I feel bad for you Connor McDavid, I really do.
I’m trying to remember what I was worried about when I was 19. I think it had something to do with figuring out a way to get to work on time on a regular basis. It’s still an issue, really. You’ve just been named captain of the Edmonton Oilers. Are you nervous?
You’re probably looking ahead at your career and wondering if you’ll be able to live up to the expectations that the big “C” demands. You’ve got big skates to fill. Gabriel Landeskog, Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby! Sid was named captain at 19, too, and look at him go… two Stanley Cups, two Olympic medals, the Golden Goal and he’s only 29! How’s your collarbone, by the way?
Are you worried about the fans? Eighteen thousand of them with their eyes on your back at Rogers Place, and thousands more across the country watching you on TV, young and old. The kids will still love you if you bust, at least for a little bit. I don’t know if I can say the same about your sponsors …
You better impress those folks over at Oilers Entertainment Group and the city, too. You fell into their laps so perfectly as they put the finishing touches on that arena. A lot of people aren’t happy with the amount of money the city is banking, but maybe if we become the City of Champions again …
The people watching you on TV – they’ll still get a pretty good show. There are some talented people in that industry, and they can make those productions pretty fun to watch, no matter who’s performing. Shame a bunch of them have lost their jobs recently. Tough to make money there, I guess they live and die on a good product. Some of those people, when they did work in the industry, have thought you’d be prime for this gig for a long time.
See, you entered the peripherals of the hockey world years ago, and slowly but surely you became spoken of in whispers of a word used so preciously that I hesitate to mention it less I cheapen its value. They say you’re a generational talent. It’s hard to fathom what that means …
The whole league sure seems to love you though. I guess that is a lot of pressure. Sorry.
It’s OK if you don’t keep up with Crosby. To be fair, he was 31 days older than you when he was named captain, so he probably had a bit more life experience under his belt.
You should probably show up early for your new job. Let ’em know you’re ready to get to work. But take it from me, a guy who flakes on things all the time – you can get away without it. After all, sometimes you just don’t want to get up in the morning – maybe you aren’t always dreaming about hockey, ya know, maybe sometimes you dream about food. You know what would be really badass, then? If you quit it all at 28 to become a chef.
– Connor O’Donovan, Sports Editor
Image via CTV.
