EDMONTON — “That’s not good enough! IT’S THE FINALS.”
“DIG IN!! RIGHT NOW!!”
The Amazon Prime trailer hit the streets on Monday afternoon, and immediately went viral in Northern Alberta.
It featured Connor McDavid in the Edmonton Oilers dressing room after Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final in Florida. Edmonton had lost 4-1, and the Oilers were down two games to none in a series they would eventually lose in seven games.
McDavid was feeling his dream slip away.
The emotion is as stark as it is raw. We sensed that even McDavid had mixed emotions upon seeing it.
“It was never my plan to be the star of the show,” McDavid said after a 6-3 loss to Calgary in his first preseason appearance Monday night. “I think we wanted to dip our toe in but … here we are. Head first off the diving board.”
It’s part of a docuseries titled “FACEOFF: Inside the NHL,” where cameras followed a bunch of star NHL players on and off the ice through their playoff journey last spring. The series begins on Amazon Prime on Oct. 4, and McDavid’s cameo comes at the 1:15 mark of this trailer released Monday.
“You’re going to see us at our most vulnerable,” the Oilers captain said. “You can’t say that we didn’t let (the cameras) in. They shot things in our most intense moments, most meaningful moments.
“You know, they shot it. They may as well use it.”
McDavid yelling at the top of his lungs is a foreign concept to anyone who has only observed him through the lens of his media appearances. Speaking on camera, he is soft spoken and not overly emotional. And although his insight and willingness to let fans in has grown considerably over the past couple of seasons, the clip revealed in the Amazon trailer is a whole new window into the Oilers captain — even for those who have covered him from Day 1 of his pro career.
“To us, it’s normal,” said McDavid’s right-winger Zach Hyman. “He’s a phenomenal leader (who) wears his heart on his sleeve. To you (media) guys he may be quieter or more guarded. But to us, he’s Connor.
“That clip, you’ll see more of it in the show.”
The docuseries follows a bunch of players — McDavid, Hyman and Leon Draisaitl of the Oilers; Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander; Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes; Boston teammates David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman; Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog; Florida forward Matthew Tkachuk and others — through the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It’s never-before-seen access in a traditionally private league. Speaking to McDavid on Monday (who had seen some of the series already), it was clear that even he wasn’t entirely in love with opening the window to that extent to a production company whose mission it was to produce as dramatic and entertaining a docuseries as possible.
“You’re going to see hockey players, but you’re going to see the human side of it,” McDavid said. “You’re going to see joy on one side, and you’re going to see a lot of heartbreak on one side as well.
“Hopefully, it’s worth it. Obviously, it’s not the easiest thing to let some media in (for) some of those moments.”
Asked specifically about his post-game words, he said, “I think you’ve got to understand some of the show is, you know, they get to contextualize it as much as they want. It’s interesting how they cut it up. They obviously need to make a story.”
But, he admitted, the raw emotion will make for some excellent viewing.
“Guys are playing for their dream. You’ll see that you’ll feel that from both sides.”
“DIG IN!! RIGHT NOW!!”
It’s crazy for hockey fans to have that kind of access to an NHL dressing room, let alone one presided over by the reigning best player in the world.
“Everybody’s upset,” explained Hyman. “You’re down 2-0 in the Stanley Cup Final, the worst possible situation after two games, right? We worked all this way to get there, and we’re down 2-0. We’ve got to be better. That was the message, I think everybody’s feeling it, and it was great that said it at the time.”
In an Oilers dressing room that will make a conscious effort to leave the topic of the 2024 playoffs behind — in an attempt to begin the 2024-25 season afresh — this series will provide some of the last words and images of that devastating Game 7 loss.
It appears to be can’t-miss stuff for all hockey fans — Panthers and Oilers supporters in particular.
“The closer you get, the more it’s in reach,” Hyman said. “So we’re in the Stanley Cup Final, we had a pretty good first game — we lost — and we had a not-so-good second game. It’s just a frustration of guys. Like, ‘Wake up!’
“Connor’s the most competitive guy you’ll meet. So, (that’s) a little window into what goes on.”
