SUNRISE, Fla. — If they were an NBA team, with two superstars and five or six exceptional players in support, the Edmonton Oilers would likely have won a couple of championships by now.
But in their chosen sport, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid have instead spent nine seasons building towards this first crack at the Stanley Cup. Waiting for the commensurate team to be built around them; waiting for a goalie; waiting to become wise enough in the ways of this game to be able to navigate playoff waters through three rounds, and into a fourth.
“Yes, it took us a while to get here,” Draisaitl said on Friday. “With that being said, we were young kids coming in, with the weight of the world on our shoulders it felt like. Everyone expected us to do everything.
“We weren’t ready to understand what it really takes to win, when you’re 19, 20, 21 years old. That’s just a fact. Sometimes it takes a little longer, and I think over the last couple of years, we’ve improved in those (close game) scenarios and just gotten better. And we’re still continuing to learn.”
They call this the McDavid era in Edmonton, the period issued to general manager Ken Holland in which he must deliver a Cup or be considered a failure as Oilers GM. And those expectations are fair.
The title, however, is not.
This isn’t the McDavid era in Edmonton — it is the McDavid/Draisaitl era. No different than how the those old Oilers teams will always be remembered as being led by Gretzky and Messier. Not just the former, as great as No. 99 was.
“They’re the reason why we’re here,” Corey Perry said. “They lead us off the ice and on the ice, and the team rallies around those guys. At the peak of their careers, they’re special players.”
The two have arrived here in Sunrise at the absolute prime years of their careers — Draisaitl still four months from his 29th birthday, McDavid having turned 27 in January — with a friendship that has landed them as summertime neighbours in Aurora, Ontario, and better halves who are said to be besties.
And they share the marquee in Edmonton, if not usually in alphabetical order.
“We grew up together, 18, 19 — young kids coming in,” Draisaitl said. “Over the years, wanting to win has evolved into more importance for us. Knowing how much work he puts in, that we all put in, there was obviously a lot of disappointment over the last couple years. But we’re here, and we’ve given ourselves a chance to win.”
Their skills, like Messier’s and Gretzky’s, complement each other like the salt rim on a margarita glass. One lightning fast at everything he does, the other the best in the world at slowing the game down to the pace he chooses.
McDavid, as Zach Hyman has labelled him, “A 50-goal, pass-first centreman.” And Draisaitl, with Jean Beliveau’s gait and Mike Bossy’s one-timer.
Alas, poor Paul Maurice has only one Aleksander Barkov.
“He’s such a great player. It’s so fun to be on the ice with him,” McDavid said on Media Day. “But away from the rink, I think our relationship has just continued to get closer and closer. He’s a great dude. He’s hilarious. Somebody that I spend a lot of time with and I feel really lucky to have been a teammate for so long.”
It takes a special player to be as good as Draisaitl, yet spend as much time answering questions about how good McDavid is. In this world of egos, money, and guys who’ve been the best player on their team since they were five years old, Draisaitl gets huge respect as a 50-goal, 100-point man who never tires of pumping up his teammate.
“That’s OK. I know I’m a great player. I’m very well aware,” Draisaitl said, in that matter-of-fact German way that he admits, has him “misunderstood” some of the time. “There’s certain things in certain moments where there’s only one player in the world that can make that happen. And I think we can all agree on that.
“I know what I can bring to the table. But I’m very rational as to understanding what I am as a player, and what I’m not. We’re obviously very different players, but in a way complement each other really well.”
Ya think?
We wrote once about how these two will always be the leaders in Edmonton and eat up so much of the important ice time that — until they found a defensive game that was in the same area code as their offensive game — the Oilers would never win.
Those days have long passed. This spring, led by their two top centremen, Edmonton has passed so many of those tests that they once failed.
“We’re comfortable now in low scoring games,” said Holland. “We’re comfortable when there’s adversity. It’s 3-2 in Vancouver with four or five minutes to go, and place is going crazy. We were able to hang on and get that win.
“The other night against Dallas. It’s 2-1 (late in the game). That’s on the players, being in those moments.”
There wasn’t one moment when it all became clear. There never is. But over the years, it has set in that there would be times when faceoffs and board battles would become as important as goals and assists.
Now, they embrace that game.
“Every season you don’t win the Stanley Cup, you’re going home trying to dig in more, wanting more,” Draisaitl said. “Last year was very disappointing, and I think we took big, big steps when it comes to defending, taking care of the moment and taking care of the clock. Game management.
“Now it’s at a point where it’s really good.”
The McDavid/Draisaitl era has arrived at its first Stanley Cup Final.
Frankly, it was only a matter of time.
