Yes, and maybe their coach will actually spread the ice time around as a result.
Have never seen a coach cater to one player so much, from double shifting, to putting him on with opponent goalie pulled and anything else to help him get to his “milestone”, meanwhile the rest of the team is watching.
Through a connection the their organization (medical professional) I was told the teammates noticed it and were not impressed. I was told this is partly why there are very few interviews with teammates about how happy they are about McDavid’s 100 points.
Apparently players open up during treatments and felt they were passengers on the bus rather than part of the team.
Hockey is a team game and all of this will be forgotten if they win a cup, but when they don’t these feelings will fester, resentment will build and implosion ensues. None of his teammates want to ride the pines while he pursues individual goals, coaches should have been more aware of that as apparently there is dissension in the room.
He played well over one third of the game (avg over 22 min per game this year), every game so even with only eleven forwards a few of them are taking a serious hit in toi and no matter how great of a role player you are, no NHL player wants to dress and the watch the game from bench. These are all elite players who dominated at younger ages and don’t always adjust well to playing 9 ministers a night. They know this makes their next contract tough and given they haven’t won a thing yet, the teammates aren’t sold on this approach implemented by head coach.
He had McDavid out there this much even when they had game in the bag and during blow out wins. He’s not blocking shots but he’s out there preserving a one goal lead against empty net???Gretzky didn’t do any of that, Lemieux did not either.
Hopefully benefits the Habs.
Go Habs Go!