The Athletic has live coverage of the first Stanley Cup Final game showdown between the Panthers and Oilers
SUNRISE, Fla. – Minor hockey coach Ken Strong can still remember the early days of his teenage years when Connor McDavid would spin around the ice and feed the puck to Sam Bennett for a goal like he did yesterday.
“They were unstoppable,” Strong said. “Connor was the best player. “Sam had great skills and hockey sense.”
McDavid and Bennett are childhood friends who used to play mini-sticks in the hotel hallways in travel tournaments. They were linemates before reaching double digits in age — the younger McDavid played in one age group. They first played with the York-Simcoe Express and finished their junior midget hockey careers with Strong’s Toronto Marlies in 2011-12.
Now members of the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers, respectively, the two players will face off for the Stanley Cup with each player attempting to claim their first NHL championship.
“It’s pretty amazing how things work,” Bennett said. “Back then, we were just a couple of kids enjoying minor hockey and having fun. The dream was to play in the Stanley Cup final. Having the opportunity to face him is a great experience.”
“To be honest, it’s pretty crazy to think about,” McDavid said.
After seven seasons playing together, it was their Marlies campaign that left no doubt that McDavid and Bennett would be on their way to bigger things.
Strong guided a dominant Marlies team that included Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh and Josh Ho-Sang and Roland McKeown, both of whom had cups of coffee in the NHL.
Strong would tell anyone listening at the time that McDavid was the “next phenom.” He put McDavid at center next to Bennett. They skated predominantly in a trio that included Jaden Lindo, a powerful, complementary winger who went on to play at the junior level and in the Canadian university system.
“I always tried to put it (the lineup) together like a puzzle,” Strong said. “Everyone brought something different.
“McDavid would never shoot. He could handle himself through the team, come back and do it again. I had to teach him how to shoot… and to know when to shoot. “I always handed it out to Bennett, who knew how to finish.”
There are two moments Strong will never forget.
The first was during a tournament in Boston, where the Marlies played opponents a year older than themselves (two years in McDavid’s case). That didn’t seem to bother 14-year-old McDavid in the least.
As Strong tells it, in a game against the Boston Jr. Bruins, McDavid made an unreal end-to-end run that included splitting a spin-o-rama and splitting the defense. As he advanced toward the net, he fended off a couple of opponents while hitting to the right. The puck was now below the goal line, but McDavid pushed it into the slot between his legs and fired a shot under the crossbar.
Strong said everyone in the arena, including players on the opposing bench, gave him a standing ovation.
“It was amazing what he did,” Strong said. “After the game, some of the kids from the other team were asking for autographs. The work was incredible.”
“He scored a lot of really cool goals,” Bennett said.
Strong’s second lasting memory was in the league finals against current Detroit Red Wings winger Robby Fabbri and the Mississauga Rebels.
The Marlies trailed 2-1 with about 90 seconds left and there was a standoff in the Rebels’ zone. Strong shot his goalkeeper. Things quickly turned in the Marlies’ favor.
McDavid won the tie and found Bennett for the tying goal. Strong left them on the ice. Within moments, McDavid grabbed the puck, dodged a couple of players, dove toward the net and scored. Those two markers won the Marlies the Greater Toronto league championship.
“I knew who was going to win the game for me,” Strong said.
Connor McDavid played junior midget for the Toronto Marlies in 2011-12. (Photo courtesy of GTHL)
The Marlies lost five times all season. Surprisingly, they fell in overtime of the OHL Cup, an exhibition tournament before the youth Draft. At that point, McDavid and Bennett were already established as top prospects.
McDavid earned exceptional status to enter the OHL a year early and was drafted first by the Erie Otters. McKeown placed second behind Kingston, Ho-Sang was picked fifth by Windsor and Bennett joined McKeown after being caught ninth.
From there, Bennett was picked fourth by Calgary in the 2014 NHL Draft, a year before McDavid first went to Edmonton.
McDavid continues to play now with the same style that made people talk when he played for the Marlies.
“He’s the best player in the world for a reason,” Bennett said.
Bennett’s game has taken a bit of a turn, especially after being traded to Florida in April 2021.
Although Bennett always played with bite – “Ever since he was little, he’s been competitive,” McDavid said – he has become a prickly, agitated player.
“Bennett is suddenly a bit of a jerk, and I love it,” Strong said, laughing. “He’s fantastic. He’s added that element to this game.”
“I always had a physical edge to my game, even when I was younger,” Bennett said. “But this game is about adapting and taking on different roles. Some teams need different players to do different things. I’m willing to play whatever role it takes to help our team win, whether it’s going out there and being a jerk or trying to generate some offense or playing tough defense.
“Anything I have to do, I’m going to try to do it. Whatever it takes to win the Stanley Cup.”
McDavid believes Bennett will give him no quarter.
“It’s not surprising to see him play that role now,” he said. “He’s good at it. He plays hard. He has enough skill to hurt you if you go in the opposite direction as well. He is a great player.”
Strong has other connections in the series. He coached Evan Rodrigues of the Panthers from when the winger was 6 years old until he was 16. He coached alongside Dan Brown, the father of Oilers forward Connor Brown, with the Marlies as well.
Given all that, you’d think Brown would have a hard time finding deep-rooted interest in the finals. That is not the case.
“I have to bet on Edmonton,” Brown said. “They’re Canadian.”
However, loyalties will not affect the outcome of this series.
And neither will all those mini-stick games when the Stanley Cup was distributed only in fiction.
“The stakes are not as high as they are today,” McDavid said. “Certainly, nothing was distributed (back then).”
(Photos by Connor McDavid and Sam Bennett courtesy of GTHL)
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