Oilers Connor McDavid Suffers Upper-Body Injury

The Edmonton Oilers received some very bad news today. Their star rookie forward Connor McDavid will be out long term after sustaining a upper-body injury. Can we say fractured collar bone? The video is painful to watch. This is bad news for the NHL and the Oilers. So far this season, McDavid is leading rookie scorers with (5g-7a--12pts) in 13 games.

Coach McLellan says @cmcdavid97 has an upper-body injury that will keep him out long term.

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 4, 2015

Connor McDavid expected to have surgery to repair fractured clavicle.

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) November 4, 2015

NHL Alumni by NCHC School

Lot of players in the NHL that come from NCHC schools.

North Dakota (14)
Taylor Chorney, D (Washington)
Derek Forbort, D (Los Angeles)
Matt Greene, D (Los Angeles)
Rocco Grimaldi, F (Florida)
Brad Malone, F (Carolina)
Brock Nelson, F (New York Islanders)
T.J. Oshie, F (Washington)
Zach Parise, F (Minnesota)
Chris Porter, F (Minnesota)
Dillon Simpson, D (Edmonton)
Drew Stafford, F (Winnipeg)
Jonathan Toews, F (Chicago)
Chris VandeVelde, F (Philadelphia)
Travis Zajac, F (New Jersey)

Denver (9)
Beau Bennett, F (Pittsburgh)
Tyler Bozak, F (Toronto)
Matt Carle, D (Tampa Bay)
Joe Colborne, F (Calgary)
Matt Donovan, D (Buffalo)
Nick Shore, F (Los Angeles)
Paul Stastny, F (St. Louis)
Patrick Wiercioch, D (Ottawa)
Jason Zucker, F (Minnesota)

Minnesota Duluth (8)
J.T. Brown, F (Tampa Bay)
Justin Faulk, D (Carolina)
Justin Fontaine, F (Minnesota)
Jason Garrison, D (Tampa Bay)
Matt Niskanen, D (Washington)
Dylan Olsen, D (Florida)
Mason Raymond, F (Calgary)
Alex Stalock, G (San Jose)

Miami (7)
Dan Boyle, D (New York Rangers)
Andy Greene, D (New Jersey)
Alec Martinez, D (Los Angeles)
Reilly Smith, F (Florida)
Chris Wideman, D (Ottawa)
Tommy Wingels, F (San Jose)
Jeff Zatkoff, G (Pittsburgh)

Colorado College (4)
Curtis McElhinney, G (Columbus)
Nate Prosser, D (Minnesota)
Jaden Schwartz, F (St. Louis)
Mark Stuart, D (Winnipeg)

Western Michigan (4)
Kevin Connauton, D (Columbus)
Danny DeKeyser, D (Detroit)
Mark Letestu, F (Edmonton)
Matt Tennyson, D (San Jose)

St. Cloud State (2)
Matt Cullen, F (Pittsburgh)
Matt Hendricks, F (Edmonton)

Omaha (1) Andrej Sustr, D (Tampa Bay)

(s/t NCHC Hockey)

Connor McDavid's Awesome Goal

Wow! I guess you could say that Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters has filthy mitts as well. This is McDavid's goal against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The Otters are playing the Greyhounds in the OHL conference finals.

He Said What? Comparing the CHL and the NCAA

Recently, I wrote Comparing BU’s Jack Eichel to Other College Hockey Greats for the Hockey Writers and apparently one of my comments in a post caught the eye of a CHL fan.

Since McDavid plays in the OHL and Eichel plays in college, it’s almost impossible to compare the two players’ stats. First, Eichel is playing against older players in college hockey. Second, McDavid is racking up points against younger players in the OHL. This is not a slam on either league. Both college and Major Juniors are good routes for development and both players are great talents.

However, we can compare their WJHC numbers. In his first five games for team Canada, McDavid scored (2g-5a—7pts). On the flip side, in five games Eichel scored (1g-3a—4pts). For the sake of comparison, Dylan Larkin who scored (5g-2a—7pts) was the top player on team USA.

Comparing Eichel to the other first round draft choices on the USA WJC team, Alex Tuch scored (1g-1a—2pts), Sonny Milano (2g-2a—4pts).

One of the questions that I wanted to explore was how does Eichel compare to other college hockey greats? Since Eichel has only played 16 games, I am not sure how much of a comparison we can make. In my opinion, the only statistic that we can use to compare him to the others college hockey greats is points per game. (read the rest of the post)

Nevertheless, college hockey players are playing against older, stronger players in college hockey. The players in the CHL are playing against younger players, there's statistics to back this up.

I found this article and it does a good job of explaining it. Most college hockey fans know this as well. The person in question, didn't

“The game is more intense,” Gadowsky said. “I think that makes it more difficult to put up a lot of points. The rosters in college dictate that every player that’s on the ice, is going to be at a very high level.”

The disparity in size and ability between a 16 and 20-year-old is much different than that of a 21 and 25-year-old, he said.

Though there is no fighting in college hockey as there is in major junior hockey, older college-aged players will be more equally developed in strength and stature than their younger counterparts in the CHL. (Matt Nestor, the Daily Collegian) 

 The fact remains, the CHL and the NCAA are both great routes for development. There's no debating this. The CHL is a great route to the NHL if you're a high draft pick. If you're a late bloomer, the NCAA route is probably better.

(Video) Connor McDavid breaks hand in fight vs. Bryson Cianfrone

First I want to be clear, I think fighting has a place in hockey. That being said, there's no reason for your star players to be fighting, in any level of hockey. Erie Otters forward Connor McDavid is probably going to be the first player taken in 2015 NHL Entry Draft, and he leave the ice fighting Bryson Cianfrone. To date, McDavid has some sick numbers scoring (18g-35a—51) pts in 18 games.

The most wonderful time of the year.......

Team USA: pic.twitter.com/lGkjGgFMHM
— Hockey Locker Rooms (@NHLLockerRooms) December 25, 2013

So it begins... Team USA 2014 WJC defends the gold.

Related articles

• Team USA Olympic Goaltending Options (thehockeywriters.com)
• 2014 WJC: Riley Barber Named Team USA's Captain (unitedstatesofhockey.com)
• 5 Team USA Players to Watch For at World Junior Championships (thehockeywriters.com)