Given the fact 97% of my dreams for the past month have been Connor McDavid related, this isn’t going to be a very complicated pick now or basically ever again for the next 10-15 years.
But after taking the courageous route yesterday and declaring nothing and no one in particular to be my GOAT for the year, it is imperative that I come out of the gates HARD with the star selection on opening night.
Decisiveness Wanye, make the big tough decisions.
You got this.
So I recently read this book The McDavid Effect which I will be doing a full review of here at OilersNation in the next week or so. As the title suggests, it has a lot of stories about the history of Edmonton, the history of the Oilers and the history of Connor McDavid.
More than a handful of times I read something about our new captain and yelled “Mrs. Wanye! Come listen to this story about Connor McDavid! It will blow your mind and melt your heart all in the same sentence.” Now, Mrs. Wanye is a new app I am writing at the moment and I have gotten behind schedule on account of reading the book about Connor McDavid. But enough about app design, let’s get back to the 2016 star and this book describing the 2016-17 star in HD detail shall we?
QUOTE ONE
“As a youngster, when (Connor) played mini sticks in the basement at home with his friends, he would direct everyone to congregate in a room off to the side before the game, pretending it was their dressing room. From there the boys would march out together single file and sing “O Canada” before they played.”
Great Nuge’s moustache! Young Connor is both a patriot and a genius with the mini stick. Someone get Prime Minister Trudeau on the line! We need to hand out an order of Canada before the puck drops! What is the record for striking a new coin design at the Canadian Mint? That needs to be cut in half at minimum for the ConnorCoin!
*Ahem*
QUOTE TWO
“Connor always had a great imagination,”(Connor’s Mom Kelly McDavid) said. “He would get his stuffed animals and put them around the room, and when I asked what he was doing, he would tell me, ‘Those are the fans.’”
Stuffed animals for fans?! Now WE are those fans! Someone run and get some cases of Kleenex, there appears to be dust in the offices of NationHQ. Someone get 17,000 stuffed animals to throw on the ice at the season opener to make Connor feel at home! Someone call a taxidermist — I need all of my innards removed and replaced with cotton wool so that I can remind Connor of his fans of yesteryear! That isn’t medically possible? Someone get the Mayo Clinic on the line!
CALM ANALYSIS, RATIONAL THOUGHT
You can debate who the best player is in any given sport with a random group of fans and there will be a lot of back and forth in most cities and for most sports. But the greats – the Messis, the Jordans, the Gretzkys the Bradys – stand apart from the crowd. Even people who hate your team or the player themselves will acknowledge, “Yes Beckham married the annoying glum Spice Girl but I am forced to admit he is an amazing footballer.”
Connor will be one of those players and he could steal Posh away from David Beckham with a mere 10 minutes in the same room. Who knows what other amazing feats are in store for all us Oilers fans? I just can’t wait to watch all the crazy crap that McDavid is going to do in his career. We have seen 0.01% of what he will ultimately do and we have paid for his flash and dash with years of the worst hockey imaginable. Payback is a bitch, ain’t it other 29 NHL teams?
Yup, it sure is.
The only thing we need to do is keep our expectations tempered in terms of what one man can do amongst a lineup of pros and focus on what needs to be built around Connor for a supporting cast in the years to come.
The hardest thing for your ol’ pal Wanye this year is going to be strapping myself in my seat at Rogers Place with multiple bungee cords so I don’t jump over the glass, snatch up the puck and demand the Hockey Hall of Fame induct Connor “RIGHT NOW, RIGHT NOW YOU BASTARDS” before I exhaustedly collapse in tears on the ice.
Connor McDavid is my star for the 2016-17 season.
STARS THROUGH THE AGES
It’s good sometimes to laugh and laugh at what used to pass for stars in the game. Shawn Horcoff indeed Wanye you non-murderous clown.
2015-16 Connor McDavid
2014-15 Jordan Eberle
2013-14 Jordan Eberle
2012-13 Jordan Eberle
2011-12 Jordan Eberle
2010-11 Jordan Eberle
2009-10 Mike Comrie
2008-09 Erik Cole
2007-08 Shawn Horcoff
2006-07 Ryan Smyth
2005-06 Chris Pronger
Who are you going with this year? It had better be Connor McDavid.
*shakes fist*
WIN A TRIP TO THE OUTDOOR GAME IN WINNIPEG
Enter to win a trip to Winnipeg with the OilersNation on an exciting fan trip to the Heritage Classic outdoor hockey games between Edmonton and Winnipeg—courtesy of AMA Travel and OilersNation.
Enter to Win:
- Return flights for two (2) people from Edmonton to Winnipeg, Oct 22 – 24, 2016
- Two (2) nights’ hotel stay in Winnipeg
- Two (2) tickets to the 2016 Alumni & Heritage Classic hockey games
- Transportation in Winnipeg to and from the airport and to and from Investors Group Field
- Nation hosted VIP Package at the Pint Winnipeg
Please note:
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- Must be 18 year of age or older to Enter
I will go off the board and say Drake!
