ANAHEIM — Wayne Gretzky lost his first Stanley Cup, made that fabled walk past the New York Islanders dressing room door, and won the next four Finals he played in with Edmonton.
Sidney Crosby lost his first Cup Final to the Detroit Red Wings in ‘08, won the next year, and by the time he was 30 had three Stanley Cup rings and two Olympic gold medals.
Crosby never dominated an Olympic Games the way McDavid did in Milan, yet somehow there stood McDavid Wednesday in an Anaheim hallway — 29 years old and still in search of a silver mug and a gold medal — trying to answer a question of how those things have somehow eluded him, despite a level of play that deserves better.
“It’s aaaall part of the process,” he said. “I mean, that’s what it’s got to be. You know?
“What other option do I have?”
Really, it’s a question best posed to Olympic teammates who somehow failed to hit open nets, or convert on opportunities provided by McDavid over the course of a game.
But it was McDavid who stood in upon re-joining the Edmonton Oilers for tonight’s game against the Ducks, facing the cameras and microphones on Wednesday.
Asked to explain the unexplainable.
“It’s disappointing. There’s no way around it. We could be sitting here having a totally different conversation if things went a little bit differently,” McDavid said. “It’s hard to win at any level, especially when we’re talking about the best of the very, very best in the NHL and the Olympics. The margins are very, very small, and we obviously saw that on Sunday.
“We’ve felt the effects of that here in Edmonton from time to time.”
Who knows how Team Canada managed to lose a gold-medal game in which it dominated for the final 40 minutes? How Macklin Celebrini suddenly goes cold, how Nathan MacKinnon double-clutches, how Devon Toews can’t convert, or how McDavid muffs a breakaway — all inside the same three-hour window?
“I thought we played, obviously, well. I thought we did enough to win,” McDavid said. “Their goalie made some big, big saves. I thought we also missed some chances.
“There’s no way around it, no way to sugarcoat. It sucks,” he said. “But honestly, it was a special group to be a part of and to have those memories for a lifetime.”
Inside the Oilers dressing room, Canadian-born players cheered in equal part for their country and captain.
There’s a lingering feeling of responsibility here in Edmonton to win a Stanley Cup inside McDavid’s window. To provide for him, the way he has for them night after night, season after season.
“Your heart breaks for him. You know how much it means for him,” Oilers centre Adam Henrique said of the loss to Team USA. “His commitment to the game, his commitment to his teammates, to himself — what he puts on himself — is higher than I’ve ever seen. Than anybody that I’ve ever played with.
“It’s at the highest level it could possibly be.”
They are equal parts troll and abject stupidity, those voices that question McDavid’s big game production. As if the only “big game” in a two-month Stanley Cup run is the last one, or the road to an Olympic gold medal game is filled with easy nights and weak opponents.
“There are a lot of good players, a lot of great players,” said Henrique, a 1,000-game NHL player. “But you see the work and the commitment that goes into what he tries to do, and the pressure he puts on himself to be the best in the world… It is second to none. That’s why he’s there. So for people to say he can’t win the big one, that’s just not fair. It’s just not right.
“It’s not an individual sport.”
Now, McDavid will turn his attention back to his club team, where there is serious work to be done in finding the kind of structure and consistency that can win a single playoff round, let alone three or four.
Leon Draisaitl said it best after that 4-3 loss to Calgary that sent the Oilers stumbling into their Olympic break.
“(We’re) just giving up too many goals,” said Draisaitl. “Can’t defend. Penalty kill is not great. There are many things that are part of it. Just not good enough.
“This league is too hard to lollygag through games trying to get winning streaks going. You need everybody.”
Said McDavid: “I feel the exact same way.”
“Coming down the stretch, it’s going to be a sprint. There are only a handful of weeks left, and we haven’t secured anything. So we’ve got to find a way to get going here out of the break.”
He’ll play as Edmonton’s first-line centre tonight, likely to come in under his season average of 23:07 in ice time by being spared any penalty killing duty.
But you know, if the game is in the balance, McDavid will be looking back over his shoulder at head coach Kris Knoblauch, a wordless demand that says, “Get me out there so we can win this thing.”
McDavid is still trying to win. Always trying to win.
It’s crazy to think how long it’s taking.
