Good News. Last Night We Found Out You Literally Cannot Defend Connor McDavid
So what? We’re just going to allow wizardry in the NHL these days? We’re just going to let this kind of witchcraft go unpunished? Because what else is Haydn Fleury supposed to do here?
You’ve got Connor McDavid coming down on your 1v1. Now I’m not an expert when it comes to anything hockey, but especially not when it comes to defense. Even so, this looks like about as good of a position as Haydn Fleury could keep McDavid. I know he’s still a rookie and not some perennial Norris Trophy candidate. But still. Not much gap, matching sticks, looks like he’s about to force McDavid to turn back and wait for more help entering the zone. Then out of nowhere he pulls this move out of his ass and you realize that you could play the best defense possible on McDavid and he’s still going to own your soul.
The edge work. The deception. The perfectly placed flip to himself. You know when you’re playing pick up with your boys and then your one buddy who went away to play DI comes back and absolutely torches the rest of you? That’s what this move was. Only it’s Connor McDavid doing it to the rest of the NHL.
And I love the announcers talking about how 2 years ago Haydn Fleury was trying to defend guys in the WHL. As if he’s not one draft year older than McDavid. It’s not very often that you can say 10 straight years of tanking was worth it. But this kid was worth every minute of misery for Oilers fans.