What hasn’t Leon Draisaitl achieved in his NHL career: top scorer, most valuable player – but he’s still missing the championship. With the Edmonton Oilers, he now has a chance at the title.
Leon Draisaitl has never been so close to fulfilling his dream. The ice hockey star from Cologne is still four wins away from winning the Stanley Cup. For the first time in his career, the 28-year-old has made it to the finals of the National Hockey League with the Edmonton Oilers.
“It’s great to be in the Stanley Cup final. But we have bigger goals and dreams. Now we obviously want to win the Cup,” said Draisaitl before the series opener against the Florida Panthers. The best-of-seven series begins on Sunday night (2:00 a.m. CEST/Sky) in Sunrise, the home of the Panthers.
Although the Oilers have the three most successful attackers of the playoffs in their ranks in Connor McDavid, Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard, the team from Canada is considered an underdog against the Panthers. Because of their better record in the regular season, the Panthers have home advantage and also have home advantage in a possible seventh game – and are in the finals like last year. The Oilers, on the other hand, have been waiting since 2006 for the return and the chance to win the sixth Stanley Cup in their history.
The Oilers’ exceptional season
“Unfortunately, it just takes a long time to build a good team that can play at the highest level and that stands up for each other on the ice,” said Draisaitl, referring to the numerous disappointments of the past few years. Ever since he was the league’s top scorer in 2020 and was voted most valuable player, the Oilers were always considered title contenders at the start of the season – and then reliably failed well before reaching the finals.
This season is an exception. Firstly, because the Oilers were disappointing from the start, losing 10 of their first 13 games – the start cost coach Jay Woodcroft his job. And because since Kris Knoblauch took over on the sidelines, the team has won more games than any other team in the league and made it to the finals. The Canadians even prevailed against clear favorites like the Dallas Stars in the Conference Finals. “As a team, we have gone through some difficult times and phases. We have put in a lot of work over the years, learned a lot and gained a lot of experience – both positive and negative – to be where we are today, in the Stanley Cup Final,” said Draisaitl.
The nightmare for every defender
With 10 goals and 18 assists, the 1. FC Köln fan played a huge role in this season’s playoff success. Only teammate McDavid, with 5 goals and 26 assists, has more points in the 18 games since the regular season. With 6 goals and 21 assists, Bouchard is third on the scoring list. The Panthers’ best attacker is Matthew Tkachuk with 5 goals and 14 assists – ahead of him is Oilers pro Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with 6 goals and 14 assists. No player in the NHL has scored more goals in the playoffs in the last three years than Draisaitl (30 goals in 46 games).
He and McDavid on the ice together are a nightmare for any defender. “They are two of the best players in the world. They have shown that throughout their entire careers,” said Panthers pro Brandon Montour. Each of them has won every individual award in the NHL. But they have had to look at the big prize from afar. When the Oilers last won 34 years ago, neither of them were even born yet.
Source: Stern
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