Oilers’ Connor McDavid talks about being a Nickelback fan and life outside the NHL

Yep, the rumours are true. The Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid is, in fact, a Nickelback fan.

In a recent interview with GQ Sports’ Alex Gheciu, McDavid talked about some things going on in his life besides scoring goals, winning hockey games, and snapping records.

Gheciu covered all the topics with McDavid, including his style evolution, his upcoming wedding with fiancé Lauren Kyle, his rollerblading hobby, and catching a few of Oilers legend Wayne Gretzky’s records.

The most controversial topic of them all happens to be Nickelback. For a while, as McDavid mentioned, it was almost a trend to despise the Hanna, Alberta rock band. Still, it also encouraged Nickelback supporters to go full throttle and play one of their hits at any given time to aggravate those around them (I’m sure we all have that one person in our life who can’t get enough of ‘Burn it to the Ground’).

“They bring me back to my childhood days of being in the car with my dad on the way to go to a game and stuff like that,” McDavid said.

Since the 2023 Juno’s Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger and the Oilers captain have gotten reasonably close, forming a friendship after McDavid presented the band with their Hall of Fame honour with Nickelback returned the favour by presenting McDavid with his Canada’s Walk of Fame honour.

“It’s kind of funny how it worked out, but I like those guys a lot,” McDavid said. “I really do feel that they’re a great band. One of the best bands of all time, for sure.”

Other than Nickelback playing during the 2023 Tim Hortons Heritage Classic in October when the Oilers took on the Flames in the Battle of Alberta, ultimately coming out on top, winning 5-2, the band also stopped in Edmonton back in June as a part of their Get Rollin’ Tour.

Kroeger told the rowdy Edmonton crowd he and McDavid would do “all kind of terrible things” to the Stanley Cup when and if he were to one day hoist it. McDavid, on the other hand, wasn’t too sure about the comment.

“I don’t know what he had in mind there, but if we win the Cup, he can do whatever he wants to it,” McDavid chuckled. “It would be just an honour to hopefully one day raise that thing. I’ve dreamt about that since I was a kid and to do it in Edmonton would be really special.”

Who knows, maybe one day, the Oilers will return to having Nickelback as their intro song.

McDavid went on to talk about his role in his upcoming summer 2024 wedding plans but mentioned he’s taking a backseat to his fiancé, allowing her to have the majority of the say. However, he disclosed that fans can expect to see him dawn a very classy traditional tuxedo-style suit.

After talking about his love for the character Ross on the television show ‘Friends,’ how his rollerblading hobby ultimately helped with his turning on the ice, and how he no longer holds the title for “worst style in the league,” McDavid touched on the Oilers’ fanbase and how they’re team worked their way out of the rut that held them back for the majority of the start to the 2023-24 campaign.

“We just stuck together and we’ve worked our way out of it,” McDavid said.

“When you’re losing in Edmonton, the fans are on you. And rightfully so. They’re a passionate fanbase, they love their hockey, and they want to see a successful team. And when you’re winning they love you.

“It can be a bit of a roller coaster that way, but overall the fans treat us really well.”

When Gheciu asked him about potentially winning his sixth Art Ross trophy and possibly catching up to Gretzky’s record of 10, McDavid said the Oilers are strictly focused on winning.

“You know what? Our group in Edmonton is all about winning. We just want to win and that’s all we’re focused on,” he said. “Our group has kind of been there and done that. It’s time for us to put all our energy and focus into winning.”

And to polish off a great interview, McDavid mentioned how playing for Team Canada in the Olympics would be a dream come true.

“I feel very strongly that hockey needs to be on sports’ biggest stage. That’s the Olympics. We need to send our best there. And to have the opportunity to play in a best-on-best tournament and represent my country, to play with other amazing hockey players from Canada, that would be special. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to chase that down.”

I think we can all agree by saying it would be a dream come true for the entire market to finally witness McDavid dawn a Team Canada jersey in the upcoming 2026 Olympics.