“It’s a good problem to have.” — Brian McDavid, Connor’s Dad.
EDMONTON — Brian McDavid saw his son’s interview with our Gene Principe after he’d scored his first National Hockey League goal in Dallas Tuesday night. But what he didn’t see was even a hint of a smile until the final, “Thanks,” — and even that was out of sheer politeness.
Somehow, this should be more fun, shouldn’t it?
“There are moments when it’s a little difficult, like when he’s feeling (the pressure) a bit,” said McDavid Sr., who talks and texts with his son daily, and was in Edmonton for the Oilers home opener Thursday night. “But that’s what parents are for, whether he’s in the NHL or he’s going to university and struggling with a course at school. It’s all about being a parent, being there for him.
“It’s difficult to see it played out on the stage it’s played on sometimes, but then again, I always go back to the expression: If you had to pick a problem to have that’s a good problem to have.”
A kid works as hard as Connor McDavid has for his entire existence, then in his third game he finally scores a genuine National Hockey League goal. He is ecstatic afterwards out on the ice, then does the obligatory intermission interview with the local punster.
He should have some time to enjoy the moment, no?
“I made a good tip on it, I guess. I had a good feeling about it,” McDavid offers when asked about the goal.
Is it a relief?
“It’s been a bit of stressful time for myself. Just tryin’ to break into the league, so much goin’ on, trying to do all the right things. There’s a lot of pressure on me, so, it’s good to get it out of the way.”
For this, we blame ourselves in the media. And you, the social media-fueled hockey fan.
McDavid was a household name in Canada well before the Oilers won the right to draft him. Then on draft day the team trotted him out in a brand new orange third jersey, a nifty marketing plan that all but labeled the new threads as “The McDavid Jersey.”
The plan continued to roll out on Thursday when the team urged its fans to join the “Surge of Orange” and wear that colour to the game.
What’s that? You don’t have an orange jersey yet?
Well, the Oilers team store just happens to be well stocked…
A friend whose business also sells the new orange jerseys said Thursday that the cresting split so far was 70 per cent McDavid, and 10 per cent each for Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle. This, for a player who has played three NHL games.
The hockey personnel have bent over backwards trying to alleviate pressure from McDavid, but they’re losing the battle. There was his first rookie camp. His first pre-season game. His first regular season game. And on Thursday night, his first game at Rexall Place — the home opener.
Faux milestones, to be marked with endless chatter and another bank of microphones. It never ends for this kid, or so it seems. He’s a real pro at a young age, but the odd time now you can see that tired look in his eyes.
Though having a budding NHL superstar for a son is the Canadian dream, the whole process is hard on a parent, even when the kid handles it as well as this one has.
“Your kids, if something’s not going the way they want it to go — and that’s just part of life, by the way — you want to be there for them. You want to help them,” said Brian. “The part that’s the most difficult is, it’s so public. It’s played out on such a big stage, with cameras everywhere. That’s the difficult part.”
No one is complaining here — let’s be clear about that. And McDavid himself has been almost maniacal about refusing to put himself ahead of his teammates.
Here’s a kid who is just trying to fit in among a room full of established NHL players, every one his senior. But the media has come from far and wide this fall to speak to him, not them. He’s the one whose press conferences can’t happen in front of his dressing room stall, they are so large; who answers questions daily whether he’s scored or not. Meanwhile, his team is 0-3.
He would rather answer questions about not scoring in a win, then having scored his first NHL goal in another Oilers loss. “A thousand per cent,” affirms his father.
“I’m never a guy to talk about myself or anything like that, so I don’t think it matters whether the team is winning or not, in terms of that,” said Connor McDavid pointedly. “Obviously it’s easier to talk to the media when everything is well, and questions are nice and sweet. But at same time, I’ve never been one to sit here and talk about myself.”
He truly is not. The only problem is, we keep asking him to do just that.
It’s a conundrum.
