Oilers Coach Reveals How Beat Up McDavid, Draisaitl Were In Stanley Cup Final
Now that the Stanley Cup Final is in the bag, it's time to hear what some of the players were battling with as far as injuries, and it turns out that the Edmonton Oilers' biggest stars — Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — were both dealing with injuries while battling for the Cup.
Oilers bench boss Kris Knobluach revealed that in addition to forward Evander Kane battling a sports hernia that had nagged him for a good part of the season and even forced him to miss games in the Cup Final, McDavid and Draisaitl battled some issues of their own.
Draisaitl especially.
"Leon battled things throughout the playoffs — ribs, hands throughout the playoffs," Knoblauch said, per the Associated Press. "At certain times it was worse than others. There were games we weren’t sure he was going to play. But he fought through it and played very well in those games."
I don't know about you, but this made so much sense to me. Draisaitl was unusually quiet almost the entire series, especially considering he's one of the league's most dynamic players.
Of course, this sort of thing happens almost every year. People wonder why a star player has thrown on an invisibility cloak, and for the most part, this is usually the case.
If your ribs and hands were in such bad shape that the team wasn't sure if you'd be able to play in the biggest series of your life, it may be hard to be as productive as you'd be at 100 percent healthy.
Turns out, that was probably the case.
Knoblauch didn't give too much information about McDavid's injury. The Oilers captain had a historic postseason but went quiet in Games 6 and 7, not even registering a shot in the former, a rarity in his career.
With the season over, there will still be some attention as the Oilers work out what to do with Draisaitl, whose contract comes to an end after next season.