McDavid in ‘position to succeed,’ Hall says
Top overall draft pick makes NHL debut against St. Louis
ST. LOUIS, MO.— Alex Nanos said the gym teacher had never seen a student quite like Connor McDavid, and not just for his athletic ability: “He said he’d never seen a kid with such focus on a singular task.”
“He’d give them things to do like take a volleyball and volley it off the wall 500 times,” Nanos, a father on one of McDavid’s minor hockey teams, said recently. “Connor would do it, and would just stay until it was done. Other kids would lose it, get bored or just move on — he just kept going.”
By Thursday night, McDavid had gone all the way to St. Louis, making his regular season debut in the NHL as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. Along the way, Wayne Gretzky had described him as being “as good as I’ve seen in the last 30 years,” and Sidney Crosby said that when he watched McDavid out on the ice, “he reminded me of myself.”
McDavid remains a natural talent, but with what appears to be unnatural focus. The latter trait is likely what will help him survive a debut season where he will be the involuntary sun around which so much attention will orbit.
He was the only player — from either team — who had to conduct his pre-game interviews in a large, empty room in the basement of Scottrade Center, just to accommodate the crowd. Reporters leaned in, because even in an otherwise silent space, he could scarcely be heard.
“He doesn’t seem like a kid who’s talking like he’s been here for six or seven years,” said veteran Blues defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk. “That’s the first step for a young player, not to get too comfortable right away.”
“The questions that he asks, they’re often a step ahead questions,” said Oilers coach Todd McLellan. “He’s been able to really absorb and put into play some of the concepts we’ve tried to put into place.”
McDavid logged his first NHL shift early in the first period against the Blues, at 7:23 p.m. local time, on a line between Taylor Hall and Anton Slepyshev, a 21-year-old Russian who was also making his debut. McDavid forced a turnover in the defensive zone on his second shift and was a half-step offside on a dangerous rush a few minutes later.
He logged eight shifts and five minutes 43 seconds of ice time in that opening period. The history book will also show he lost the first six faceoffs of his career, before finally winning one early in the second period.
“He’s a pretty quiet kid, as you can probably tell; he holds his cards pretty close to his chest, and he’s not real emotional — unless he’s losing a hockey game, and then all bets are off,” said Jim Dermott, an assistant coach on one of McDavid’s minor hockey teams. “He’ll be as hard on himself as anybody.”
More than a dozen Oilers fans had secured tickets around the tunnel that led the Oilers from the ice to the visiting dressing room. Several Oilers fans were spotted wearing McDavid’s No. 97, emphasizing the focus on an 18-year-old expected to lift a long-suffering franchise back up the standings.
“I think we’ve helped him as much as we can in regards to being comfortable off the ice, making sure, at the rink, he knows what’s going on,” said Hall. “He’s handled everything really well.”
Hall was in a similar position five years ago, taken first overall in the 2010 draft after an intense debate over whether he or fellow prospect Tyler Seguin was most deserving.
“There’s going to be some trials and some errors,” Hall said. “But I think he’s in a position to succeed, and it’s going to be fun to watch him grow.”
"The questions that he asks, they’re often a step ahead questions. He’s been able to really absorb and put into play some of the concepts we’ve tried to put into place." TODD MCLELLAN OILERS COACH