Thank you, Connor McDavid

February 6, 2025

Monday, Feb 3,  was a sad day in our home. Mitzie, our little tuxedo cat, passed away sometime the previous night. I found her curled up peacefully in a box of rags in the garage. It wasn’t a big surprise, as we had noticed she hadn’t been her usual self for a few days  prior. The graying hair in her coat also showed that she was getting up in years. She had shown up as a stray on our front porch on a June morning in 2011, so she had been with us for nearly 14 years. We had no idea how old she was when she arrived.

However old she was, it’s fairly safe to say that she lived at least 224 days longer thanks to Connor McDavid. I’d better explain...

June 24, 2024, will live on in the memory of hockey fans as the day the Edmonton Oilers almost brought the Stanley Cup back to Canada after a 31-year drought. Even casual fans watched in amazement as the Oilers fought back from a three-game deficit against the Florida Panthers. Everyone across the country was primed to cheer them on as Game 7 approached. For us, however, there was one problem: we were scheduled to go camping with a group of friends at Fish Lake Provincial Park, just west of Nordegg.

How to watch the game while camping in the wilderness became a topic of conversation in the days leading up to the trip. Then, a plan emerged—someone volunteered to bring a TV, someone else had a great cell phone plan and a subscription to SportsNet, and I was tasked with finding a way to connect it all together.

And what does this have to do with Mitzie the cat, you ask? Good question.

On the day of departure, the trailer was packed and hitched up to the truck. Just as we were ready to leave, I suddenly had the bright idea to throw in an extra extension cord, just in case we needed it to watch the game. I coiled up the cord and unlocked the front storage compartment of the trailer to store it. Much to my surprise, out jumped Mitzie!

We usually kept an eye on the cats, as they particularly liked to explore the trailer while we were loading. Somehow, despite my best efforts, she had managed to sneak into the compartment when I wasn’t looking.

As we shared our story around the campfire, we speculated about what might have happened if she had hitchhiked all the way to the campsite. Most likely, she would have bolted as soon as the hatch was opened—probably to her demise from hunger, exposure, or becoming a meal for some wild animal. Thankfully, due to the success of Mr. McDavid and his teammates, I decided to take that extension cord along.

Sadly, the Oilers lost that game, but somehow, I don’t think Mitzie really cared!