Do you want to see the intensity it takes to win in the National Hockey League?
Connor McDavid’s epic rant, captured for an Amazon Prime Production that drops Oct. 4, is a genuine and unvarnished indicator.
The NHL is evidently not a league for those who need a lot of hand-holding and comforting.
ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski took to Twitter X to offer up his summary of what he’s seen of the series:
We get a much different side of Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid on “FACEOFF: Inside the NHL,” which premieres on Friday.
* McDavid breaks down crying in locker room after SCF Game 7. RNH rubs his neck. Draisaitl taps his thigh to say it’s OK. Powerful.
* It’s already viral, but the moment where Connor McDavid lights up his teammates – “It’s the f–king final! Dig. The f–k. In. Right f–king now!” – is really something. More emotion in those 15 seconds than we might have seen from him in 9 seasons.
* Some great scenes with Connor McDavid at home with Lauren Kyle, who makes perhaps the greatest revelation of the series: “Connor is afraid of ketchup.”
Their personal chef sneaks her bottles of ketchup at the table for her when he’s not looking.
* EdmontonOilers CEO Jeff Jackson if he’s worried about reaction to Connor McDavid’s openness on PrimeVideo NHL series: “I don’t know how you could get grief for showing emotion about wanting to win so badly, and that’s what great leaders do.”
My take
1. No surprises here. Of course things get this heated at the top levels of performance. They always have and they always will.
2. I’m not here to tell you that this level of intensity is right for all levels of sports. It’s not. It’s not right for minor hockey teams or for adult beer league. It’s not right for our classrooms. People need support, training and encouragement. Negative comments can be a curse on children that they might never recover from. But I am here to tell you there’s a place and a time for such an angry and epic rant. And McDavid’s timing was perfect.
3. We live in a world now consumed with politeness and safety, well-being and equity. We live in a world of participation ribbons, where grade inflation is the norm and the ‘Honour Role’ for top performing students has been taken down in many schools, lest anyone’s feelings be hurt.
But elite sports remains what it’s always been, a place where the classic values of hard work, competitiveness, and sometimes ferocious intensity still reign. It’s interesting that pro sports continues to enjoy such popularity in this modern world. It says something about what we all still admire and believe, as opposed to what we constantly profess on social media to admire and believe.
We haven’t yet lost that fierce side of ourselves, at least many of have not lost it, with Connor McDavid leading the way.
4. McDavid’s rant appears to have come after the Oilers lost Game Two in Florida, just before losing Game Three in Edmonton, then pushing the series to Seven Games by going on a three-game winning streak. I’m glad to see McDavid has this kind of ferociousness in him. There’s no way he or his team would have almost won the Cup in Game Seven if he lacked it. Of course, there’s no way he would have become the player he is without that fire burning so bright in his head and heart. He’s a hard man of hockey, which makes him and the Oilers so hard to beat.