Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid left it all on the ice on Monday as his team came up short against the Florida Panthers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
He didn’t leave the playoffs completely empty-handed, though.
Despite the Panthers winning the ultimate prize as they squeezed out a 2-1 victory, McDavid became just the sixth player in NHL history to win the Conn Smythe Trophy while on the losing side of a Cup Final.
But when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the trophy was going to McDavid, who challenged Wayne Gretzky’s playoff scoring record (42 points) and set a new postseason assists record (34), Florida fans were not happy.
Connor McDavid is the 2024 Conn Smythe Trophy Winner. 👏 pic.twitter.com/Rz20amQU3d
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 25, 2024
Boos echoed from the stands at Amerant Bank Arena during the Conn Smythe presentation. Then came “Bobby” chants as the Florida faithful made it clear that they felt goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was worthy of the prize.
McDavid’s parents were seen holding up phones to record the special moment amidst the disappointing circumstances. But the captain, understandably devastated, did not come out to accept the trophy.
Despite going on one of the most productive postseason runs in recent memory, McDavid was kept off the scoresheet in Game 6 and Game 7, which helped propel the Panthers to victory.
Meanwhile, Bobrovsky was up and down in the Final, posting a 32-save shutout in Game 1 of the series, along with a poor Game 4 performance, which saw him get pulled after allowing five goals on 16 shots.
The Russian netminder was there when it counted though, stopping 23 out of 24 shots in Game 7.
And despite losing out on the MVP award, Bobrobsky, 35, was all smiles as Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov passed him the Stanley Cup.
“He deserves it,” Barkov said to Sportsnet reporter Kyle Bukauskas after the game. “We had a lot of players who deserved it, but Bobby was the one.”
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