CONNOR McDAVID
EYES (Vision)
“Excellent. High end. There’s different types of vision. Off the rush, how wide you see it and how deep you see it. Connor’s vision, where you see it the most is off the cycle down low. His back will be to the play and he’ll make a pass down low to someone you didn’t see. In traffic is where his vision excels.â€
BRAINS (Hockey sense/smarts)
“Elite. My definition of hockey sense includes: can they anticipate what the defenceman is going to do. It’s a chess match, and he gets it. He knows when to go fast, when to slow down, how to buy time and space when he goes laterally. There are explosive skaters who can’t control their speed. McDavid can go five feet and slow down or go the length of the ice full out. You always hear coaches (talk about a defenceman) taking away time and space. For a forward, then, how do you gain time and space? It’s by going laterally, it’s by slowing down. He can do all of those things. He can do it at full speed, he can do it however he wants. That’s what the elite guys like Crosby can do.â€
HEART
“He’s got lots of it. For a kid who has been under the (microscope) as much as he is, he’s got heart. It’s hard to imagine at his age and being an elite player, the scrutiny he takes. No matter how complete a player you are, people are going to try to poke holes in you. Through all that, for me, the guys who have heart are the guys who’ll do anything to win, no matter how glaring the spotlight. He’s that type of player.â€
MOUTH (Leadership)
“I can’t speak to it completely because I’m not in the room with him. But if you purely look at his actions, I would say he’s a good leader. He can carry a team on his back. More importantly, when its crunch time, he wants to make the difference, he wants the puck. He sacrifices for the good of the team.â€
HANDS
“Unbelievable. Soft and skilled hands. He can make all the soft little finesse passes, but when he needs to snap it, he can snap it.â€
WRISTS (Shot power, accuracy)
“I think he’s accurate and has a quick release. I think he can improve a lot when it comes to scoring from outside the top of the circles.â€
SHOULDERS/ELBOWS (Toughness)
“Oh, he’s tough. He’ll take hits to make plays. People say he shouldn’t have fought back in November when he injured his hand. I’m not a staged fight guy. But for me, that was the heat of the battle. You can’t take that away from the guy. It’s inside him. He just got fed up with the roughshod treatment. It’s too bad he broke his hand and you obviously didn’t want to see that. But I don’t fault him for that, it’s not like he goes looking for that.â€
LEGS (Skating/speed)
“He’s dimensional. That means he can go any direction, any time, full speed. Power, explosiveness ... ‘Dimensional’ means every aspect of skating you could ever want. And he’s got it.â€
FEET (Agility/footwork)
“For me, it’s really good. His feet tie in with his compete and his brain and his strength. In tight areas, his balance is so good while he protects the puck. Crosby is under six feet but he’s the same way. Like that, you marvel at just how low Connor’s centre of gravity is. He can hold guys off even on one leg.â€
