Matthews, McDavid Highlight NextGen Night in NHL
The longest current playoff drought ended tonight.
So did a club's rookie scoring record that was held by an all-time fan favorite.
These moments have been coming all season long, and more are sure to follow. The Young Guns on frozen ponds have served notice that they now own the hype.
Gladly.
Connor McDavid was touted as the crown jewel in Edmonton's collection of first overall draft picks, and he hasn't disappointed.
That included a fortuitous snipe tonight that paved the way to the Oil's clinching their first playoff berth in 11 years.
Coaches in the NHL change jobs slightly less often than they change their underwear, and for the second time in his career, Todd McClellan is the toast of a town whose team's been lifted from a moribund existence.
Dude might even feel a twinge of satisfaction, being as how Edmonton just caught his first reclamation project in the standings:
Let the feelgood begin, and it starts with McDavid:
Not far behind in the process, it seems, is the league's perpetual laughingstock doing the laughing these days, with the incredible Auston Matthews leading their way.
Toronto still has seven games to Leaf up clinching a playoff position, but really, this is only their second year of rebuilding under their new front-office crew and coach Bob Babcock.
Dudes are fast-tracking, due to major contributions from the inevitable Rookie of the Year:
It's been a while, but two long-suffering fan bases finally have hope, which could morph into more than that for a long time to come.