McDavid, Oilers ready for Cup climax: āDreamt of yourself playing in that gameā
Connor McDavid envisioned this moment.
Growing up in the suburbs north of Toronto ā whether it was the outdoor rinks, the arenas or on the street with friends ā hockey glory danced in his mindās eye.
Just like countless Canadian kids.
āYou always dreamt of yourself playing in that game and scoring that big goal,ā McDavid said. āYouāre not sure youāre ever going to get that opportunity.ā
After a roller-coaster season and a playoffs with plenty more twists and turns, the stage is set for the superstar captain.
McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers face the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final Monday ā the last hurdle in an improbable journey this season.
A disastrous start to the schedule. Last in the overall standings. A coaching change. A near-record-breaking winning streak. Playoff pushback.
And a trio of victories after trailing the title series 3-0.
āItās been fun to be a part of,ā McDavid said. āThe group has played some of our best hockey over the course of the last seven, eight days. We feel good about where things are at.
āIt comes down to one game.ā
Edmonton is looking to become just the fifth team in NHL history to win a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-0. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs ā in the middle of the Second World War, some 82 years ago ā are the only club to accomplish the feat in the final when they stormed back on the Detroit Red Wings.
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The Oilers, who last sat atop the NHL mountain in 1990 when the franchise won its fifth championship, can also end the Cup drought for Canadian-based clubs dating back to the Montreal Canadiensā 1993 victory.
āWeāre all human, and weāre aware of the situation and what weāve accomplished so far,ā said Edmonton centre Leon Draisaitl, the Robin to McDavidās Batman through their careers in the Alberta capital.
āWe have to focus on winning one hockey game on the road and play our best.
āAll the stories will take care of itself after.ā
Florida raced out to its 3-0 lead before McDavid took over in Game 4 and Game 5 with a pair of mesmerizing four-point displays.
The Oilers then picked up a 5-1 victory in Game 6 ā the third time the Cup was polished and ready to be presented to the Panthers ā at home Friday to send everyone back to South Florida.
āJust sticking with it,ā Edmonton centre Adam Henrique said. āBelieving in each other.ā
Florida, meanwhile, is aiming to avoid an ugly place in the record books.
The Panthers remain in a terrific position to win the franchiseās first Cup after losing in the 1996 final and then again last spring.
But the motivation of not having your name associated with an epic collapse might be just as big a motivator.
āDoesnāt matter how itās gone or how you draw it up,ā Panthers winger Matthew Tkachuk said at the teamās Fort Lauderdale practice facility ahead of the 1,400th and final contest of the NHL campaign.
āThey lost the first three, we lost the next three ā¦ itās even right now. It doesnāt matter what has happened to get to this point.
āItās easy to forget.ā
Edmonton, which holds a 20-5 aggregate scoreline over the last 10 periods, has ridden solid goaltending Stuart Skinner and detail-oriented defensive structure to get into a position not many outside the locker room predicted just 10 days ago.
It is, however, slightly easier to believe when your team has the best player in the world.
āHe can do magical things,ā Edmonton winger Corey Perry said of McDavid, a three-time NHL MVP. āItās not a switch he flips, but all of a sudden heās dancing through three or four guys.ā
The only Oilers player with a Cup ring won with Anaheim in 2007. Perry then lost in 2020 with Dallas, in 2021 with Montreal, and in 2022 with Tampa Bay.
āYou dream of playing Game 7s and being a hero, on the backyard rink, on the street,ā he said.
āNow itās reality. Now you get to live that. Somebody, and hopefully heās in this room ā¦ will go down in history for being the hero.ā
The Panthers have the same hope.
āI was one of those kids,ā Florida captain Aleksander Barkov said. āIām thinking about like, āThis is Game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.ā You think about those moments.
āNow itās becoming a truth ā¦ the most exciting time to be a hockey player.ā
Itās fitting on some level the furthest distance between cities in a final ā Edmonton and Sunrise are more than 4,000 kilometres apart ā is going the distance.
āItās been a long road to get to this point,ā said McDavid, the first pick at the 2015 draft and hockeyās most-hyped talent since Sidney Crosby.
āA lot of ups and downs, a lot of lessons along the way.ā
And a lot of dreams about what Monday might bring.
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