McDavid waited for his time on international stage representing Canada

MONTREAL -- Like millions of his fellow Canadians from coast to coast, a 13-year-old Connor McDavid jumped out of his seat.

It was Feb. 28, 2010, and Sidney Crosby had just scored the golden goal that gave Canada a 3-2 overtime victory against the United States in the championship game of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Watching the game in “someone’s basement” with some of his minor hockey teammates, he began hugging them, the emotions of the moment oozing out.

“Any Canadian that watches hockey can likely tell you where they were when that happened,” he said. “I know where I was.”

Maybe, just maybe, young Connor thought to himself, he’d get the opportunity to one day wear the prestigious red and white Canada jersey for a best-on-best tournament at the highest level.

Fifteen years later, that time has come.

On Wednesday, he’ll step onto the ice at the Bell Centre, thousands of red-and-white-clad Canadian fans in the stands, and soak in his own personal moment, one he’s dreamed about for so long, one he’s been patient to experience. It will be Canada against Sweden in the opener of the 4 Nations Face-Off (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS) and he admits there will be nerves, much like there were in June prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

This time it will be different. This time the logo on the front will be a Canadian maple leaf, not the Edmonton Oilers crest.

“I think if anything, he’s probably just excited,” Crosby said. “It’s been a long time and he’s probably grateful for the opportunity to finally play for Canada in something like this.

“He’s seems to deal with pressure. He’s been in big situations going back to last year and the (playoff) run that they had. He’s had lots of opportunities to play on big stages and handled it pretty well.”

McDavid has represented Canada at the 2013 IIHF U18 World Championship, winning a gold medal; the IIHF World Junior Championship in 2014 and 2015, winning gold in the second; and the IIHF World Championship in 2016 and 2018, taking home gold again in 2016. He also played for Team North America at the World Cup of Hockey 2016.

But never in a spotlight like this. Never during his NHL career. The last best-on-best tournament was the World Cup nine years ago. NHL players have not competed in the Olympics since 2014, when the Oilers center was still playing for Erie of the Ontario Hockey League.

“I’m excited,” McDavid said Tuesday, sporting a big smile. “Ultimately, we’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Lots of buildup, lots of hype for a while. Now it’s time to go play. That's what I do.”

At a generational level at that, one Canada coach Jon Cooper said will be on display for the entire world to see.

"It's been extremely unfortunate for us as hockey fans and for Connor as a player that this is the first time he's getting to play in an international event,” Cooper said. “I mean, he's been in this League almost a decade and we haven't been able to see this.

“Sid, he's been the benefactor of having Olympics and World Cups and all these things happen every four-to-whatever years, plus he's played in world championships. I don't want to say this is Connor's coming out party, but it kind of is on the international stage, and hopefully we're going to the Olympics in a year and we get to see more and more of him. But it's been too bad that we haven't been able to see him more often.”

The 4 Nations Face-Off, the tournament which runs from Feb. 12-20 and features Canada, Sweden, Finland and the United States, marks the first time McDavid and Crosby will be teammates. Crosby won a gold medal at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship in North Dakota and Minnesota, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2015 IIHF World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic. He also captained his country to the title at the World Cup of Hockey 2016 in Toronto.

Growing up, McDavid had a Crosby poster on his wall. Now he gets to be on the same team with the real thing.

“I think for everybody in this tournament, there's been so much excitement,” Cooper said. “But I think in Connor there might be just that tad bit more because I think we've all marveled at his talents. And doing it (in) the greatest league at the level is one thing. But now doing it with the best players against the best players, I think he's really looking forward to it and it should be a treat for fans because we haven't been able to see this for a long, long time."

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This past weekend, McDavid and Oilers teammate Mattias Ekholm were on the same flight to Montreal for the tournament. Ekholm is a defenseman for Sweden and suddenly found himself in a discussion with the Edmonton captain about the matchup Wednesday.

The issue for Ekholm and his Sweden teammates: how to slow down McDavid, if not stop him.

Easier said than done.

It’s one thing going up against McDavid at practice during the NHL season. Facing him as an opponent is something entirely different.

"Well I live in denial right now, just trying to not think about it,” Ekholm said. “But yeah, it’s going to be interesting. It’s been a while. Obviously, I’ve gone against him before I got to Edmonton but yeah, he’s a great player, I play him in practice every day, so I’ve seen it firsthand.

“Obviously, he’s not the only one that’s good on that team, so it’s going to be a challenge for us overall. It’ll be interesting to see how that pans out when we’re on the ice at the same time. Obviously I want to win and he’s wired the same way. We won’t be friends out there but I’m sure afterward we can have a laugh about it.”

The Sweden coaching staff isn’t laughing when it comes to drawing up a game plan to defend McDavid.

“That’s the beauty of him,” Ekholm said. “I don’t think he has any patterns where you’re like, ‘Play him like this.’ He’s just so dynamic, so explosive.

“I really don’t have any advice, to be honest with you. You just have to be on your toes at all times and make sure you don’t end up in a footrace with him because he’s fast.”

So, for that matter, is McDavid's Canadian teammate Nathan MacKinnon. In fact, when McDavid was asked what it was like to do line rushes with the Colorado Avalanche forward during an offseason development camp in Vail, Colorado, he replied: “Fast. … Sometimes too fast.”

For the moment, McDavid will start on a line with Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner and Panthers forward Sam Reinhart. MacKinnon will be lined up alongside his fellow Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, native Crosby and Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone.

Those two, Sweden captain Victor Hedman said, will be a lot to handle.

“You look at him and MacKinnon, the way they skate, it’s all about us having good gaps and good reloads from our forwards to try to eliminate time and space for them,” Hedman said. “Because when they get time and space, it’s pretty much over.”

Which is a scenario Sweden coach Sam Hallam doesn’t want to see.

“For the most part, our guys are used to playing against those guys (in the NHL),” Hallam said. “They are top-tier players, but we have to trust our players, we have to trust our goalie to make some good saves, and hopefully we can do the same to them on their side.”

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Midway through practice Tuesday, Canada began working on the power play. The first unit was eye-popping: McDavid, Crosby, MacKinnon, Reinhart and defenseman Cale Makar.

At one point in the drill, there were oohs and aaahs coming from the Canadian bench about how quickly the puck was being snapped back and forth between the five players.

“The one thing we’ve told each other is that we have to shoot,” McDavid said. “At some point someone has to. With so many playmakers out there, we have to keep that in mind instead of constantly setting each other up.”

As the workout came to a close, the 28-year-old took time for a quick glance at the rafters. There, he looked at the dangling banners honoring the Montreal Canadiens' 24 Stanley Cup championships and the retired numbers of legends like Jean Beliveau (No. 4) and Guy Lafleur (No. 10).

“This is a special rink,” McDavid said. “This is a special rink around the world. It’s loud in here. Passionate fans. We certainly feel that when we visit here with Edmonton.

“It’ll be nice to have them cheering me for once, and I’m looking forward to feeding off that energy. I think it’s going to be electric.”

For McDavid, for his teammates, and for the fans who finally will get to see No. 97 on the back of a Canadian jersey in a best-on-best tournament.