As fans, it is easy to look at players on the ice like pieces on a chess board. Criticisms, suggestions, frustrations, and exultations of joy flow from our lips as we watch our favorite (or least favorite) players dance around the ice attacking opponents like a knight or battering defenders like a rook.
Hockey, like chess, is a game, and as fans we have every right to invest emotionally in this game we love. That is what makes sports one of the ultimate outlets for human emotion. It has been for millennia. Unlike chess, where the pieces are inanimate objects, hockey players are people—individuals with ambitions, fears, hopes, desires, and every other slew of emotions you and I experience.
NHLers are notorious for keeping any emotions unrelated to hockey close to their chests. We know they are passionate on the ice. Watch this montage of players breaking sticks in a blind rage if you need proof. When it comes to life off the ice, however, players are fairly buttoned up. Only recently have we seen the curtain lifted and personalities shine through more prominently.
Consider how teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, and Los Angeles Kings have behind-the-scenes shows that follow players on and off the ice. Social media, of course, empowers teams to connect with fans, and vice versa, in new ways by highlighting the relatability of players. Teams’ social media accounts constantly are sharing videos of players engaging in all sorts of shenanigans.
Amazon’s series “Faceoff: Inside the NHL” is the most recent and largest-scale production. Like many fans who had been craving a show like this, my wife and I were enthralled. We watched players balance the demands of the NHL and their personal lives, oftentimes witnessing players’ passion and commitment outstrip everything else.
Watching this show, it struck me how human NHL players are. Aside from the millions of dollars they make to do things on the ice I could only dream of, these guys ride the highs and lows of life like everyone else. Two elite players—Connor McDavid and Elias Pettersson—exemplify this. Despite their skills and all the pressure, they cannot help but react to everything thrown at them like the rest of us.
Connor McDavid Is Not a Robot
Connor McDavid can be described in many ways. The greatest hockey player in the world. Unbelievably fast. Otherworldly vision and off-the-charts hockey IQ. Silky smooth hands.
No matter how much it may look like it on the ice, he is not a robot.
“You know I get called boring; I get called a robot. It’s tough. It’s challenging,” McDavid said into the cameras in Episode 5 of “Faceoff.” The offhand comment can easily be overlooked. After all, McDavid has spoken to the media for nearly two decades. He has not given an inside look into his life like this before, and this remark showed the smallest of cracks in his usually thick skin.
You see, McDavid was not talking about how he deals with criticism of his play or the Edmonton Oilers. He was responding to what people say about him as a person. Ever since he came into the NHL, people have called him emotionless. There is an entire Reddit thread dedicated to the topic. So when a trailer was released in October showing a clip of the Oilers captain losing his mind after Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final, people lapped up the passion he exuded.
The clip gave me chills not only because you can see how badly McDavid wants to win, and how much he cares, but also because we rarely see this side of him. However, the more I reflected on the clip after watching the entire Amazon series I realized that we should not be surprised by his outburst.
It is almost as if we assumed McDavid did not care, and all these years he has been an emotionless robot who came to the rink, did his job, and left his concern on the ice when he headed home. Amidst all the criticisms of his “emotionless” appearances, we left little room to consider that he simply might be more introverted, that he channels his passion so intently into his craft that being a media darling is not even on his radar. Sure, he answers questions and provides insight, but it ends there because he wastes no energy on trying to be someone he is not. He does not need to act like King Leonidas at the battle of Thermopylae shouting, “For Sparta!” to prove he cares.
Related: 7 Reasons Connor McDavid Is the World’s Best Hockey Player
McDavid’s teammates only praise his leadership, commitment, and work ethic. How many times over the years have we heard them say as much? Behind those locker room doors, they have seen for a decade what we saw for the first time.
“I get called boring; I get called a robot. It’s tough. It’s challenging.”
McDavid never complains about how people treat him. This quickly delivered line should remind us that players hear and read what is said about them. Under the helmet and beneath the chest protectors, there are brains and hearts which process and feel all the emotions we do. Just because they do not express it how we would expect or would like does not mean they are not there.
Elias Pettersson Cannot Stop Looking at His Phone Just Like Us
There is no need to rehash the fact that Elias Pettersson is struggling. Enough ink has been spilled on the topic since he signed his 8-year, $92.8 million contract. Vancouver Canucks fans and media have covered nearly every facet of and potential remedy to the situation. You can take any position you would like. Regardless, it will not change the fact that what Pettersson is living through is one of the most human storylines we have seen unfold this calendar year.
Pettersson is experiencing a hodgepodge of emotions: mounting pressure, underperformance, anxiety, discouragement, lack of confidence, criticism everywhere he turns, frustration with himself, and frustration from his teammates. To make matters worse, his naturally more stoic personality leads some to think he does not care and does not compete.
Elliotte Friedman said as much on 32 Thoughts.
Sometimes the way he reacts to tough moments, or challenging moments, or when things aren’t going that well, it’s not as emotional as [J.T. Miller and Quinn Huges]. Just because you are more of a stoic as opposed to an emotional person, it doesn’t mean you don’t care, it doesn’t mean that you don’t want to win just as badly as anyone else. But I think people who are like that in sports sometimes are penalized for that.
Please, spare me the comments that Pettersson is paid millions of dollars so he needs to just get over it. That sort of feedback misses the mark because if he could just get over it, he would. Again, the blinders we don as spectators often make us forget that these players experience the exact same emotions we do. That seems to be even more true in Pettersson’s case because someone who did not care would not be so consumed by criticism that it is inhibiting his performance.
“I always say about markets like Vancouver, the rewards are high, but the risks are high.”
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 21, 2024
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Given Pettersson’s reserved personality, internal and external expectations, and his poor play, it is no wonder he looks disengaged and unhappy. To make matters worse, he cannot stop looking at what everyone is saying about him online. Whether it is social media, news outlets, or even fan blogs, he sees it. His friends are even sending him the content. Imagine what it must be like to be immersed in that milieu.
Again, do not respond with the rebuttal that he needs to get over it. I do not even disagree with you. In fact, most people agree that he does need to grow thicker skin. That takes time. But Pettersson’s situation reminds us that before he is a hockey player, he is a person who is going through a difficult situation that neither he nor the people who care about him want. We all can empathize, but few can understand what it would be like to simply search your name on the internet and find dozens of articles criticizing the minute details of your game.
Much like McDavid, Pettersson does not boast the flashiest of personalities. It is safe to say he is more immature, making him susceptible to obsessing over what others think about him. He puts a lot of pressure on himself and carries the immense weight of an enormous contract that he earned. Now he is struggling and wants to do better. I do not know about you, but the emotions that engenders do not seem unfamiliar to me, even if the specific details are.
Large Paychecks Do Not Make It Easier
McDavid and Pettersson are world-class hockey players. They also are people. The large amount of money deposited into their bank accounts every two weeks does not make it easier to deal with the highs and lows life throws at them.
Imagine if it were you, and you were paid to do something you loved, something you wanted to do since you were a kid. Then you begin to struggle or people comment on your personality. Doubts arise or people begin to question your commitment. Does the paycheck make bearing that easier? No, it does not because you are in it for more than the money. You, like all of us, like McDavid and Pettersson, care about how you perform and what people say.