Sunrise, Florida — Connor McDavid imagined this moment.
Growing up in the suburbs north of Toronto, whether at outdoor rinks, arenas, or on the street with pals, he had visions of hockey grandeur.
Just like many Canadian children.
“You always dreamt of yourself playing in that game and scoring that big goal,” McDavid told the reporter. “You’re not sure you’re ever going to get that opportunity.”
After a wild season and playoffs with plenty of twists and turns, the scene is set for the superstar captain.
McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers meet the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on Monday, marking the end of an incredible season.
A catastrophic start to the schedule. Last in the overall rankings. A coaching change. A nearly unprecedented winning streak. Playoff pushback.
And three triumphs while losing the final series 3-0.
“It’s been fun to be a part of,” McDavid added. “The bunch has played some of our greatest hockey in the previous seven to eight days. We are satisfied with the current situation.
“It comes down to one game.”
Edmonton hopes to become only the sixth team in NHL history to win a best-of-seven series after losing 3-0. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, who defeated the Detroit Red Wings in the final 82 years ago, are the only team to do so in the midst of World War II.
The Oilers, who last topped the NHL mountain in 1990 with their fifth title, have the opportunity to end the Cup drought for Canadian-based teams that began with the Montreal Canadiens’ victory in 1993.
“We’re all human, and we’re aware of the situation and what we’ve accomplished so far,” said Edmonton centre Leon Draisaitl, who has played Robin to McDavid’s Batman throughout their time in the Alberta capital. “We have to concentrate on winning one hockey game on the road and doing our best.
“All the stories will take care of itself after.”
Florida jumped off to a 3-0 lead before McDavid took over in Games 4 and 5 with two stunning four-point performances.
The Oilers subsequently won Game 6 at home 5-1 on Friday, the third time the Cup had been cleaned and ready to be given to the Panthers.
“Just sticking with it,” Edmonton centre Adam Henrique stated. “Believing in each other.”
Meanwhile, Florida hopes to escape a bad record.
The Panthers are still in a strong position to win the franchise’s first Cup after losing in the 1996 final and again last spring. However, not having your name associated with an epic collapse may be just as motivating.
“Doesn’t matter how it’s gone or how you draw it up,” Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk said at the team’s Fort Lauderdale practice facility ahead of the NHL season’s 1,400th and final game. “They lost the first three, then we lost the following three, so it’s equal now. It doesn’t matter what happened to get here.
“It’s easy to forget.”
Edmonton, which has a 20-5 aggregate scoreline over the last ten periods, has relied on good goaltending from Stuart Skinner and a detail-oriented defensive structure to reach a position that few outside the locker room predicted just ten days ago.
It is a little easier to believe when your team has the best player in the world.
“He can do magical things,” Edmonton winger Corey Perry said of McDavid, the NHL’s three-time MVP. “It’s not a switch he flips, but all of a sudden he’s dancing through three or four guys.”
The only Oilers player with a Cup ring won with Anaheim in 2007. Perry then lost in 2020 to Dallas, 2021 to Montreal, and 2022 to Tampa Bay.
“You dream of playing Game 7s and being a hero, on the backyard rink, on the street,” he told me. “Now it is reality. Now you get to experience it. “Hopefully, someone in this room will be remembered as a hero.”
The Panthers share the same hopes.
“I was one of those kids,” Florida’s captain Aleksander Barkov admitted. “I am thinking, ‘This is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.’ You reflect on those moments.
“Now it’s becoming a truth … the most exciting time to be a hockey player.”
It’s fitting that the longest distance between cities in a final — Edmonton and Sunrise are more than 4,000 miles apart — is going the distance.
“It’s been a long road to get to this point,” said McDavid, the first choice in the 2015 draft and hockey’s most-hyped prospect since Sidney Crosby.
“A lot of ups and downs, a lot of lessons along the way.”
There were also many dreams about what Monday would bring.
This item by The Canadian Press was first published on June 23, 2024.
