ESPN presents the best player in the world of the week. If there's a player you'd like to nominate, from your local team to a high school team to your beer league, email us here.
Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
At this point, McDavid is just toying with the rest of the league. He had 10 points in four games, including five goals, to take the Art Ross Trophy race lead and to close within six goals of Alex Ovechkin for the overall NHL lead. Without question, this is a player who has made a rock-solid case for the Ted Lindsay Award for player of the year, as voted on by the NHLPA.
Katie Fitzgerald, Metropolitan Riveters (NWHL)
The Rivs won the first National Women's Hockey League Isobel Cup championship thanks to a 21-save effort from Fitzgerald, as they knocked off the defending league-champion Buffalo Beauts. It was an intense 1-0 game against a team that had won 11 in a row, including three against the Riveters. Fitzgerald has gone from the practice squad in 2016-17 to goalie of the year last season and, now, her franchise's first title.
Ryder Rolston, Team USA
Rolston had 5 goals and 3 assists in 3 games for Team USA's under-17 team. The Notre Dame commit has 63 points in 71 games playing for the U.S. national development team and the national teams. Oh, and just so we all feel old: Yes, he's the 16-year-old son of former NHLer Brian Rolston, who played 70 games during the 2011-12 season.
Daniel Hutchins, Beer League
Reader Josh Pritchard chimes in:
"He threw together and captained a team full of misfits (myself included) from Granite City, Illinois, in a small local alumni tournament, and we prevailed against all odds. We ranged in ages from 18 to almost 40 (mostly closer to 40), playing against a few teams that were much younger, including a few kids still playing in college. We all drink too much and mostly play in pick-up leagues like the over-30 league I currently play in. Not only did Danny play well, he also somehow gathered $1,000 from a bunch of broke middle-age drunks just to play four games. That itself was quite the feat."
Indeed it is!
Karri Ramo, Jokerit (KHL)
Unfortunately, things didn't end up working out for Jokerit in the KHL playoffs, as they were eliminated by CSKA. But a mighty stick tap to former NHL goalie Karri Ramo for one of the best goaltending performances of the season -- and probably his career. Facing elimination, Ramo made 81 saves (!) in the longest KHL game ever (142:09) as Jokerit stayed alive and forced a Game 6. Ramo set a KHL record with his save total, and then hopefully Jokerit gave him a tanker truck of Gatorade. (Stick tap Janne Lojander.)
James Bostian, University of New Mexico (ACHA)
The Lobos are a club hockey team in Division 3 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Bostian helped them earn the first automatic bid to the national tournament in program history, and then made 59 saves on 61 shots to upset the University of Central Florida. But then came the bigger shock: New Mexico stunned Michigan State, with Bostian making 52 saves. That came after a lopsided loss to Quinnipiac, where Bostian nearly lost the crease. But the Lobos went with him again, and he made it count. The Lobos finished 2-1 in pool play and finished as the No. 7 team in the nation. A tremendous moment for the program.
And the best player in the world of the week is...
David Cienciala.
Now, who is David Cienciala?
He's a player for Oceláři Třinec, a team in the Czech Extraliga, which is the highest tier in the Czech Republic. He's a 22-year-old forward. He's also a fourth-liner, which is an important detail when you consider why he tops our list this week.
Oceláři Třinec won Game 7 of their playoff quarterfinal series against Dynamo Pardubice by a score of 8-1. In the previous six playoff games, he had just two goals and no assists. But in Game 7, Cienciala had -- ready for this? -- assists on seven of the eight goals. In one playoff performance, he matched his entire regular-season assist total that was generated in 52 games.
He's the first player ever in Czech Extraliga playoffs who scored seven assists in a game -- the previous record was four assists until this game -- and became the second player to score seven points in a game.
Cienciala dedicated his performance to his father, a former hockey player and coach, who died five years ago at age 46.
Congrats to David Cienciala, the Best Player In The World Of The Week!
(Stick tap to Jiří Vítek)