What I mean by improve is influencing the player, through any number of means, to better apply themselves and become a better hockey player in their own right.
Have you played hockey? I don’t mean this in a ‘you cant understand because you havent..’ type of way. But as an example Ive played at some crap levels of hockey, but nevertheless I have played alongside some quality (lower level college type) players. Some guys tear up the ice like none other. There are a few guys that can mimic it, and probably benefit from them. For me and alot of others though, we benefited alot more from the guys that manage to ‘slow the game down’, lead by examples, tips, encouragement. I’m suggesting that McD, as crazy as it sounds, operates at a level where even in the NHL most guys simply cannot mimic it, it’s totally out of reach. It’s not his fault, it just is what it is.
Think about some occupation or education youve had, did ‘the best’ people amongst your acquaintances necessarily provide the most help in advancing your career/education? Maybe, but probably not. Its about being able to connect and making the skillset accessible to others. Sure, if you do a project with one of those star performers it will likely have good/great results- but that doesnt mean you benefited from it more than you would working with anybody else. McDavid is a brilliant player- but there’s more than enough evidence that his talents do NOT elevate his team in the longer term the way weve seen other ‘elite talents’ like Crosby, Kucherov, Kopitar and perhaps a handful of others impact their teams and lead them to ongoing success.
