Stars align for a pair of rare homecomings at Scotiabank Arena
SGA BRINGS THE THUNDER TO FACE RAPTORS, MCDAVID’S OILERS SEEK REVENGE ON THE LEAFS
They are just a year apart. Connor Mcdavid, born in Richmond Hill, Ont., in 1997, raised in nearby Newmarket.
Shai Gilgeous-alexander, born in Toronto in 1998, raised in Hamilton.
Two of the world’s greatest athletes — one the most dynamic in his sport, one on a short list of the best in his global sport — on their way home for rare appearances. SGA playing at the Scotiabank Arena against the Raptors on Friday night. Mcdavid playing on Saturday night at Scotiabank in the feature matchup on Hockey Night In Canada.
Two nights to view two Toronto home teams heading in opposite directions while at the same time getting a look at athletes beyond compare coming home for the rare opportunity they get to play in Toronto.
A Mcdavid visit home is always something to cherish, but the scale tilted somewhat last December when Gilgeous-alexander was voted Canada’s athlete of the year and quite likely Mcdavid was the second choice. The way the schedules work out, both in the NBA and the NHL, the teams from the West don’t come East all that often. It’s usually one game a year in Toronto for Mcdavid, one game a year for SGA.
In the past, that didn’t seem to matter as much as it does now — although any Mcdavid-auston Matthews matchup is something worth celebrating — the previous SGA appearances at Scotiabank were hardly big-ticket items.
Before this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder were mostly an NBA team worth ignoring. They weren’t going anywhere. They haven’t won a playoff round in seven seasons. And when the Thunder arrived in Toronto for their only appearance last season, they had 34 wins, the Raptors had 33. Neither team seemed to matter a whole lot in the star-driven NBA.
This year, though, so much has changed. The Thunder have the best record in the Western Conference. They have the second-most wins in the NBA. If it wasn’t for Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic — the likely NBA MVP favourites — then SGA would be garnering a whole lot more MVP conversation this season. Steve Nash won two NBA MVP awards and that pedestal may never be matched in Canadian sports, but there are those who believe that what SGA is doing this season tops anything Nash managed in his hall of fame career.
He’s second in the NBA in scoring, behind Doncic of Dallas, and the list of those that he is ahead of in scoring is mightily impressive. For now, he has more points than Giannis Antetokounmpo. He’s ahead of Kevin Durant, ahead of Jayson Tatum, ahead of Kawhi Leonard and Steph Curry and almost 10 points a game better than his Team Canada teammate Jamal Murray.
And wouldn’t SGA be a wonderful choice to carry the Canadian Flag in the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris?
Just as Mcdavid would be a terrific choice — if Sidney Crosby was not available — to carry the Canadian flag in the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics. And the country will stop for just a moment — as it does at Olympic time — when Team Canada is playing basketball in Paris and Team Canada is playing hockey in Italy two years from now.
Unlike SGA, Mcdavid isn’t second right now in the NHL in scoring. Usually, he’s leading. Right now, he’s third after a slow start. But he has climbed his way behind only Nathan Mackinnon of Colorado and Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay.
But since Jan. 1, the Oilers have the second-best record in the NHL, one point behind my Stanley Cup favourites, the Florida Panthers. And while Mackinnon may be ahead of Mcdavid in scoring right now, as of Jan. 1, the two are tied with 58 points apiece. The Oilers have 47 points as a team in that time, five more than Colorado, four more than Winnipeg or Vancouver.
The Greater Toronto Area hasn’t always been a place where world-class athletes were born and developed and become the names and faces of their leagues and teams. The Toronto basketball scene has exploded since the Vince Carter years in this city. And yet, over the last 60 years, the only Gta-raised hockey players to win Hart trophies in the NHL were Mcdavid and Eric Lindros.
Wayne Gretzky learned his hockey in Brantford. Bobby Orr was a product of Parry Sound. Phil Esposito came out of the Sault. That’s where Ontario hockey players used to come from. And now NBA stars come out of Hamilton and Kitchener, some of it via Toronto and Orangeville: The city grows, the sporting landscape grows.
And this is a special week for our best. Shai Gilgeous-alexander on Friday night. He’s never had a monster game against the Raptors. Connor Mcdavid on Saturday night: The Maple Leafs have won nine of the past 13 games against Edmonton.
Knowing Mcdavid, he is very much aware of that. He knows what Saturday night means.
Two homecomings for local giants. The calendar doesn’t get much better than this.