The Edmonton Oilers came so close to finishing their Cinderella story. Edmonton lost Game 7 last night 2-1, ending their season and awarding the Stanley Cup to the Florida Panthers. Everyone counted them out after starting the series 0-3, but they rallied back behind the stellar play of superstar Connor McDavid.
McDavid had a frustrating end to the Stanley Cup Final. He had no points in the final two games of the series. He was clearly emotional when he spoke with the media after the game.
“Proud of the way we fought all year. Behind the eight ball almost immediately. We fought an uphill climb for months and months and months,” McDavid said, per ESPN's Greg Wyshynski. “[This] just … sucks.”
Despite the poor end to the series, McDavid's teammates had nothing but good things to say about him.
“He's the greatest player to ever play, in my books,” said his teammate and friend Leon Draisaitl after Game 7. “So many things that a lot of people don't see that he does. His work ethic. He singlehandedly turned our franchise around, pretty much. Just love sharing the ice with him. He's just a really, really special person.”
McDavid did win one trophy last night — the Conn Smythe Trophy. The award goes to the MVP of the 2024 playoffs, and he is the obvious choice. However, he wasn't feeling much like celebrating last night.
“Yeah, obviously, I guess it's an honor. With the names on that trophy. But … yeah,” McDavid said.
Draisaitl explained that awards aren't everything for McDavid.
“I don't think he cares,” Draisaitl said. “I mean, it speaks to how amazing of a hockey player he is. There's no player in the world that wants to win a Stanley Cup more than him. He does everything right, every single day, just to win it one day. It's really hard with him being sad and being disappointed at the end.”
Recapping Oilers' superstar Connor McDavid's historic playoff performance
Oilers fans and players are certainly unhappy right now. Hopefully they remember Connor McDavid's historic playoff heroics when looking back at this season in the future.
McDavid's hugely impressive playoff run should not be ignored. There's a reason why he won the Conn Smythe despite being on the losing team in the Stanley Cup Final. In fact, he is the first winner of the award on the losing team since 2003.
McDavid had one of the most impressive individual runs in NHL playoff history. His 42 points is fourth most in a single postseason in NHL history. This puts him behind legends like Wayne Gretzky (47 in 1985, 43 in 1988) and Mario Lemieux (44 in 1991).
He was also two points shy of tying Gretzky's Stanley Cup Final points record.
McDavid also set his own record. He is the first player in NHL postseason history to post back-to-back four-point games in the Stanley Cup Final. He accomplished this in Games 4 and 5, rescuing Edmonton's chances of winning the series.
Hopefully McDavid can eventually find some peace and look back on this postseason run with pride. But right now, he's probably focused on getting to the Stanley Cup Final next year.
“We never stopped believing. We really believed we were going to get one. Lots of looks. It just didn't go,” McDavid said. “It sucks. … It sucks.”
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