Connor McDavid had injury scare at Oilers scrimmage (Picture Credits: IMAGN)
The Edmonton Oilers and team captain Connor McDavid survived an injury scare on Monday morning.
According to Oilers insider Jason Gregor, the scare took place as newcomer Viktor Arvidsson inadvertently tripped up Connor McDavid, leaving the Oilers captain shaken up.
As Gregor described:
“It went really quiet for a short period.”
Gregor noted that McDavid spent some time on one knee as he tried to get up. McDavid seemed to favor his hip, signaling the main point of contact with the ice.
Meanwhile, Arvidsson seemed distraught by the outcome of the innocent-looking encounter. As Gregor pointed out:
“He (Connor McDavid) looked fine after. Skated off and sat on bench.”
Gregor concluded:
“Then when they left he walked off and looked fine. Which is why I said just a scare.”
As it stands, the incident was nothing more than an unintentional collision between the two players. Fortunately, McDavid didn’t seem worse for wear following the incident.
It’s worth pointing out that McDavid apparently dealt with a lower-body injury during last season’s playoffs. The Hockey News reported Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch’s comments confirming that McDavid had been dealing with an injury during the postseason.
With training camp coming up, the Oilers hope McDavid is ready to fire on all cylinders as the club looks to get over the hump and take home the Stanley Cup.
Connor McDavid will look to avoid a slow start this upcoming season
Connor McDavid got off to an uncharacteristically slow start last season. By the end of October, he’d barely notched nine points. That situation prompted speculation about an undisclosed injury.
While McDavid did not acknowledge injury playing a factor in the slow start, he did admit that overtraining during the offseason played a role in his slow start. That slow start led to a dismal first month of the season in which the Oilers sat at the bottom of the NHL standings.
The Hockey News reported McDavid’s admission, stating:
“I was very tired and fatigued from a long summer of training.”
The quote, pulled from an interview with Mark Spector, underscores how McDavid and teammate Leon Draisaitl pushed each other hard to prepare for last season. The overtraining eventually translated into poor performance in October.
Fortunately, the Oilers were able to bounce back, inching closer to winning the team’s first Stanley Cup since 1990.
This time around, McDavid vows to avoid the mistakes of previous seasons. As such, Oilers fans can expect McDavid to hit the ground running this upcoming season.
