Heartbreak came to the Edmonton Oilers after beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-2 on Tuesday Night at Rexall Place in the form of rookie center Connor McDavid breaking his clavicle. The injury occurred when the 18-year-old was checked into the boards by two Flyers defenseman who were tangled up with him. McDavid was able to skate off the ice under his own power.

“I just saw him and told him to keep his head up,” McLellan said. “He’s disappointed he got injured. It’s his rookie year, and it’s going really well, and he wants to be part of the group … which he still will be. He’s just not going to wear the uniform for a while.”

McDavid will undergo surgery on his broken clavicle and is expected to miss a few months. He was playing so well up until Tuesday night,leading all NHL rookies with five goals and seven assists and was the Rookie of the Month for October.

I will say this,though,all of the people who are mocking this kid’s injury need to truly get a life and grow the hell up. This is someone’s son you’re making fun of who just got hurt. If he had been injured in an accident of some kind, I highly doubt you’d make fun of him the same way that you have. 

It’s a sad thing for fans,especially of the Oilers,to go through. This team hasn’t been going anywhere in the last decade. Finally,a ray of hope arrives and it’s gone immediately.Or is it?

Folks,we’re only 13 games into this season. The Oilers are 5-8-0 as of press time and this team is far from done. What they need to do now and what I hope happens is that they can find a way to keep improving. They have a lot going for them,too. They have a bunch of guys who can score, they have great coaches,and they’re due to get Jordan Eberle back tomorrow. Beyond that, from what I’ve seen with their play,both in wins and losses is a new sense of leadership and a lot of resiliency. Look what happened on Tuesday night, this team loses a key player in the worst way and the guys wearing alternate captaincy letters on their royal blue sweaters were leading the way. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had two goals,and Taylor Hall scored to give them the lead for good.

“It was a really good sign to see us rallying around an 18-year-old,” he said. “It was good for our team because we did a lot of good things tonight. To come out on the short end of that game would have been very disappointing. There was a lot of fight in our group.”

The loss of McDavid is not only disappointing for me,but also my fellow Oiler fans, the team, the league,and even the sport of hockey.

This kid is a star in the making and when he does come back,I have no doubt that he will be better than ever and able to contribute to a team that has nothing but great things ahead for them. They just need to keep the fire going while he’s gone and to play out of their minds. I’m ready to see them do that!

Get well soon,Connor!