With the whole hockey world about to unite in celebration of the sport at the Milano-Cortana Winter Olympic Games, hockey in Alberta is rallying around grief and tragedy this week.
On Monday, three junior hockey players with the Southern Alberta Mustangs were killed on the way to practice in Stavely, AB. Caden Fine, 17, J.J. Wright, 18, and Cameron Casoro, 18, were in a car involved in a collision with a gravel truck on Hwy. 2.
“Obviously tragic,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid. “Something that touches close to home, three guys heading to practice. Obviously just tragic, you’re thinking about their families, for sure.”
There isn’t a hockey player in Rogers Place who didn’t spend countless hours on the road, whether riding a bus, flying on a plane or driving in a vehicle to get to games, practices and tournaments.
“It’s an unfortunate event, and obviously in our sport we do spend a lot of time travelling and going place to place,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Whether that’s for games on buses or in vehicles to practices. It’s very unfortunate that happened to three young men. Our thoughts are with those families, because it’s a very unfortunate thing to happen.”
Southern Alberta Mustangs players JJ Wright, left to right, Cameron Casorso, and Caden Fine are shown in this handout image.
HIS OWN WORDS
Just in case McDavid wasn’t already the best around at hockey, he took the opportunity to put pen to paper and show the rest of us he can do the media’s job better too.
McDavid took his turn with the Players’ Tribune website Monday with a piece expressing his thoughts on growing into the leader he has become over his 11 NHL seasons.
“I want to be remembered as a winner,” he wrote. “But not just anywhere. Here. To be in this city during a Cup run, to feel that buzz … it just wouldn’t be the same somewhere else.”
With two full seasons left in an Oilers jersey before the dreaded C-word comes up again and the sky threatens to fall right on top of Edmonton, Oilers fans can at least take some solace in his words.
And in the Cortana-Milano Winter Olympics, the rest of the country will have reason to get behind him, as well.
“It’s an exciting time, obviously, with the Olympics coming up,” McDavid said Tuesday. “I’m excited to share that and get over and get going in Italy.”
From gold medals to Stanley Cups, the goal remains the same.
“We want to win here, obviously that goes without saying,” he said. “I think everybody understands that, but just doubling down on that and understanding how committed the group is here to getting it done.”
OLYMPIC PREVIEW
McDavid got a sneak peek at what the upcoming Olympics will look like while attending an orientation in the summer that included all of Team Canada’s hockey representatives, both men’s and women’s rosters.
“It was really exciting, and the Para(lympic) team was there too, so all three teams were there,” he said. “It just gives you a sense of being part of something bigger than just your team or just yourself.
“When you get all three Canadian teams together like that, talking about what we want to do over there, it’s exciting for sure.”
It will be a rare chance to play against his wingman, Leon Draisaitl, who will be captaining Team Germany. The last time the two met on opposite sides of the faceoff circle was at the 2016 world championships, back in the beginning of their pro careers.
“Yeah, it’s been a long time,” McDavid said. “Obviously, he’s a great player. It will be different, for sure.”
GIMME SOME ‘D’
McDavid did his best to defy the theory one guy can’t do it all alone on a hockey team with a December to remember, where he put up 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 15 games for the most productive calendar month since Mario Lemieux in 1995.
But not even he can maintain that pace forever.
McDavid had 25 points (10 goals, 15 assists) in 15 games in January, which is still incredible, and a big reason he’s sitting atop the leaderboard on pace for 139 points this season.
His only problem is while he’s been so busy putting pucks in the opposing net, he hasn’t figured out a superhuman way to stop them from going in his own.
So, sooner or later, he’s going to need the rest of the team to step up and start playing some defence.
“We’ve got to defend better,” said McDavid, whose squad is in the bottom-quarter of the 32-team league with 185 goals-against. “We’ve been giving up goals and chances and making it hard on our goalies.
“So, we’ve got to defend better.”
E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On X: @StarkRavinMod
Related
Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.
You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post, and 13 other Canadian news sites. The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun