During a recent golf trip, Nathan MacKinnon started picking Sidney Crosby’s brain about potential line combinations and the power play for Team Canada ahead of next year’s Four Nations Face-Off.
The friends and fellow Cole Harbour natives now have more to go on now after the first six players for the roster of each participating country – Canada, United States, Finland, and Sweden (featuring Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson) – were officially announced on Friday.
“He brought it up on I think it was Day 1,” the Penguins captain laughed on a Zoom call to discuss the tournament, taking place at Montreal’s Bell Centre and Boston’s TD Garden from Feb. 12-20, 2025 before the NHL returns to the Olympics in 2026 for the first time since 2014.
“Obviously, there's a lot of excitement having the opportunity to represent Canada, best on best. It's been a while since we've had the opportunity to do that… I think if you talk to all the guys who got named today, I'm sure they're really excited. It's been a while. You look at the guys who were announced, some serious skill and some unbelievable groups of hockey players. So, that's exciting for a player, and I'm sure fans will be excited to see that as well.”
It’s been almost a decade since Crosby competed on a stage like this, the last occasion being the World Cup of Hockey in 2016. While he’s never been involved in this event specifically, playing with and against some of the best in the world is always something Crosby wants to take advantage of.
“I think especially given the fact that we haven't been able to do this in a long time makes you appreciate it a little bit more,” said Crosby, who turns 37 on Aug. 7. “Obviously, I'm not getting any younger, so I think you appreciate these opportunities more and more as you go along.”
It marks the first time he’ll play with the likes of MacKinnon and Connor McDavid, who were part of Team North America, an under-20 group. Those guys are understandably hyped, especially MacKinnon, who just won the Hart Trophy as league MVP and Ted Lindsay Award as most outstanding player as voted by his peers.
“I’d love to play right wing with him,” said MacKinnon, who plays center for Colorado. “The little kid in me, I’d gladly go to the wing. No problem. I can’t win faceoffs anyway, so that would work. That would be a dream.”
As for Crosby, someone he’s particularly looking forward to playing with is MacKinnon’s Avalanche teammate Cale Makar. "From playing against him, knowing how deceptive he is, the way he skates – saw a little glimpse of it (at All-Star), but I'd say he's the guy that comes to mind,” Crosby said.
The entire experience should serve as good preparation for the 2026 Olympics, with Crosby leading Canada to gold in each of the previous two Games he attended in 2010 and ’14.
“It's still a ways away… but the fact that they're close together I think helps in a lot of ways,” Crosby said. “As players, it gives us a pretty fresh idea of the level and things like that as well. So, I'd love to be part of that. I've had great experiences playing in the Olympics in the past, and would love the opportunity to do it again. It's super competitive, you look at just how tight it is with every country. So, it’ll be a great product and great hockey.”
While the 4 Nations Face-Off and Olympics are at the back of Crosby’s mind, preparing for the upcoming season is at the forefront.
“Yeah, it's a long one,” he said with a wry laugh. “Obviously watching the playoffs, I think you start to get pretty motivated when you see just the intensity and the level of play that that it takes, especially with every round and watching the Final and just how great of hockey it was. So yeah, I think now that the Stanley Cup’s been handed out and we're getting to draft and free agency, you start to kind of feel like things are getting closer and you turn the page on the year. Definitely excited.”
With the offseason ramping up, Crosby said there's been a "little bit of talk" regarding a contract extension, which he's eligible to sign July 1. But he reiterated those conversations will remain private, as did GM Kyle Dubas - though the Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM did say he's comfortable with where they stand.
"Sid’s an ultra-competitive person and wants the team to be a contender," Dubas said. "As long as you have someone like Sid on the team and the players that we have, the process that we have to follow – as urgently as possible – is acquire younger, hungrier players that can help us to get back to that time."
