SI

Connor McDavid Had Blunt Response to Brutal Question After Team Canada’s Olympic Loss

Connor McDavid fell short of a championship again during the Winter Olympics.
Eva Geitheim|
Connor McDavid and Team Canada fell to the U.S. men’s hockey team on Sunday.
Connor McDavid and Team Canada fell to the U.S. men’s hockey team on Sunday. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated.

In this story:

Edmonton Oilers

The NHL returned to action on Wednesday following the league’s break for the Winter Olympics.

While the return was ceremonious for many players coming back from Team USA’s first gold medal in men’s Olympic hockey since 1980, it was not as exciting for the players on Team Canada’s silver medal squad, including Connor McDavid.

The Oilers star played exceptionally well in his first Olympic Games, winning MVP as he led Canada to the gold medal game, where they lost to the U.S. 2-1 in overtime. Despite another tremendous performance, McDavid fell short of a championship again; he and the Oilers have also lost each of the past two Stanley Cup Finals to the Florida Panthers. McDavid has now won both the Conn Smythe trophy and Winter Olympics MVP in losing efforts.

After the latest championship loss, a reporter asked McDavid, "This is a hard question. Stanley Cups found [Wayne] Gretzky, [Sidney] Crosby, and those guys and gold medals. You've put yourself in those positions, and it's not finding you. Did you think it would be this hard?"

"That's a nice question, thank you,” McDavid replied. He added, “It’s disappointing, no way around it. You could be sitting here having a totally different conversation if things had gone a little differently. It’s hard, it’s hard to win at any level.”

McDavid also said to reporters after his Olympics experience, “I thought we played well, I thought we did enough to win. Their goalie made some big saves, I thought we also missed some chances. Obviously disappointing, there’s no way around it, there’s way to sugar coat it. It sucks. Overall the experience was good. It was a special group to be a part of, we’ll have those memories for a lifetime.”

McDavid will look to get back in the win column as the Oilers take on the Ducks on Wednesday evening.

More on Sports Illustrated

Published | Modified
Eva Geitheim
EVA GEITHEIM

Eva Geitheim is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor's in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or re-watching Gilmore Girls.

Home/Olympics