Feels surreal that Wanye is moving on from Ebs… but being a sheep, I will have to join him in the McDavid love ❤️. And for a bonus star, I will add Larsson for bringing some calmness and competence to our defence.
Cool story Wanye
The Cap’n.
Comrie in 2009 – 10 *shakes head*
How about Looch?
Unfortunately, when we’re talking about Art Rosss in the preseason for McDavid it seems to me that we aren’t leaving Captain Kid much room to exceed expectations.
I don’t regret the Comrie pick at all. I always enjoyed his play as an Oiler and respect immensely that he came back for a second tour of duty at the end of his career.
Wanye’s drawings – using MSPaint? – probably took a decent amount of work yet are still awful. This is offset of course by the fact that my results with the same effort would be even worse. And they are memorable.
HIGH PRAISE INDEED!
They have used the 2 ms paint drawings on the goat and star articles forever it’s tradition
Connor is not a star. HE is a galaxy.
The Star this year will be Leon Draisaitl.
My star(s) this year is Kleflarbomson. If they aint the real deal it may not matter what Connor does.
@Wayne
since you have finally come out of your Bat cave, could you possible do something about the hate filled, sh*t eating, spiteful Flamer Trolls that are frequenting your site please.
The Flames fans have been easier to take than a lot of the Oiler fans lately. If they boot people for having different opinions this page gets boring fast.
Different opinions are good.
Pissy, intentionally goading comments are bad.
Go Oil!
What would you have me do? Knock Calgary to the ground with some sort of high frequency gravitational pulse that rewires the cognitive functions of the entire City?
hmm that actually ain’t a bad idea
Sounds good but pricey. Screw it your Wayne and if you can afford to hire monkeys to clean your hot tub you can afford this.
And while your at it please move Sunshine Village closer to Vancouver Island.
Hunter the cat and the goalposts.
Mike Comrie!!!
sorry to break it to you but this is the oilers. McDavid will get hurt again, because oilers.
Therefore you should have stuck with your previous star, Eberle
After the obvious choice, Nuge.
Dammit Spydyr…I hate agreeing with you.
This would be more interesting if you changed it from “Star” to “Winner of the Connor McDavid Junior Achiever Award for the Player Who Is Not Connor Mcdavid but Played Most Like Connor McDavid”
I like this. It might need a few extra plates on the trophy to fit it all in but I’m sure they can work out a bulk deal!
Ah, Yes but who is going to open up all that ice for Young Connor to speed through? Who is going to get in the face of any opponent who evens looks at McDavid the wrong way? Who is going to stand in front of the net and let The Franchise bank a couple in off the shin pads?
Yes Nation, the only choice for Star is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOCH!
I think Drai is going to show he can drive a line this year. His progression as an elite NHL player has been steady. I say it continues this year. One more reason JP should be sent down to the AHL.
I will say Draisaitl. McDavid will be incredible. But Draisaitl will be the reason the rest of the team does well. He will play throughout the line up and keep the team dangerous.
I think Talbot will shine with a better Defense. Yeas there are still some big holes but I feel Talbot is going to be the bread to Connor’s Jam. I just want to see a real dog fight for 8th spot with 5 games to go and the Oilers in the center of the conversation.
McDavid! But if Klefbom gets over 50 points he will get some mention, and if Talbot saves over 92.5% of his shots he will also get some mention.
Reading through your 2010-2011 predictions, you can really see that ON was not nearly as bitter as we all are today.
I say we bring back the enthusiasm.
SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
CONNOR MCDAVID
That’s what a daily kick to the balls for 6 years will do to a fanbase – 2,190 kicks in total.
You’re absolutely correct. We Oilers fans at this point should be nothing more stockholm syndrome exemplars.
BUT STILL
CONNOR MCDAVIDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
My star is the human bag of pucks… Zach Pochiro.
#bold
HE IS OURS. ALL OURS. MUAHAHAHAHAHA
I’m going to go with the player that made whats-his-name-that-got-sent-away-for-Larsson expendable.
Jordan Eberle.
40 goals, 40 assists, and whatever points he is behind McDavid he will make up with extreme handsomeness.
McJesus saves. May he continue to resurrect this franchise. If he succeeds it will be more impressive than the resurrection of Lazarus.
Since ‘the media’ are being dicks about him being on the team, I’m going to say this year’s MVP will be #98 Jesse Puljujarvi.
this mans is funny
1. McDavid
2. Klefbom/Larsson
Go Oilers Go!!!
Jesse Puljujarvi is my star. I predict that Jesse will usurp Jordan Eberle on the top line by Christmas while also becoming a mainstay on the left point of the first Powerplay unit. The haters will be left in his dust!
Peter Chiarelli for making the bold moves his predecessors could not.
Eberle – he is going to benefit greatly from McDavid…and then he will get traded to NJ next offseason as a reward.