BROSSARD, QC. — Despite all the hype swirling around Brian McDavid’s son, he doesn’t like it when comparisons to Sidney Crosby are made, “It’s a long time until any comparisons like that are made. [Connor] has to ignore that sort of stuff and stay focused on his goal, which is to be a hockey player and to do everything everyday that he has to in order to achieve his goal.” And though his son’s ambitions are plentiful, the sixteen year old McDavid would just simply like to have a long and successful hockey career, “My ultimate goal playing hockey is to play in the NHL, have a successful career and be in the hockey hall of fame when it’s all said and done would be a bonus.
However, since the 5’11, 175 pound Connor McDavid is only draft eligible in 2015, he maintains that ignoring all the media attention that he’s getting is paramount in his quest for stardom, “It’s not too hard to ignore all the hype. At the end of the day that’s what you have to do. If you look into the hype you could end up getting a big ego and that’s the death of athletes I think. I just need to take it one day at a time and never take things too hard and just surround yourself with good people because it’s pretty easy to forget who you are.”
McDavid, the Newmarket, Ontario product, spoke about the possibility of playing in Montreal and Toronto when the two cities host the 2015 world juniors, “It’s a little bit far off in the distance but when I first heard that it was coming to Montreal and Toronto, I was a little excited because I could potentially play on the team then. That would be a dream come true. Playing for a world junior team is something that you dream about and to play it in my hometown would be unbelievable.”
While the 2015 World Juniors are still over a year away, McDavid cites winning a gold medal at the world under 18 tournament in Sochi this past April as his most significant achievement, “My greatest hockey memory so far is winning the U18s in Russia. That was unbelievable and something that I’ll never forget for sure.”
In order for Connor to continuously improve as he strives toward unprecedented levels of success and fame, his father believes that he needs to have fun with the game, “Really I just want him to have fun. And I think it’s really important for any young person playing hockey to have fun and enjoy it first and foremost. If they have fun, than all those other good things will happen as a result. And Connor really has a good time playing.”
Admittedly Connor McDavid is all booked up before he goes back to Erie for the start of the 2013-14 OHL season. He will even be making a trip to the dentist’s office so he can have his wisdom teeth removed, a procedure that doesn’t seem t worry him very much.
McDavid was praised for his play early in the week at the National Junior Evaluation Camp in Lake Placid but according to All Habs colleague Rick Stephens wasn’t a factor in Saturday’s game against the Americans. “I thought I played alright against Sweden, but today was probably a step back to making the team, but there’s still a long way to go. I think if I can have a good start to the year then I’ll be alright.” Time will tell whether McDavid has done enough to earn a December flight to Sweden.