHL jersey to pull over his head on the stage?
“I want to be a guy that maybe makes younger guys in Germany play hockey,” Draisaitl said four days before he pulled the Oilers jersey over his head at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft in Philadelphia.
“I’m proud to be German, and I want to make the country proud and make as many kids play hockey as possible.”
Sturm produced 487 points in his NHL career. Draisaitl, in his first 175 NHL games, already has put up 115 points.
“German players don’t come along very often,” he said. “We just don’t have the best development. I don’t like saying it. I’m proud to be German, but little kids need to have guys to look up to. We need more kids to be inspired to play hockey, and they need to have the passion to maybe even play in the NHL one day.”
There’s been Uwe Krupp, Christian Ehrhoff, Dennis Seidenberg, Marcel Goc and Olaf Kolzig. That’s about it.
Today, Oilers coach Todd McLellan, who two years ago coached Canada to gold at the IIHF World Championship in Prague, has his own observations about that.
“In the past, there have been some really good German players who played well in the NHL, but it’s dried up a little bit lately,” McLellan said. “Leon is the next wave. As good as he is for us, he’s that good for his country, as well. I know he takes it personally when it comes to that type of stuff.”
There are bigger things to focus on with the Oilers right now than when Draisaitl breaks Sturm’s mark.
On Friday night, the focus of the entire league will be on Rogers Place in Edmonton and Connor McDavid versus Sidney Crosby for the scoring title and the Art Ross Trophy, and maybe even McDavid versus Crosby for the Hart Trophy as NHL’s most valuable player.
But think how this might be playing for fans who normally find their hockey fix watching teams like the Iserlohn Roosters, Grizzlys Wolfsburg and Eisbaren Berlin (and whatever happened to the Hamburg Freezers?) in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.
Draisaitl isn’t just one of fewer than a couple dozen Germans ever to play regularly under the NHL big top. He’s an emerging superstar.
Despite getting shut out and not playing particularly well in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to Doug Weight’s New York Islanders, Draisaitl sat tied for 24th in NHL scoring with his 55 points.
That was tied with Alex Ovechkin, three ahead of Ryan Getzlaf, eight more than Jonathan Toews and Eric Staal.
He’s not really sure how this is playing back in Germany.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Hopefully, it will help kids to play hockey. Hopefully, they’re enjoying watching me. And hopefully, I’m beginning to help German hockey.”
Barring a monumental collapse by the Oilers, the IIHF World Championships will have to proceed without him.
“Obviously, my first thought is with the Oilers here, but playing the world championships in my hometown would have been fun, as well.”
Draisaitl said he’s not giving Sturm a rough time.
“I have too much respect for him for what he’s done.” There’s one other factor involved. “He’s the German national coach. So he’s my coach for the national team,” he said, laughing.
Like a lot of other players, Draisaitl is hoping to get word that the NHL will go to next year’s Olympic Winter Games. He helped Germany qualify. And his dad, Peter, played for Germany in three Olympics — 1988 in Calgary, 1992 in Albertville and 1998 in Nagano.
“It is how it is. Whatever happens, happens. It’s out of my control,” he said.
Maybe the Oilers will become to Germany what the team was in Finland with Jari Kurri and Esa Tikkanen. Maybe, someday soon, the Oilers will be asked to play pre-season games in places like Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Fussen, Mannheim and Cologne.