Nick Piccone
A subplot to last night’s Flyers-Oilers game at the Wells Fargo Center was the ongoing issues between Connor McDavid – the next big thing in the NHL – and Flyers defenseman Brandon Manning. McDavid and Manning were involved in a hit last season that broke the former’s collarbone.
Here’s the hit to refresh your memory:
Even though McDavid played in Philly last season, bad blood didn’t seem to linger between him and Manning. But on Thursday night at the Wells Fargo Center, the bad blood all came out and it made for one of the most entertaining hockey games of the season.
After the game, McDavid told reporters that Manning admitted he injured him on purpose. And that’s apparently all it took to get into the heads of the Oilers.
“You know what, I did all I could defending him [Manning] last year in the media. I didn’t want to make a big deal saying he did it on purpose. He wanted to make some comments today about what went on last year and I thought it was one of the classless things I’ve ever seen on the ice. He said some things and our guys responded accordingly. We can put the whole “He did it on purpose” thing to rest, because what he said out there confirmed that. It shows what kind of guy he is, how he doesn’t step up and fight some of our guys.”
Manning denied the accusation.
“That’s 100 percent wrong. Anyone who has seen the clip, sees him catch an edge. I would never intentionally hurt someone. For him to say that, it is what it is. When he comes out and says that’s the most classless thing…and for him to come out in the second period and yell at our bench for a minute and tell me to get on the ice. Or for him to score a goal and start chirping at me, you should see where his focus is right there.”
Regardless of who’s right and wrong here, I have to wonder why Manning wouldn’t use that hit last year, whether it was an accident or not, to get under McDavid’s skin. It clearly worked last night. Watching the video of the hit last season doesn’t scream out at me that it was on purpose, especially Manning’s reaction to when McDavid crashed into the wall. Clearly, Manning is using this as a tool on the ice to gain an advantage. And that’s completely okay. After all, sports are all about gaining a competitive advantage, whether it’s physical or mental.
Brandon Manning – the kryptonite of the Connor McDavid-led Edmonton Oilers.
I wouldn’t say holding him to a goal and an assist is really ‘getting in his head’
Yea it is? He is capable of much more then he showed last night. You can see he was clearly bothered by it. I have looked at that video a 100 times. McDavid lost his footing and it looks like the outer skate caught something and twisted in. Lets not put him in the classless Crosby category. I did not see anything he did last night or any other game I have seen him play in that would indicate he is a Crosby POS. That’s short for Piece of you finish the rest.
When the arguable best player in the league is more worried about what a dude is saying to him on the ice, and gets his teammates on it, that’s “getting in his head.” Doesn’t matter what he does on the score sheet – he was clearly more worried about sticking it to Manning. His interview after the game was 100% pure infatuation with Manning. That’s not an advantage?