Forced into the McWaiting game
Injured rookie Connor McDavid says not getting a chance to play at Air Canada Centre ‘hurts a lot’
The ability to turn the Edmonton Oilers from perennial losers into winners took a U-turn on Nov. 3 when teenage hockey phenom Connor McDavid crashed into the boards, breaking his collarbone in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
“It was a big hit for us,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said Monday. “We think Connor is one of our top players as an 18-year-old. He’d proven he could be that when he was playing. You take anybody’s star player out of the lineup, it’s a big hole to fill.”
McDavid figures to be back in the Oilers lineup sometime in January.
“It’s healing well,” he said. “I feel like it’s
“You want to play here in your hometown. I was definitely looking forward to this . . . But it is what it is.” CONNOR MCDAVID
ahead of schedule. It’s kind of long, but it feels good.”
Given McDavid has a long career ahead of him and there is likely little hope of a playoff spot for the Oilers this season, there is no reason for McDavid to rush back.
“I’ll let the doctors figure that one out,” McDavid said.
“They’re the smart ones. They get paid good money to figure that out. I’m just here to make sure I’m feeling good, making sure I’m staying in shape.”
McDavid was in Toronto to visit family and catch up with his team as the Oilers’ road trip took them to Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on Monday night. The Newmarket hockey prodigy last played here at the world junior hockey tournament, where he helped lead Canada to gold in January.
“This is the building I grew up watching all the games in,” said McDavid, a lifelong Leaf fan until drafted No. 1 overall by Edmonton this summer. “To win the world junior in this building was very special. This building definitely means a lot to me.”
This is the Oilers’ only visit to the building this season. McDavid most likely will not be back again until September’s World Cup of Hockey, when he will be a leader on Team North America, a team of players under 23 years of age. He had been looking forward to this game.
“This one hurts a lot,” said McDavid. “You want to play here in your hometown. I was definitely looking forward to this . . . But it is what it is. Maybe for the World Cup, we’ll see.”
The Oilers were at the bottom of the NHL standings heading into Monday night’s game.
“Any kind of bounce, and we’d be in a much different position,” McDavid said. “We seem to find ways to lose games. That’s not an excuse or anything like that. It’s a mindset. If we could find a way to switch some of those one-goal games around, we’d be in a much different situation.”
McDavid was just beginning to assert himself at the NHL level after a slow start. “The first little bit is always hard, being a young guy in the NHL. (I) was starting to feel more comfortable, for sure.”
He was also making players around him better. Nail Yakupov, now also out of the lineup with an injury, had started to show the skill that made him a No. 1 overall pick in 2012.
“The one thing that Connor really did well was energize our group,” McLellan said. “He was the catalyst. He also promoted some real strong play from other guys. Those others are just getting back (into it).”
McDavid is perhaps the key cog in turning around Edmonton’s fortunes. But he’s not the only one. Twenty-year-old Leon Draisaitl had 18 points in 14 games heading into Monday night.
McLellan was brought in by Edmonton to change the losing culture to a winning one, much like the Leafs hope Mike Babcock can do.
“We have to keep reminding ourselves as a staff that there is a past, that players have felt pain at some point over the years,” McLellan said. “The drive of the team, and the want to recover and succeed, I haven’t questioned that once since I’ve been here.”