Maple Leafs' Darren Raddysh Addresses Viral Social Posts With Connor McDavid

On Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers met for the first time this season, which meant it was Darren Raddysh's first time seeing Connor McDavid in a Maple Leafs sweater.

What's the significance of that? Well, Raddysh and McDavid have a history with each other. The two products of the Greater Toronto Area created a viral moment back in their junior hockey days with the OHL's Erie Otters.

On April 26, 2012, Raddysh made a Twitter post, tagging McDavid, saying "@cmcdavid97 when you getting here?"

In that time, McDavid himself also had a number of tweets directed at Raddysh.

Raddysh acknowledged their old interactions and said he's aware of those dated tweets picking up traction since joining the Maple Leafs in the off-season.

"Back in junior, you know, using Twitter and Instagram when I first came out, it was pretty cool," Raddysh said after practice in Calgary ahead of Monday's tilt against the Calgary Flames. When I did sign, I did see those again. But yeah, you know, that's always funny when people go through old stuff like that, you know. It's just something that's part of hockey, I guess."

Raddysh and McDavid go further back than their days in the OHL, from 2012-13 to 2014-15. They were also teammates in the GTHL with the Toronto Marlboros, both playing for the U-16 AAA team in 2011-12.

With so much time together in their childhood, what's their relationship like away from the game these days?

"If we see each other around in the summertime, we'll say hi, and we'll catch up," Raddysh said of his connection with McDavid. "I know our parents were pretty close over the years after we moved on with each other. But, yeah, when we see each other during games, we'll say hi. If we catch each other after the game, we'll talk for a little bit. But we kind of just do our own thing now, and everyone's got their families and everything."

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