Leon Draisaitl has been asked many times Connor McDavid Since 2015, the two first took the ice together as teammates.
Fast forward nine years and not much has changed. It's still very much in character for the German mogul.
Draisaitl, McDavid and Edmonton Oilers Saturday Match Florida Panthers — It was the culmination of nearly a decade of our time together in Alberta’s capital.
The dynamic duo was a big reason for the team's rise, but McDavid almost always got more attention.
“It doesn’t matter,” Draisaitl, 28, said Friday, adding that he is often asked about his superstar teammate’s exploits.
“I know I'm a great player. I know that well. I know what I can bring. But I'm very rational about what I am and what I'm not as a player.
“We’re obviously very different players, but in a way we complement each other very well.”
The Oilers' Batman and Robin — if Robin is a six-foot-two, 209-pound bulldozer with excellent vision and soft hands — led the team to its first finals appearance since 2006 after frustrating performances in recent springs.
Edmonton reached the Western Conference finals in 2022 but lost to the Colorado Avalanche. Last year, the Oilers lost to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round. Both teams have won the Cup.
“Every season you don’t win … you go home and try to hold on for more, want more,” Draisaitl said.
Emails needed on the day
Top news from Canada and around the world.
“Last year was very disappointing, and I thought we took a big step forward defensively and capitalized on our moments.”
The lightning-quick 27-year-old McDavid overshadowed his teammates with five scoring titles and three MVP awards, but Draisaitl also had some impressive accomplishments of his own.
He won the Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy in 2019-20 during the pandemic-shortened season and set a career-high 128 points last season.
“What a great player,” McDavid said of Draisaitl. “He’s a lot of fun to play with on the ice. But off the ice, I think our relationship is only going to grow. He’s a great guy. He’s a lot of fun.”
“I spent a lot of time with him and I was lucky to be his teammate for so long.”
Draisaitl said the friendship between the two sides has continued to deepen over the years.
“For us, the desire to win is becoming more and more important,” he said. “Knowing how much work McDavid puts in — how much we all put in — there’s obviously been a lot of disappointments over the last few years.
“But we’re here and we gave ourselves a chance to win.”
McDavid will play his first final game on the same court where he was selected first overall by the Oilers in the 2015 draft.
“It’s funny how things develop,” he said of returning to the Amerant Arena, which was known as the BB&T Center when he took the stage at age 18. “It’s almost like it’s come full circle, nine years later.”
“Time flies. It feels like it happened yesterday.”
Draisaitl said he received a lot of messages before the finals, including one from fellow countryman and NBA superstar Dirk Nowitzki, who had a long and illustrious career with the Dallas Mavericks.
The Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference finals, but that didn’t stop the Hall of Famer from lending a helping hand.
“It was really cool,” Draisaitl said. “I think he was rooting for the Stars, but he was kind of rooting for me, too.”
NHL legend Jaromir Jagr has reached the final with former teammates, including international players who played for the Czech Republic, for 45 years.
The Oilers will face the Florida Panthers in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Jason Franzen/The Canadian Press
The 2024 roster includes Florida’s Alexander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Sergei Bobrovsky, Dmitriy Kulikov, Aaron Ekblad, Sam Bennett and Ryan Lomborg, while Edmonton’s Adam Henrique and Brett Kulak also played alongside No. 68 early in their careers.
The Oilers and Panthers will spend a lot of time in the air in this series.
The distance between Edmonton and Sunrise is more than 4,000 kilometres, the longest distance between cup cities in NHL history.
“We're one of the most traveled teams in the league,” McDavid said. “It's fitting to be in the most traveled Stanley Cup Final ever. We spent a lot of time on the plane, but we had a lot of fun.”
Game 6 will be held at Rogers Place on Saturday. Listen to the game live on 630 CHEDstart with Confrontation Show 4 p.m., with the actual race starting at 6 p.m.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
