Connor McDavid ready for Oilers fan love-fest after rough start
EDMONTON – Connor McDavid visibly exhaled when he scored his first NHL goal at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night. Not only because he finally hit the score sheet as an NHL rookie, but because he knew he wouldn’t have to answer a slew of questions about why he hadn’t yet when the Edmonton Oilers returned home for the first time on Thursday.
“It’s easier to talk to the media when things are going well, and the questions are nice and sweet,” he said.
Granted, things aren’t going all that well for the Oilers off the start. They’re 0-3-0, with a minus-6 goal differential. Some of the ghosts of seasons’ past are still haunting them: Getting outscored 5-0 in the third period, residing in last place in faceoff percentage (42.7).
But home openers are essentially pep rallies, no matter a team’s record. And that’s amplified by it being McDavid’s first regular-season game in front of the home fans.
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He’s played here before, in the preseason. But the orange-clad faithful coming out on Thursday night are doing so to officially welcome him to the franchise. “I can only imagine what it’s going to be like with a home opener crowd,” he said.
His coach, Todd McLellan, is happy that McDavid was able to get three games to his credit before returning to Rexall Place – even if the team hasn’t found the win column.
“We haven’t won, so you throw that into the mix of emotions of what Connor’s going to go through as an individual. He wants to win, just like everyone else,” said McLellan. “Playing three games, getting the goal, it saves at least some of the questions he would have gotten asked today. So that’s nice. That gets him off the hook there.”
The growing pains have been evident for McDavid right from the start. He skated with Taylor Hall, briefly, because the Oilers realized two guys that both want the puck the majority of the time don’t mesh all that well. He’s been with Benoit Pouliot and Lauri Korpikoski, and later Anton Slepyshev. He started with Nail Yakupov, and Yakupov was back on his line during rushes on Thursday.
McLellan said McDavid’s linemates don’t deserve all the blame for his slow start (well, based on ability and expectations, at least).
“I don’t want to point the finger directly at them, but we have to be cleaner coming out of our end. It takes some time to adjust to that speed,” he said. “It’s a two-way thing. He has to adjust to his linemates and they have to adjust to him.”
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There’s been a lot of adjustment for McDavid, as it is for any rookie, even the ones that have been dealing with media intensity since he was a preteen. But as more milestones along the freshman road are passed by the first overall pick, the easier life becomes, according to his coach.
“There are going to be relief periods for Connor as the season goes on. After today, we won’t have to talk about the home opener again. He’s played his first game, so we won’t talk about that again. But going down the road, he’s going to have to play in Calgary for the first time. He’s going to have to play on ‘Hockey Night In Canada’ for the first time,” said McLellan.
“It’s just going to build and build and build. But then he’ll have gone through the league for the first time, and he’ll settle in as …”
The coach paused for a moment, reflecting on the generational talent he was speaking about.
“Well, not as a ‘regular’ player, but he’ll be able to relax a little bit more.”
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