Gretzky forecasts future greatness
YOUNG STARS: Oilers legend says raw talent only part of what makes McDavid and Matthews so special
Times two. Last Wednesday, on the opening night of the NHL’s historic 100th campaign, three Hall of Famers — Wayne Gretzky, Paul Coffey and Jari Kurri — were waiting for the start of the official ceremony celebrating the first Edmonton regular season game to be played at Rogers Place, the glitzy new state-ofthe-art home of the Oilers.
The plan was for Gretzky and Mark Messier to skate onto the ice and leave a puck at centre for new Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who would emerge from the dressing room much to the glee of the capacity crowd and fire it into the net. Call it a passing of the torch. Having a bit of rare spare time on their hands before the fun and frivolity was scheduled to start, Gretzky, Coffey and Kurri started watching the Ottawa Senators-Toronto Maple Leafs contest.
Like the rest of the country, they saw the Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews make history. After 40 minutes of hockey, Matthews had found the back of the Ottawa net four times, setting a single-game record for goals scored by a player making his NHL debut.
“I’m seeing this special performance take place thinking: “I don’t think I scored my first goal until my fifth game,” Gretzky recounted Monday. “He had four goals in the first two periods. I said to one of my buddies as we were watching: ‘This kid might break my 50-goals-in-39games record in the first year.’ ”
Matthews’s more immediate threat on the record book was the modern-day mark for goals in a game with six, held by, among others, former Leafs captain Darryl Sittler.
“It’s ironic because Jari, Coff and I were sitting around thinking the same thing as well. It was like: ‘My goodness, Darryl’s record is six goals. (Matthews) isn’t going to get his points record of 10 given where he was after two periods, but he really has a chance to score seven goals!”
Matthews finished with the four, a remarkable feat. Then Gretzky and the rest of the hockey world witnessed another treat, this one authored by McDavid as he scored twice and added an assist in a 7-4 dismantling of the Calgary Flames.
“You see how special Connor and Matthews are, and when you see things like that, you understand how much our game is changing,” Gretzky said. “These kids are so much more prepared to take the next step, from peewee to juvenile to the NHL.”
Gretzky says these two talented youngsters are “special,” they are the faces of the league somewhere down the road — if they’re not pushing for that honour already.
We get that the Great One considers these teens “special.” But, raw talent aside, what makes them so? Here’s Gretzky’s breakdown: 1. ‘EMBRACING’ PLAYING IN CANADA: “I know there is a lot more media coverage than when I played. And yes, it can be tougher to play in (the fishbowl) of places like Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton. But you have to embrace it. Jean Beliveau embraced being a Canadien. Dave Keon loved being a Leaf. Mark Messier and I loved playing in Edmonton. And I think Auston and Connor get that.”
2. ‘AMAZING’ HOCKEY SENSE: “They both see the ice so well. What I find amazing is how responsible defensively they are at such a young age. With two great coaches like Mike Babcock and Todd McLellan, they’ll learn the details. But it’s impressive how much they already know about that aspect of the game.”
3. LANKY WINGSPANS: “I know they’re not Zdeno Chara-sized or Mario Lemieux-sized but they both have tremendous reach.” Such a physical attribute allows both Matthews and McDavid to better control pucks in tight spaces and shield the puck from defenders.
4. UNSELFISHNESS: “They’re both like that. And understand: You can be an individual without taking anything away from the team. It’s not wrong to want to strive to score four goals a night but there is a proper way to do it. Good for Auston for scoring those four goals. It’s good for Auston, it’s good for the game.” What Gretzky also finds “good” was at no point in the night did Matthews try to show anyone up, yet another trait he and McDavid share.
5. WORK ETHIC: “They both get how important this is. It’s kind of funny when people say of Crosby, ‘Oh, he’s so talented.’ Well, yeah, but he’s also the hardest worker every time he’s on the ice. I think that rubs off on kids like these who watch him.”