A new Amazon Prime docuseries following various NHL players debuted Friday, detailing, among other things, the Edmonton Oilers’ quest for a Stanley Cup and Connor McDavid’s decision to decline to accept the Conn Smythe Trophy.

The final two episodes of the seven-part series, called Faceoff: Inside the NHL, dove into Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Matthew Tkachuk’s journey to winning the 2024 Stanley Cup, ultimately decided in seven games last June by Tkachuk’s Panthers.

The first of the episodes opened with footage from the Oilers’ locker room, where McDavid emotionally fought tears as Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, with their lockers adjacent, helped console him.

Camera crews didn’t just follow the team and players on the ice but also dived into their lives off it, but more on that later, as one of the key talking points was the heartbreak the Oilers endured.

Having dropped the first game, the Oilers also fell in Game 2, losing 4-1 in Florida. Footage captured McDavid in a now-viral, expletive-filled clip exploding in the locker room after the game.

In a later interview for the documentary, a much calmer McDavid said he felt a message needed to be sent.

The Oilers would narrowly fall in Game 3, losing 4-3, as the series got flipped even further on its head. Edmonton knew they could play with the Panthers, and it showed in a massive Game 4, as they would go on to win 8-1.

“We played a very patient Game 4. You know, we didn’t go into that game saying ‘Let’s score eight goals.’ We tried to score our way out of this thing, and what came out of it was a pretty good effort and a great game.”

It offered a new look at the series as a whole, McDavid would add, with the team reflecting on what the first three games looked like, versus how they played in Game 4 and Game 5, which they would win 5-3.

“Early in the series, we were hurting ourselves with mistakes, trying to make something happen offensively right away,” he said. “Game 5, we were comfortable playing more of a patient game and it paid off.”

While the win on the road to drag the Panthers back to Alberta was a huge one, it was still a do-or-die situation. McDavid, who talked throughout the episodes about the pressure he puts on himself, was held off the scoresheet in Game 6, scoring no points and taking no shots, but his teammates rallied around him as five different goalscorers: Warren Foegele, Adam Henrique, Zach Hyman, Ryan McLeod and Darnell Nurse would all lead the team to a 5-1 win.

Game 7 ultimately wouldn’t go the Oilers’ way. Matthew Tkachuk had talked in the first of the two episodes about how giving the Oilers star players little space was the way to neutralize them, and that’s exactly what the Panthers were able to do.

“We locked it down so well in that third with McDavid,” said Tkachuk of his team’s effort that game.

Carter Verhaeghe would score 4:27 into the game, tipping a shot past Stuart Skinner, while Mattias Janmark would tie it up a little over two minutes later. The teams were deadlocked until Sam Reinhart scored with five minutes left in the second period, which was the Game 7 deciding goal.

As the players left the ice and went towards the locker room, the NHL’s chief content officer and executive vice president Steve Mayer, also an executive producer of the series, pulled McDavid aside, informing him he won the Conn Smythe.

“They want me to go out there?” McDavid asked. “Yeah,” Mayer replied.

Footage showed the pair talking further, but no other audio or context was provided about what was said. In an interview, McDavid said he wouldn’t have gone out to accept the trophy for anything.

“We lost in the most heartbreaking way,” he said. “It was a moment that I’ll never forget, ever. Something that no Conn Smythe Trophy, no… I wouldn’t have gone out there for a million dollars.

“There was a lot of pain in that room, a lot of uh… yeah. Like, I can’t even explain it to you… I don’t think the average fan or the average person understands, um, those moments. You’ve just gone through months and months and months of just like grinding and working, and all these ups and downs and peaks and valleys.”

And for as much pain as there was, Oilers winger Zach Hyman tried to lift the spirit of his teammates.

“There’s nothing that’s going to make this feel better. Nothing we say, but I know we’re gonna be back. I f–king know we’re going to be back, boys. I know it in my f–king heart. This is the f–king worst feeling in the world.”

One of the lighter moments of the episodes featuring McDavid came in the opening moments of the first of two episodes, where his wife, Lauren Kyle, outed McDavid for hating ketchup.

McDavid has a private chef, Edmonton-based Sheridan McLaren, saying that his decision to hire him is the “best money I spend every year.” McLaren said his focus is on cooking fresh food and avoiding dairy.

That’s when the cameras showed McDavid and Kyle, joined by his personal trainer, Matt McGrath, and manager Adam Phillps eating, when Kyle talked about her husband’s dislike of the sauce.

“Connor is afraid of ketchup,” Kyle said with a chuckle. “So Sheridan always, like, sneakily brings it over to me because he knows I like it.”

Another early part of that first episode dove into McDavid’s ascent to hockey stardom, where he opened up about being granted exceptional status and leaving home to play for the Erie Otters.

McDavid would later talk about the pressure he is putting on himself.

“There was so much pressure, but nobody puts more pressure on me than me,” he said of Game 4 of the Finals, but that,” no media, no fans, no friends, nobody puts more pressure on me than me.”

Other clips featured McDavid’s home, showing off an impressive basement filled with a basketball court and a plethora of workout equipment. There, he spoke about his home and being an introvert.

“For me, the house is for sure designed to help me be at my best,” he said. “But also, your house is somewhere you’re supposed to be able to get away, recover, prepare. Around here, we get lots of people driving by and stuff like that, but no one really bothers you.

“I would definitely say I’m an introvert. I think that causes more stress and anxiety off the ice. Every day, you got to deal with the media, you got to deal with the fans. It’s part of the job.

“I get called boring, I get called, you know, like a robot. It’s tough. It’s challenging.”

Much of the first episode also dove into Draisaitl and his place alongside McDavid.

There were some great clips of him joking around with teammates and staff members in Edmonton, showing how light-hearted he can be. At one point, he talked about the passion of the Edmonton fan base and his love of the TV show Friends.

“It’s pretty cool to see, you know, how much people appreciate you,” he said. “It’s hard to describe sometimes, because we don’t walk around thinking we are the Beatles. We’re just like any other guy at home, eating chips or watching Friends.”

“The show?” the interviewer asked.

“Yeah, the show, yeah. I think my girlfriend is sick of it, but it like calms me down.”

Over the years Draisaitl has built up a reputation for not being the most pleasant person, never shying away from wearing his heart on his sleeve at any time, something he elaborated on as well.

“I think a lot of people think I’m always grumpy, which, you know, probably a little true,” he said with a laugh. “There’s probably something to it.

“But, you know, I wanted to be in a market where hockey is celebrated and a big part of the community. It obviously means the world to me.”

Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach@thenationnetwork.com.