from Marty Klinkenberg of the Globe and Mail,

Chosen on June 26 with the first selection in the draft, McDavid is poised in a few short weeks to make his debut with the Edmonton Oilers.

Transforming him from a lean adolescent into a game-ready professional has been a daunting and complicated mission. Gary Roberts, a former player turned fitness guru, was engaged to be the architect of the plan.

For McDavid, the past 10 weeks have been gruelling. Before that, he and Roberts spent three long summers laying the groundwork.

“My body has gone through a lot of changes over the past four years,” McDavid said one afternoon in mid-August after posing for a magazine cover photo and skating with other NHL players at a promotional event. “I was just hitting puberty when I started, so some of those things were going to occur naturally. But the hard work I have done with Gary has speeded up the process. I have never felt this strong and this powerful.”

Five mornings a week, McDavid arrived by 7:15 at the fitness centre in the Toronto suburbs that Roberts uses as his summer base.

After dining on oatmeal, eggs and bacon or salmon prepared by a chef, the sport’s most anticipated newcomer headed for the weight room for as long as two hours.

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