PITTSBURGH — Emblazoned on their t-shirts was that picture of Leon Draisaitl from his wedding day, with a lit cigarette in his mouth. The smoke rings billowing off that dart were shaped like Oilers logos.
And the caption, “Smokin’ his way to 1,000 points,” was the fine work of Oilers equipment man Brad Harrison, who is always on milestone watch and has just the right touch, it seems.
“Growing up in Germany,” reminisced Draisaitl, who collected four assists including point No. 1,000 in a 6-4 win at Pittsburgh, “it seems like a long way. I’m extremely proud of that.”
It takes a village, they say. Or several villages, when your career began in Cologne, Germany, stretched to junior stints in Prince Albert and Kelowna, then a pit stop in Bakersfield before one of hockey’s greatest players could even call himself an NHLer in Edmonton.
Today he’s a 1,000-point player with one foot in the Hockey Hall of Fame, the fifth fastest European to ever hit four figures, the 21st fastest overall.
Draisaitl makes the Edmonton Oilers the first team in NHL history to have five players crest the 1,000 point plateau: Gretzky (1,669), McDavid (1,138), Jari Kurri (1,043), Mark Messier (1,034) and Draisaitl (1,003).
“A lot of hard work, a lot of people who helped along the way,” said the 30-year-old son of German hockey legend Peter Draisaitl. “These accomplishments are always directed at the single player, but there are so many people who play such a big a part in it. I’m highly aware that I have a lot of people in my life who kept everything off my plate and let me do what I do.
“I’m super grateful, thankful, and a little proud.”
Draisaitl’s game, as we wrote about here, has become the epitome of a power forward. He commands the puck, slows the game down or speeds it up at his whim, and has the ability to bury you in goals one night, and kill you with assists the next.
On a Tuesday in Pittsburgh he chose the latter, ringing up four assists in a tour de force that was as effective — if not as flashy — as the four-point night authored by Connor McDavid. The Oilers captain is on a signature tear, with 20 points in his last seven games.
McDavid, sporting the same t-shirt, chuckled, “I remember when this photo was taken, at his wedding. It’s funny how it comes full circle.”
“He’s just such a special player,” McDavid continued. “He does it each and every year, both sides of the rink… For him to get there so fast (824 games), I can’t say enough good things.”
The one-two punch of McDavid centring his line followed by Draisaitl running his, is like a pitcher with a 100-m.p.h. fastball and a 85-m.p.h. changeup.
Who does a coach assign his top defensive pairing to? His best checking line?
Where McDavid skates around you, Draisaitl skates right on through you. Where McDavid speeds the game up to his advantage, Draisaitl slows it down to his.
It’s really not fair that one team has them both, and this was one of those nights where their total was greater than the sum of their parts.
Of course, poor Stu Skinner’s goals against average was the poorer for it.
That Draisaitl’s 1,000th point came against a long-time teammate like Skinner is, well, something no one saw coming a week ago.
“Bittersweet,” was the word Skinner chose, post-game. “I was his teammate for a long time, and whenever anybody gets 1,000 points, you’re going to congratulate them. But I would’ve rather it not be on me.”
Just 14 seconds after Draisaitl’s milestone point — on an extended power play with (ironically) Brett Kulak in the penalty box — McDavid blew down the centre of the sheet and deked Skinner, depositing the 2-0 goal into an empty net. It was vintage McDavid, and for Skinner, a save that almost no goalie ever gives his team.
“I faced so many in practice, so it was a little bit of a mental game. I’m going to talk to him after this and ask him how he felt,” said Skinner, who was out of sorts on this night, understandably. “As he came in close I just felt like he was going to go five-hole, because he’s done that to me a few times in practice. So, I just kind of played it safe where I think next time, I won’t be playing it as safe.”
This was one of those nights, with Skinner opposing Tristan Jarry, Draisaitl chasing 1,000, and Sidney Crosby pulling to within a point of Mario Lemieux for the Penguins’ all-time scoring lead, that fans and media love.
But with the trade still so fresh, families still in flux, these are nights that players just want to make it through.
“I always advocate for the human side of it,” began McDavid, who has grown up so much since he and Draisaitl arrived a year apart, a decade ago.. “The storylines were endless for the media and the fans tonight, but as people — and that’s what we are at the end of the day — it’s emotional.
“Stu has got a young family, Kuly has a young family, moving across the continent. Jarry, the same thing. They build relationships with guys … so I’m sure was an emotional night for all three of them. And I’m sure they’re glad it’s over.”
In the hallways outside the dressing rooms Tuesday, the Oilers’ players gathered to catch up with Skinner, while Jarry was seen chatting with his former teammates as well.
Then the Oilers boarded a plane for Boston.
It moves fast, the NHL.
On nights like this one, everyone is happy for that.
