3 Things: McDavid Matches Crosby, Hextall Talks Jarry and More
1. McDavid matches Crosby
Connor McDavid reached 500 points in 369 games on Wednesday night, which is the exact same number of games it took Sidney Crosby to record that milestone.
"It's pretty funny to think about," McDavid said. "Anytime you can be in the same breath as a guy like that, it's pretty special. So it's funny how it works out sometimes."
With his assist in the first period of Edmonton's 3-2 win over Winnipeg - the second of two points on the night - McDavid tied Crosby as the eighth-fastest players in NHL history to score 500 points, and the fastest active. Through his first 369 games, Crosby had 181 goals, 320 assists and 501 points. McDavid has 171 goals, 330 assists and 501 points.
The 24-year-old has been producing at an astronomical rate since entering the league in 2015. After his rookie season was cut short due to injury, McDavid passed the 100-point mark in each of the next three seasons and got to 97 last year before the NHL pressed pause. He has already twice captured the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer and seems poised to win more.
But the thing McDavid has yet to win is a championship, and that's the hardware Crosby has that he covets the most.
"Obviously a guy that I grew up watching," McDavid said. "He's got a couple other things I'm trying to do with all of his Cups and all that stuff. Obviously that stuff is more important."
Crosby and McDavid are both generational talents, but different players. McDavid's game is predicated on speed while Crosby is "a blue-collar superstar," as general manager Ron Hextall called him in Wednesday's GM Show presented by S&T Bank. That being said, McDavid said there's still a lot he can learn from the 33-year-old superstar when it comes to his drive and his work ethic.
"He's been so successful in this league and done everything I want to do," McDavid said. "He's a great guy to follow. He's done everything he set his mind to. He wanted to get better on faceoffs and he did that. He wanted to score more goals and he did that. I think there's definitely lots of lessons from his game, because his game has kind of changed over the years. He does whatever he can to be successful. He's solid defensively."
2. Hextall talks Jarry
Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said that Tristan Jarry will get his third straight start between the pipes tonight.
"We think he's really trending in the right direction here," Sullivan said. "We know he's a very capable goalie, and we're encouraged by the progress he's made in the last couple of games."
As is Hextall, an elite NHL goaltender in his playing days who provided his insight into what he's seen from Jarry so far.
"I think Tristan has a lot of upside," Hextall told Penguins broadcaster Josh Getzoff, who hosts the GM Show. "It's a different situation for him this year. Last year, you had Matt Murray behind him, there's a little bit of a comfort there. You come in this year, and you're the man. Casey DeSmith has obviously had some good games for us thus far, but I think Tristan is looked at as the guy. When all of a sudden, you feel like the load is on you, it's just a different mentality."
And while Hextall acknowledged it's been an adjustment, he praised Jarry for his play as of late, particularly his performance in Tuesday's 3-1 loss to Washington where the 25-year-old netminder stopped 39 of 42 shots faced.
"I really liked his game last game," Hextall said. "He battled hard and played very well for us. So right now, we're comfortable with our with our goaltending. And like every other position, it's a daily evaluation and we talk about things, but we believe we can we can be successful with these two guys.
Hextall was an outstanding stickhandler, scoring two goals into empty nets. Getzoff asked if it put a smile on his face to see that in Jarry's game as well.
"It's certainly a nice tool to have in your arsenal," Hextall said. "So we're excited about that. There's got to be a lot of communication. I thought that last game, there was a couple of times there could have been better communication with the D and the goalie. But the goalie moving the puck, you ask the defenseman, they love it. They don't like to get hit. If he can take a few hits off the board for our defenseman and put the puck on some of our sticks, it's a much, much more fun game to play."
3. Joseph 'pumped' about Willie O'Ree Academy
Today the Penguins announced the creation of the "Willie O'Ree Academy," designed to provide unique training, social and mentorship opportunities for Black youth hockey players in the Pittsburgh region. It is named in honor of Willie O'Ree, who became the NHL's first Black player in 1958 and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder in 2018.
"It started with him," Penguins rookie defenseman P.O Joseph said. "He's the reason why it's so open-minded now with Black players playing in the NHL. We can't thank him enough for everything he did for us and to open the windows for us to come through."
Beginning in June with a nine-week training program, the Willie O'Ree Academy will bring together Black youth players who are already skating in the Pittsburgh Amateur Hockey League (PAHL) and Pennsylvania Interscholastic Hockey League (PIHL). During the summer months, they will be based out of UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and participate in two training sessions a week, one on the ice and one off the ice. They will then meet monthly throughout the year for educational programming and mentoring opportunities.
The Penguins consulted with a number of people in creating the academy concept, including Joseph.
"It's unbelievable," Joseph said. "The second I heard about it, I was really pumped. The more people we can touch by talking about it and listening to them and having Willie come in and talk, it's unbelievable. Hopefully it spreads like a spiderweb, and if we can touch one, that's our main goal, but the more the merrier."
