EDMONTON — Less than six months since tearing the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, Connor McDavid makes his return to the ice tonight in a preseason game against the Arizona Coyotes.
It marks the end of an uncertain time for hockey’s most dynamic young player, the National Hockey League’s fastest skater who tore up his knee sliding into a goal post Apr. 6 in Calgary.
“I definitely feel lucky,” the Edmonton Oilers captain said. “It definitely could have been worse. I could have been sitting here and talking about missing the whole year.”
As summer came to a close and McDavid opted not to skate at the BioSteel camp he has taken part in for years, rumours swept through the hockey world that the knee wasn’t right. Or that he may not return until November. They were never borne out as fact, however, and ever since McDavid arrived in Edmonton prior to training camp he looked like a player who was — at worst — a 50/50 bet to play on Opening Night.
https://twitter.com/SportsnetSpec/status/1176534360054321152
Back in the lineup feels from Captain Connor pic.twitter.com/tKoxNiNF8L
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 24, 2019
That McDavid is playing his first pre-season game on Sept. 24 — and may play again in one of the Oilers two remaining games later this week — is music to the ears of a hockey world that is simply a better place when McDavid is blazing down its wings with the puck.
“Originally we thought hopefully one (pre-season game), maybe none. This is probably a little bit earlier (than expected),” he said. “I just want to get out there, see how the puck feels again.”
McDavid was injured in Game 82 of the 2018-19 season. He had beaten Calgary’s Mark Giordano wide, and the Flames captain reached out and upset McDavid as he skated at top speed towards the Flames goal.
“I tried to slow him down as he came into the net,” said Oilers goalie Mike Smith, who was in goal for the Flames that night. “But with a player who can skate as fast as he can, and came in as hard as he did, there’s no slowing a guy down like that.
“Initially I didn’t think he was hurt. But when I saw his face I could tell that something wasn’t right.”
Giordano felt awful for his part in the injury, and made a point to check in on McDavid.
“He stopped by after the game to see how I was, which was nice,” McDavid said. “Then he reached out again, kind of in the middle of the summer. I appreciate that. He didn’t have to do that.”
McDavid will play tonight on a familiar line with Leon Draisaitl and Zack Kassian. With new coach Dave Tippett, he expects a different game than the Oilers played last season.
“Hopefully faster,” McDavid said. “And more attention to detail defensively, I think that’s the main thing. We’ve got to find a way to keep pucks out of our net. Scoring goals isn’t too much of an issue … but we have to find a way to keep ‘em out of the net.”
Does he plan to change his game at all? Or will McDavid still go to the net, Kamikaze style?
“No, I’ve been doing that for a long time,” he said. “You hit the post, you hit it the wrong way, and that happens. But I’ve gone flying into the net before and had nothing happen at all. Things happen. It’s part of the game.”
In The Crease
After an up-and-down camp, Matt Benning plays the right side on the third pairing with Kris Russell. It’s a big night in his quest to be an Opening Night Top 6 defenceman, with right-shot Ethan Bear hot on his heels for the job … Smith gets the first 40 minutes tonight, Tippett said … Edmonton’s lineup is almost all returning vets. The remaining battles for jobs among newcomers will resume in the final two preseason games, road affairs in Winnipeg on Thursday and Calgary Saturday.
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