O'Reilly: Even after award-winning season, 'I have another gear to get to'
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman presents the Conn Smythe Trophy to Ryan O'Reilly.
Ryan O'Reilly stockpiled quite the hardware to show off at his Stanley Cup day.
On display next to the Cup he helped the St. Louis Blues win in June were the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP and the Selke Trophy as the NHL's best defensive forward. Any player would gladly celebrate with those shiny centerpieces, though O'Reilly — at 28 and on his third team — is only now showing he is this kind of elite player.
"I still think I have another gear to get to, and that's my plan," O'Reilly said. "There's still many things to improve on. There are areas to be better. One thing, too, is I think power-play production for myself could've been a lot better, and that's an area I need to grow. There's some stuff I've been working on to try to improve that."
O'Reilly had nine points in the Cup Final against Boston playing through a cracked rib. He was nearly a point-a-game player during the regular season. Yet somehow he still seemed underappreciated outside his peers.
"People didn't realize how good of a player Ryan O'Reilly was until this year," Vancouver forward Bo Horvat said. "All the players knew how good he was and how big of a part of that team he was and how special of a player — just his two-way game, his faceoffs. Obviously, his point production this year was outstanding. His play in the playoffs, winning MVP and obviously the Stanley Cup, it was a great year for him and I think he opened up a lot of eyes."
O'Reilly said he figured something out during the playoffs: how to clear out some "garbage" in his brain to focus on what matters. The challenge now is trying to duplicate that during an 82-game regular season.
"Just go out there and completely be in the moment and go from there," O'Reilly said. "That's a big lesson for myself, trying to establish that more. Be clear and find a way to take all the noise and all the stuff that you don't need in your head and just throw it out. It just seems like when I did that, I tend to get more bounces and things went my way."
Winning the Selke was evidence enough of O'Reilly's strong regular season. He ranked eighth in the league in faceoffs, which is part of what makes him so tough to play against.
"He's just so competitive on draws," Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said. "I'm one of those guys I want to start every shift with the puck and if we're going up against a guy like that that could catch fire, and we might be chasing it down for a whole period. He's obviously not one of the fastest guys out there, but he's so good positionally and just aware of where guys are and what to do with the puck. I think he's just an all-around super intelligent player."
