ERIE, Pa. — Three hockey lifers watched Connor McDavid from worn, creaky seats at the far end of the ice. All was quiet when a crisp swoosh, the sound of a skate shredding ice, cut through the air. It sounded like paper tearing. Practice seemed to stop.
McDavid dangled the puck right and then left, as if it were glued to his stick, and sent the goalie sprawling to his side.
Gary Roberts, McDavid's trainer, turned to Sherwood Bassin, the general manager of the Erie Otters, and to Bobby Orr and said, "Could you imagine him in two years?"
Bassin nodded. Orr leaned in. His face creased as he smiled.
He first saw McDavid two and a half years ago, at his own summer camp. McDavid, small but smooth, moved easily, naturally low to the ice, during a stick-handling drill. He was the best player there, by far.
"Oh my God," Orr thought, and then said aloud, "Who's that?"
"How old do you think he is?" an assistant replied.
McDavid was 13, at least two years younger than the others.
He would grow to 5 feet 11 inches. He would be awarded exceptional-player status so he could be drafted a year early into the Ontario Hockey League — first over all by the Otters. Reebok-CCM Hockey would begin discussions for an endorsement deal. And he would choose Orr to be his agent. All before he turned 16, in January.
Now he draws the O.H.L.'s best defensemen, men with beards, some four or five years older. His teammates, mired in another lost season, need him, their young center, to score, to facilitate and to win if he can. He has tallied 54 points in 52 games and is widely considered the favorite to be chosen first in the 2015 N.H.L. entry draft.
At a recent practice, he scored that goal and made Roberts dream.
Orr fidgets at the thought. Give the boy time.
This is the dichotomy between prodigy and star, now and then, good and great. McDavid is skilled, but not yet strong; respected, but innocent and naïve; serious, but 16. His love and passion for the game have already bled into obsession. It is rare in someone so young but obvious to those he encounters each day.
At 3, when McDavid first went ice skating, he shook off his father's hand.
At 4, he begged his parents, Brian and Kelly, to let him play hockey a year early, so they lied about his age.
At 5, he wore a nice shirt and tie to every one of his older brother's games, just like the players. He listened to the pregame speech in the locker room, sat in the stands next to his mother and explained, in precise detail, any moment she missed while chatting with the other mothers, as the other brothers were off lollygagging.
At 12, he dominated his father's Sunday pickup games, weaving through a forest of adults, ducking under arms, passing through legs, scoring for fun.
At 16, there he was, weaving again, as Bassin, Orr and Roberts sat in the stands.
Working Toward Future
Roberts, after playing 21 seasons in the N.H.L., had opened a training center in Ontario, and he worked with McDavid last summer. He introduced McDavid to strength training, to evaluations and progressions — to that lifestyle.
One day, Roberts had McDavid watch the Tampa Bay Lightning star Steven Stamkos work out, and McDavid wondered aloud, "Wow, am I ever going to get that strong?"
He would, Roberts assured him, in time.
Then his shot would punch. Then his forearms would fight better on face-offs.
All his life, he had been smaller, weaker, playing above his age.
After school most days, he battled with Cameron, his older brother by four years, who was a head taller and a half-person heavier. Their games were epic, the brothers said, until McDavid began to win routinely.
He spent hours alone in their driveway in Newmarket, Ontario, in-line skating through his own obstacle course. He zigzagged around paint cans and hopped over old sticks, up and down the driveway, and finished with a shot on net. He timed himself and kept records.
Sometimes Cameron joined in, sometimes not. Losing to his little brother was frustrating and embarrassing. He would knock McDavid around, whack his leg and catch him in the eye.
McDavid felt no need to retaliate. He had won.
A Reluctant Big Shot
At practice now, leaning back in the stands, unworried about McDavid's work ethic, Roberts said, "He'll be a beast in two years."
Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang
Connor McDavid, Excelling in O.H.L., Is on Way to Stardom
Dengan url
https://dunialuasekali.blogspot.com/2013/02/connor-mcdavid-excelling-in-ohl-is-on.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
Connor McDavid, Excelling in O.H.L., Is on Way to Stardom
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
Connor McDavid, Excelling in O.H.L., Is on Way to Stardom
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar