Crosby Soaks Up Olympic-Sized News at All-Star Weekend

After Nathan MacKinnon drafted Sidney Crosby with his first pick (third overall) at the 2024 NHL All-Star Draft on Thursday night, he couldn’t get in touch with his good friend and fellow Cole Harbour native to let him know the news.

“(My messages) aren’t delivering, so I don’t know what that means!” MacKinnon said. “I don’t know if he blocked me or what… not delivered.”

Turns out Crosby just didn’t have service during his vacation in Montana, where a fan posted a video of the Penguins captain getting in some individual work at the Big Sky Ice Rink. He got back on the grid when traveling to Toronto on Friday for the rest of NHL All-Star Weekend.

“It was good,” he said of his outdoors experience, then added with a laugh: “I thought it was relatively empty, not empty enough. But just great to get away, and obviously, as you get older, you appreciate that time off a little bit more. It was nice, and excited to be here and get back into it.”

Crosby met with the media on Friday afternoon before the Skills competition, which had a new look this year with 12 All-Stars competing for a first prize of $1 million that Connor McDavid won. Crosby helped out by offering tape-to-tape passes for the ‘One-Timers’ event after catching up with the captain of Team MacKinnon in the Eastern Conference All-Stars locker room (where his stall is between Nikita Kucherov and Auston Matthews).

“I was happy. I wasn't sure where I was gonna go in the draft. I'll take third,” Crosby said with a grin. “It's fun to see, I think it'll be pretty competitive. I think guys have a lot of pride, and when they're picking their teams, they're going to show well. So, I think people will definitely see the Skills on display tonight, and then obviously with the game, I think it’ll get pretty competitive, which is great.”

The big news of the day is that the NHL will participate in the Olympics in 2026 and 2030, returning to the Games for the first time since Sochi in 2014. Crosby captained Team Canada to gold that year after scoring the Golden Goal in Vancouver in 2010.

“It's an unbelievable experience, and to see the best players go head-to-head, representing their country… from my experience in it, I don't know if you get better hockey than that,” Crosby said. “So, it's great to be a part of and great for fans and everyone involved. So, it's a special thing. To have two that are committed to that, I think that's really important.”

Crosby may be 38 years old when the 2026 Winter Olympics take place in Milan, Italy… but if his current play at 36 years old is any indication – with 27 goals in 46 games and on pace for his best season in a long time – he’ll likely have a spot on Team Canada’s roster. But while he’d love to take part, Crosby said he doesn’t ever think too far ahead.

“Regardless of how old you are, I think you always go a year at a time and then see how it goes and where your game’s at,” he said. “But I mean, I'd love to be a part of it. It’s something you have to earn, though. It’s not something that's given to you. Representing your country, you gotta earn it.”

The NHL also announced that they will hold an in-season best-on-best tournament called the 4 Nations Face-Off starting in 2025. It will consist of a total of seven games played during a nine-day period from Feb. 12-20, and will be held in two yet-to-be named North American cities, one in Canada and one in the United States. Full details on the tournament can be found here.

That means the NHL will not hold an All-Star Game next year, so having it in a hockey mecca like Toronto is a good send-off for the time being. It’s the first time Crosby has taken part in All-Star festivities in his home country.

“I feel like there's always a little bit extra buzz, for sure,” Crosby said. “I think as players, you can always feel that around All-Star Weekend, just with the fans and with everything going on.

“There's a great energy wherever you are, but especially in a Canadian city, in a place like Toronto that's had so many different things over the years. It’s a great hockey town, and I think that people really get behind it, and you can feel that for sure.”

The 2024 NHL All-Star Game is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 3 at 3 PM Eastern time on ABC and ESPN+.