On the way to the Stanley Cup, it was always early for Leon Draistel and his partner Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. The pressure that he will be better this year is growing.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The most dangerous attacking duo in the National Hockey League has been National Hockey League player Leon Drystel and his Canadian friend Conor McDavid for years. Shortly before the end of the main tour, they have contributed a total of 271 goals this season alone. The list of personal awards is long and impressive.
However, there is a big hole in his resume: the two forwards with the Edmonton Oilers have never been champions in the world’s top ice hockey league. In the upcoming qualifiers there is the next attempt after the disappointments of the past years.
Edmonton yearns for the Stanley Cup
At the end of the day, it’s all about the Stanley Cup, former national team coach Marco Sturm told the German news agency of Draistel and his partner. They are under tremendous pressure this year more than last year. If it doesn’t work, I’d say there’s still some time, but it’s less and less. Everyone expects him and McDavid to win this trophy now. Draisaitl has two more years under contract, and McDavid three more – if the Oilers soon prove that the Stanley Cup can come to Edmonton, it will be very difficult to keep the duo.
Having the best striker and second best striker in the team as an opponent is tough for any defense – but that alone is not enough. You can’t win anything with two players. You don’t beat a team there. You need a team that stands behind it and does its job, Draisaitl said recently before the important 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. In his knit sweater, gray pants and pretty brown slippers, he looks like a lot of fashion-conscious people in their mid-twenties these days — but the 27-year-old from Cologne is a star in ice-hockey-mad Edmonton. Just up front: McDavid. We are very good friends. We like to play together. “We push each other in training and matches,” Draistel said.
Both have already been awarded the Art Ross Trophy, the Ted Lindsay Award, and the Hart Memorial Trophy – Translator: Draisaitl was already the best scorer in the world’s ice hockey league and was voted MVP by journalists and other NHL professionals elected on the main tour. McDavid has even received all the awards several times. However, the two professionals were not in the Stanley Cup Final. A year ago, the five-time winner of the Stanley Cup from Canada reached the Western Conference Finals. There was a 0:4 against the eventual champion Colorado Avalanche.
Dricetel: My only thoughts are with the Oilers
The 50-goal mark and the 100-point scoring barrier, both of which were breached again long ago? invaluable. I’m glad this honors me. But that’s behind me again and now I’m looking ahead. There are more important things than 50 goals: Dricetel confirmed his Stanley Cup victory. Unlike last season, when an ankle injury severely hampered him in the playoffs, the guy from Cologne is fit now. A 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks also puts them in first place in the Pacific Division and an easier opponent in the first round of the playoffs.
When asked if, in the event of another failure, he should consider where he might win the Stanley Cup, which has meant more to him than any award in his career thus far, Draistel replied: I think we have a great chance here to win it. This is where I focus now. Everything else has a time in the future. Now my thoughts are only with the Oilers.
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