As a society, we’re always looking for the next big thing.
For those that play the stock markets, the search is always on for the next company that will rise in value and make millions.
In the music industry, there has been talk for over two decades about finding the next Nirvana (or Pearl Jam so my editor Sara Wilson will allow this column to run) that will change the landscape.
And for those of us who love the movies, there have probably been three directors in the last month who have been compared to the late great Stanley Kubrick based upon a strong showing at an independent film festival.
The same is true in hockey, where everyone is trying to the find ‘The Next One’.
Since ‘The Great One’ Wayne Gretzky rewrote the National Hockey League (NHL) books in the early 1980’s with the Edmonton Oilers, there is a player that comes along that everyone figures has a legit chance of being just as good as ‘Number 99’ and becoming the next superstar.
There are those that have come close to matching Gretzky’s status (Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, and to an extent Eric Lindros for starters), but there are also others that have fallen short of expectations (step right up Alexandre Daigle).
The next super prospect will be in the big leagues next October, when Connor McDavid will start his NHL career under the most scrutiny since Crosby debuted for the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005.
For those that don’t know why McDavid, a 17 year old centre from Newmarket, Ontario, has become the most hyped prospect since current New York Islanders star John Tavares was drafted in 2009 from the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) London Knights, let me try to explain it in layman’s terms.
Let’s say you are invited to play in a pond hockey game on a nice winter’s day, but instead of playing against people that are the same age as you, you are going up against a group of six year olds.
The difference in skill level is plain to see, and that is what McDavid is doing in the OHL right now for the Erie Otters.
In 14 games played as of Nov. 6, McDavid had 42 points in 14 games, which is completely off the charts for someone who is playing in (arguably) the best junior hockey league on the planet.
If he keeps up his three point a game pace, McDavid would break the current OHL record point total of 192 (set by former NHL player Bobby Smith in 1978) with a 204-point campaign.
Now that’s probably not going to happen since McDavid will be missing games during the holidays as he plays for Team Canada in the World Junior Hockey Championships, but he’s still going to end this year with a crazy point total.
Over the last year, the McDavid hype train has picked up big steam, with people already saying that he’s a better prospect than Crosby was at his age.
Personally speaking, I wasn’t totally down with that, and I had actually had a Team Eichel shirt made up with a American flag on it to troll people during the World Juniors in honour of American prospect Jack Eichel, who is playing at Boston University this year and is battling McDavid to be the number one pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.
However, I don’t think it’s a contest anymore.
Sure, Eichel is playing against older guys in college, but McDavid is setting the stage to put up point totals in the OHL that I thought I might never see.
He’ll be going first overall to a lowly team (more than likely the Buffalo Sabres) at the draft in Miami next June, but I think he’ll be old news by then.
After all, there’s a really good American prospect named Auston Matthews that we need to hype up.
