Ready for his National Hockey League debut Thursday

“I know Connor has the tools to handle the pressure and we’ll do everything we can to help him”. “As the game went on, I felt better about it”.

What I’ve noticed in 30 years as USA Today’s hockey writer is that the greatest players dominate because of one important aspect of their game. Taking to the rink, he circled slowly, juggling a puck on the blade of his stick. “I think he’s going to be a great player down the road”. They come from McDavid’s only individual expectations, then his teammates, coaching staff, organization and city, and finally with the “national, global and worldwide eyes being on him”.

Eric Lindros, Sidney Crosby and John Tavares were dubbed “The Next One” as teenagers. He sparked the Oilers by recording a team-leading five assists in preseason contests. “Certainly, I am a little nervous”. “You really want to get up the ice and get back hard”. But I am excited, too.

The Hall-McDavid-Slepyshev line in my mind, however, is going to change.

St. Louis Blues’ Alex Pietrangelo, top right, flips over Edmonton Oilers’ Matt Hendricks while chasing after a puck as Blues goalie Brian Elliott, left, watches during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, October 8, 2015, in St. Louis.

Last night was not a awful game for the Oilers.

McDavid’s next challenge is to try and solve Pekka Rinne as the Oilers visit the Nashville Predators on Saturday night.

“McDavid I guess”, said Minnesota’s Ryan Suter. The Coyotes hit the 12-win mark in December a year ago, and surely they can’t be much worse than they were last season, can they? “The other two guys are Leafs fans”. The generational talent of both was on display and, for the record, Eichel was the one who scored (kidding again).

“We are about as prepared as we can be, and have high hopes for this team”, Hall said at his dressing stall after the skate. “He’s going to get a lot better as time goes on”.

He was the only player – from either team – who had to stage his pre- and post-game interviews in a large, empty room in the basement of Scottrade Center.

“In particular, I’m not sure Taylor and Connor have connected real well”. Edmonton has missed the postseason nine straight years, the league’s longest drought.

Peter DeBoer, fired by the Devils, replaced Todd McLellan in San Jose, while McLellan moved on to Edmonton to coach McDavid and the upstart Oilers.

“I think I got more comfortable as the game went on”.

The pressures resting on McDavid’s shoulders are three fold, McLellan said. The Oilers only passed on the gameplay “information that will allow him to have success”, McLellan said.

The Blues would take 31 shots compared to the Oilers’ 24, with the majority of the pull coming from the second period, where the Blues shot 14 times compared to the Oilers seven.

“I didn’t need to look I knew it was going in”, laughed Pietrangelo. “It will be a good measuring stick”. McDavid is the right pick, and he is an wonderful asset to our team. We are in the infancy stages. “Pek made a few huge saves for us and we got a few timely bounces”.

McDavid will also work to keep things simple, and focused on hockey, as these days he has dreamed of begin to unfold.

LINDROS: He spurned the Nordiques and the entire province of Quebec by refusing to play in the NHL’s smallest market and forcing a complicated trade.

“To be able to share not only my first game but my first goal with them is great”, Fabbri added, his smile bright enough to light every lamp in the league.