Tähän osa-alueeseenhan McDavid on tällä kaudella panostanut, eli kyllä se oman puolustuspelin heikkous on Connorilla itselläänkin ollut tiedossa. Ainakin aloitusvoittoprosentti oli tällä kaudella ensimmäistä kertaa yli 50 ja Tippettin mukaan McDavid osoitti erinomaista sitoutuneisuutta puolustuspelaamiseen.
McDavidin puolustuspelistä ja aloittamisesta oli just kiinnostava juttu The Athleticissa. Joku taisi viitata siihen tässä keskustelussa, kun hän totesi, että McDavid ammensi Blackhawks-sarjasta motivaatiota harjoitteluunsa ja pelitapansa kehittämiseen.
"Hitchcock was replaced by Dave Tippett in the 2019 offseason but has continued to watch McDavid’s evolution. He compares his transformation this season to how offensive stars Mike Modano and Steve Yzerman — star forwards Hitchcock coached and game-planned against — shifted to become better all-around players and subsequently won championships.
“That’s what happens when players decide they can get to another level by augmenting the game of checking (in the defensive zone) into their offensive opportunities,” Hitchcock says. “And then I think what the players find out is that they even get more opportunities then than they had before.”
As Hitchcock suggests, McDavid’s offensive production has only increased with his stronger attention to defence."
The Oilers star's historic offensive season comes as a byproduct of offseason commitment to become better defensively. Here's how he did it.
theathletic.com