New York. Not more than a day had passed since his entire existence had been shaken by the news that he had been transferred from Nashville to Edmonton.
However, Matthias Ekholm doesn’t appear to have done anything other than play for Conor McDavid & Co. in tonight’s Oilers debut – and he already has the assists record for his new club.
– Yes, it was a really good feeling. I’m very happy and can say this team has potential, says the defender to Sportbladet after the 5-2 win over Toronto itself.
They are a heartbreaking at times, toss in the lives of NHL stars.
Recently, on Tuesday night, Matthias Ekholm was informed that after twelve years with the Nashville Predators, he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers.
Then he had a few hours to arrange an infinite number of practical tasks. Then he slept for a few hours, got to the airport for the four-hour flight to Canada, arrived, made his way to the lobby, greeted his new teammates, put on his gear, walked out and made his debut in a tough game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Obviously everything is going to be a little whirlwind and I’m going to sleep uneasy tonight,” says the 32-year-old Mazer as we arrive after the final whistle to his hotel room, his temporary home.
After 700 games for another club, of course it feels a little different when you put on a new club kit, everything is very new. But the club was great and really made me feel welcome.
I got a lot of playing time
Things went well too – especially given the circumstances. Mathias with Yvan Bouchard, played almost 21 minutes, looked strong as usual and even scored his assist as first oiler.
– Now it’s not the main reason that I’ll produce the points they tried to give me here, I’ll be mainly concerned with defensive tasks, but sometimes I excel and it’s fun to be able to contribute, Ike continues.
– And yeah, I think it was really good. The coaches didn’t shower me with a lot of tactics, but told me to go out and play my game and I did.
In this honor – even Connor McDavid believes.
– Mathias showed exactly what he would contribute. He’s a really, really stable, solid defender, says the star.
McDavid scored new points
Which was fine myself too. once again. He scored two more goals, scored a total of 52 and leads the league in scoring by 26 points.
– Yes, it is impossible to say anything other than that he is really the best player in the world, as his new Swedish colleague assures.
– I think we played a good game overall. If we continue to play like this, it could be a really interesting spring.
Erik Gustafsson didn’t have time to start in Toronto, but he’s expected to be on the ice against Calgary next night.