Taylor Hall and Rod Brind'Amour just gave Connor McDavid the kind of Stanley Cup message Edmonton fans felt right away.
Hall had just won his first Cup, but one of his first thoughts went straight back to McDavid.
That is why his quote hit so hard. “If there is anyone who deserves to win the Stanley Cup it's him” was not some throwaway postgame line.
It came from someone who knows exactly what Edmonton pressure feels like. Hall lived that market, wore that weight, and then watched McDavid carry an even bigger version of it.
The timing made it sharper. Carolina had just finished off Vegas 3-0 in Game 6, with Hall scoring early in the clincher.
So this was not sympathy from the outside. It was a Cup winner, in the middle of his own celebration, stopping to talk about the best player still chasing it.
That says plenty about how McDavid is viewed around the league. Players know what he is. They also know the Cup story still follows him everywhere.
" If there is anyone who deserves to win the Stanley Cup it's him.
Taylor Hall post game when asked about his former teammate, Connor McDavid. via Sportsnet. "
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Taylor Hall just sent a stunning message to Connor McDavid after winning the Stanley Cup
Because Hall is not speaking as some distant observer. He finally won in his 16th NHL season, after years of hearing the same questions about talent, team success, and whether it would ever happen for him.
That is why the quote carries real weight. Hall knows how long the road can get when the noise around a star never shuts off.
It also tells you what players see when they watch McDavid. They do not look at him like a guy who came up short again. They look at him like a player still too good not to get there eventually.
For Oilers fans, that is the painful part. Hall just reached the mountain Edmonton has been trying to climb for years, and even in that moment he still circled back to McDavid.
There is something brutally honest in that. Winning the Cup did not make Hall forget where he came from or who is still carrying the pressure there.
It also gave the quote a little extra sting. Hall found his ending before McDavid did.
But it was not a shot. It read more like respect, and maybe even frustration on McDavid's behalf.
That is why Oilers fans reacted the way they did. Taylor Hall said out loud what plenty around hockey already believe: Connor McDavid has earned the right to still be seen as the player everyone expects to break through.
Did Taylor Hall's quote make Connor McDavid's Cup chase hit even harder?
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