For the primary time since 2003, for the primary time for a non-goaltender since 1976 and for under the sixth time ever, the MVP of the playoffs was not among the many jubilant celebrators. Edmonton ahead Connor McDavid was awarded the Conn Smythe for his star flip in these playoffs, which included him virtually single-handedly dragging the Oilers again from the brink after they trailed 3-0 within the collection to drive Sport 7.
However after arising simply two targets wanting the final word dream, after practically pulling off a fairy-tale ending for the ages within the constructing the place the Oilers drafted him 9 years in the past, McDavid was nowhere to be discovered as a staffer carried his trophy away.
Minutes earlier than, when a despondent McDavid met with the media, his summation of his emotions was easy.
“It sucks,” McDavid stated. “It sucks.”
Maybe extra so than another sport, hockey is thought for its shunning of particular person accomplishments in favor of a deal with the group’s outcomes. There’s nothing extra antithetical to a hockey participant than accepting a significant particular person honor after his group suffered a devastating loss.
McDavid, as Edmonton’s captain, remained on the ice lengthy after the ultimate horn sounded, ready for all of his teammates to course of by means of the handshake line with the Panthers earlier than he lastly adopted them down the tunnel. When NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman took the microphone to announce the winner of the Conn Smythe, McDavid was lengthy gone.
With 42 factors in 25 video games this postseason, McDavid completed fourth on the all-time listing; solely Wayne Gretzky (twice) and Mario Lemieux have ever recorded extra factors in a single playoff run. The 34 assists McDavid racked up broke Gretzky’s report of 31 from 1988.
The Conn Smythe is voted on by a panel of media members from the Skilled Hockey Writers Affiliation; The Washington Submit doesn’t vote on the award. Ballots have been due with 10 minutes left in Sport 7, and McDavid was a near-unanimous choice — just one voter didn’t put him first on the poll.
“He’s the best participant to ever play, in my books,” stated Leon Draisaitl, McDavid’s Oilers teammate. “So many issues that lots of people don’t see that he does, his work ethic. He single-handedly turned our franchise round, just about. Simply love sharing the ice with him. He’s only a actually, actually particular individual.”
McDavid was held with no level within the remaining two video games of the finals, nevertheless it was his back-to-back four-point efforts in Video games 4 and 5 that gave Edmonton life. It was his 10 factors in six video games towards the Dallas Stars within the Western Convention finals that put the Oilers in place to play for the Stanley Cup. It was his 9 factors in seven video games towards the Vancouver Canucks that bought Edmonton previous the second spherical for simply the second time since he joined the group in 2015.
“You consider the yr that Connor had: 100 assists, main our group, the efficiency he had on this playoffs, particularly on this remaining spherical once we’re down three video games to zero after which he comes out with eight factors in two video games,” Oilers Coach Kris Knoblauch stated. “Yeah, he’s our chief, he’s our greatest participant, and clearly everyone wished to win it for the group, and we’d wish to clearly do it [for] him, the captain of our group. I can’t say sufficient issues about what he offers, the management and what he does on the ice.”
Even Florida captain Aleksander Barkov, within the rapid aftermath of attaining each hockey participant’s greatest dream, remained in awe of his counterpart on the opposite aspect of the ice.
“He’s most likely essentially the most gifted hockey participant I’ve ever seen in my life,” Barkov stated. “Clearly, I by no means performed towards Gretzky, however I can think about he’s one thing related.”
Maybe sooner or later, with the good thing about hindsight and distance from the rapid ache, McDavid will take pleasure within the accomplishment of being the MVP of the playoffs. However for now, touring again to Edmonton with the Conn Smythe in tow — as a substitute of the trophy the Oilers wished to carry dwelling — serves solely as a reminder that he gave every thing he had and it nonetheless wasn’t sufficient.
“There’s no participant on the planet that desires to win a Stanley Cup greater than him,” Draisaitl stated. “He does every thing proper, each single day, simply to win it sooner or later. It’s actually exhausting with him being unhappy and being dissatisfied on the finish.”
