Connor McDavid is still only 29 years old, but he has already made an impact on the hockey world that few others in history can match. He was named captain of the Edmonton Oilers at just 19 years old — and when he was given the C, he had one hilarious thought on his mind.
When McDavid burst into the NHL, he was the most hyped young player since Sidney Crosby a decade earlier. Despite playing only 45 games in his rookie season, he tallied 48 points — and he hasn’t slowed down since, averaging 1.53 points per game over his career so far.
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Taking over the C
Even though McDavid hasn’t yet turned 30, he is already in his tenth season with the Oilers, wearing the C previously worn by legends like Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. Those are not easy shoes to fill, but McDavid has risen to the challenge, leading Edmonton to two straight appearances in the Stanley Cup Finals.
But back in 2016, when McDavid was named captain, he was still an insecure 19-year-old.
Connor McDavid in The Players’ Tribune
Writing for The Players’ Tribune, he reflected on what was going through his mind at the time.
“Obviously, when you’re given the C at 19, there are a million things that go through your mind. You start wondering if you can grow a beard. You start thinking about your suits. But the one thing I kept thinking was, ‘Man, I really gotta move out of my parents’ house now.’ I’m supposed to be the leader of a room full of grown men who have two or three kids. How are they supposed to listen to me when I get home at night and my mom is like, ‘Hey. Tough game. I washed your sheets’?” McDavid wrote.
”Think about that kid a lot”
From there, McDavid became more serious about what it meant to captain one of hockey’s most storied franchises.
“I wanted to be the captain of the Edmonton Oilers. I wanted that pressure, no doubt. But I’d be lying if I said it came naturally, or that the weight of it wasn’t heavy. I remember when things weren’t going our way, and I’d look around the room and think, ‘Geez, we sucked tonight. Somebody has to step up and say something.’ And a room full of guys would turn their heads, and it would kind of hit me… Oh, they’re looking at me. Now, almost 10 years later, I think about that kid a lot — and how every challenge, every tough night, was a chance to be better than the day before,” McDavid wrote, reflecting on leadership, responsibility, and growth.
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