Nick Piccone
So, Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning reeeeeeally got under the skin of HOCKEY SUPERSTAR CONNOR MCDAVID! last Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center. It certainly was one of the best games of the season, and maybe the best so far of the Flyers’ season. But the subplot of Manning vs. McDavid seemed to overshadow the fantastic come-from-behind [twice!] win the Flyers had, and that spilled over to the media afterwards.
McDavid and company were mad because Manning talked some trash on the ice that was “classless.”
I have a couple friends who’ve played ice hockey through their teens and now adult life, and they admitted – as much as NHLers pretty much have – that trash talk like that takes place all the time. All. The. Time. So seeing how upset McDavid and the Oilers got because Manning apparently said he pushed McDavid into the boards on purpose last season – something he still denies – was a little bit weird to me.
This weekend, some reporters asked him and a few others if they were past the whole thing and talked about the emotion that came out of McDavid. Here’s what they had to say:
McDavid:
“Yeah, um, you know, it’s over now, you know. It’s been a few days, like you said. Just trying to keep the media on their toes and make sure you guys are still busy. So, it was a few days ago, like you said, and it’s over.”
Cam Talbot, starting goaltender:
“I mean, I think it was good to see him get that emotional. I mean, someone comes out and says that, obviously you’re gonna get a little emotional. And the guys in this room kind of felt it, too. It wasn’t just Connor that was emotional after that. That was pretty, uh, ‘classless’ has been used, so let’s go with that. Classless thing to say on the ice, to anyone, really, let alone the best player. So, any time something like that is said or insinuated you take that pretty seriously. So, it’s nice to see Connor get fired up out there and the rest of the boys had his back.”
Todd McLellan, the head coach of the Oilers:
“Connor has an emotional thermometer, we talked about it, on the road, and it goes up and down. That night it went up a little bit … What kind of counsel are we giving Connor in that situation? Well, Connor’s our captain. He’s a mature guy. He’s dealt with those situations since he probably played in Pee Wee’s. So, he’s just fine. His teammates look after him and take care of him. The game has changed, I know there’s always the discussion about, ‘Hey, go do this and go do that.’ The game has changed, we have to remember that. And it’s policed a little bit differently, and I’m not talking about the players that wear the uniforms, I’m talking about suits. And it is policed a little bit differently. So, um, Connor’s fine. I like to see him get emotional. He gets excited about scoring goals, he gets excited about playing against individuals. He rises to the challenge. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the thermometer going up a little bit.”
So, to recap, the Edmonton Oilers’ best player, who just might be the best player in the league right now, their starting goaltender, and their head coach are still talking about what happened in Philly last Thursday night. Bravo, Brandon.
[TSN]