The Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers are set for a Stanley Cup Final rematch. After a debilitating Game 7 loss last season, Edmonton is focused on winning its first championship since 1990. That includes Oilers captain Connor McDavid, who was crushed to lose last year's title even after winning playoff MVP. General manager Stan Bowman spoke about how dedicated his captain is to winning the Stanley Cup.
“I went to see him in the summer, and all he talked about was, ‘I just want to win a Cup.' That was it. We didn't talk about anything else. This is his singular focus,” Bowman said, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. Bowman was hired last summer to replace Ken Holland, whose contract expired.
“He's accomplished everything he could accomplish individually in this sport. He continues to dazzle us every game. You run out of superlatives to talk about him as a player,” Bowman said about McDavid. “You could see how badly he wanted it last year when it didn't go Edmonton's way in Game 7. Right now, he's on a mission.”
Article Continues BelowThis clip from Amazon Prime's ‘Faceoff” docuseries shows just how crushed McDavid was to lose Game 7. In what could have been his only chance, they lost Game 7 to the Panthers. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy because he led the playoffs in scoring and set the all-time playoff assist record. McDavid later said he never considered coming back on the ice.
The Conn(or McDavid) Smythe Decision
*(via Amazon Prime – Full Rights Reserved to them). pic.twitter.com/bEdQ2x0JCu
— Oilers After Dark's -B.W. (@OADsBraydonW) October 4, 2024
McDavid will almost certainly go down as the greatest player of his generation. He is not yet 30 and has five scoring titles, three regular-season MVPs, and a playoff MVP. The trophy missing is the Stanley Cup, and everyone in the conversation that McDavid belongs in has at least one. Even at 28 years old, he doesn't have much else to accomplish. The best player in the world will be on a mission when the Stanley Cup Final starts on Wednesday.