GENE'S BLOG: Connor 500

The number 500 carries a lot of weight in the sports world. Five hundred goals is a huge hockey milestone. Only 46 players have hit the 500-goal plateau. Maurice Richard did it first in 1957-58.
Five hundred home runs in baseball is even bigger and/or more difficult to achieve as just 28 players have done it. Babe Ruth was the first to join the club in August 1929. There's also the Indianapolis 500. Its debut was in 1911 and the inaugural race winner was Ray Harroun. A few examples of the number 500 in sports.
Connor McDavid will know the 500 feeling tonight when he suits up for his 500th NHL regular season game as the Edmonton Oilers face off against the Washington Capitals.
I still remember his first game, Oct. 9, 2015 against the St. Louis Blues. It was the kind of excitement brewing around him that, if I remember correctly, added around 100 extra requests for media accreditation that were handed out to watch this 18-year-old phenom. McDavid said he was nervous and who wouldn't be? A lottery pick, tabbed as a can't-miss prospect from almost the time he could spell it.
What I do remember clearly is seeing him that day in the afternoon on the elevator. He was coming from his parents' hotel room. Even as a superstar in waiting there is never anyone like your parents to turn to when you need a set of ears to listen or a pair of arms to provide a pre-game hug before an NHL debut.

Two months short of his next birthday, the 25-year-old has proved durable despite opponents hanging, clinging, holding and jumping on him on a nightly basis. Other than missing 37 games in his rookie season, you can almost always count on Connor.
He's had two full 82-game seasons. His others have been just short of perfection by between two and seven games. His ability to play has put him among the greatest of all time as he nears the 500th matchup of his career. The numbers are eye-popping especially because it's all happening in an era where goals and offence don't flow as easily as they did decades ago.
It is marvelous what this generational talent has done in living up to and surpassing the hype that has been his label since he was a kid. Pressure is one thing, but handling it and owning it have put McDavid in the same category as players who are talked about as the greatest of all time. Here are some numbers that tell the superstar's story as he's halfway to 1,000 games -- a comparison to others after the same amount of games.
From bottom to top, only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have more multi-assist games. In the other categories, Wayne and Mario are also ahead of Connor. Some of the other names are Jari Kurri, Mike Bossy, Peter Stastny and Bobby Orr.
When you see McDavid every game in person or on TV and watch him talk pre-game and post-game on Oilers+ you get almost immune to his marvelous talent. Consider this a quick reminder of what he can do as he gets ready to go up against the third-most prolific goal-scorer of all time tonight.
"He's a special talent," said Oilers Head Coach Jay Woodcroft of Alex Ovechkin, "but we also have special talents" and tonight one of them will hit a McDavid milestone.