Team Canada players honoured and excited to don the maple leaf for 4 Nations Face-Off
Team Canada will play its first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament on February 12, at 8:00 p.m. ET, taking on Team Sweden on home ice in Montreal.
Excitement is high, not just among Team Canada fans eager to witness best-on-best hockey for the first time since 2016, but possibly even more so amongst the players themselves. After being unable to play at the 2018 and 2022 Olympic Winter Games, many of the world’s current top NHL players—some of the best athletes to ever play the game—are hungry to represent their nations.
READ: What you need to know about Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off
One of those players, Nathan Mackinnon, who currently leads the NHL in points, joked that his excitement was so high, he felt like a little kid as he headed to the team’s first practice together.
Two-time Olympic gold medallist defensemen Drew Doughty, a late addition to the team after Alex Pietrangelo was forced to pull out due to injury, said “When I got the call that I was on the team, it was probably the best day that I’ve had in a lot of months.”
Over and over again, one word kept coming up in post-practice interviews: special. This moment, this team, this opportunity feels incredibly special to these players—an important reminder about the legacy of international competition like the Olympic Games.
It’s also special because Team Canada is looking stacked. The projected lines for Wednesday’s game (subject to change), based on Monday’s practice, are:
Forwards
Sam Reinhart – Connor McDavid – Mitch Marner
Mark Stone – Sidney Crosby – Nathan Mackinnon
Brad Marchand – Brayden Point – Seth Jarvis
Brandon Hagel – Anthony Cirelli – Sam Bennett
Defensive Pairings
Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Josh Morrissey – Colton Parayko
Shea Theodore – Drew Doughty
Goalie
Jordan Binnington
Monday’s practice also offered a glimpse of Team Canada’s first power play unit featuring Reinhart, McDavid, Crosby, Mackinnon and Makar all on the ice together, an embarrassment of riches.
Forward Brad Marchand quipped afterwards that faced with such an opponent: “I would probably put three goalies in the net. Five of the best players to ever play the game are on that power play. Even as a fan of the game, it’s fun to be out there and watch them do their thing, it’s special.”
There’s that word again.
But it takes more than plunking superstars from different NHL franchises on the ice together to make a real team. And that message has been underlined by Team Canada’s leaders.
“It’s not always the best players that win, it’s the best team that wins,” head coach Jon Cooper, who is also set to lead Team Canada at the Olympics next February, told the media. “And I think the team that gels the quickest, and plays for each other, especially in such a short tournament, will have the advantage. And I’m super, super confident that’s at least what we have.”
Gelling off the ice is also important. Nathan Mackinnon says the team watched the Super Bowl together, and then lingered for hours, telling stories and getting to know each other better.
“I think on your home team, you feel a lot of pressure, you’re the leader of the team. But I think here, everyone’s pretty equal, everyone’s a leader on their respective teams,” Mackinnon said.
Connor McDavid, who will wear an ‘A’ for Team Canada, focused on the on-ice chemistry in his answer. He was frank when asked if there is any challenge when it comes to putting so many elite players together.
“There is. I think everybody just assumes it’s going to work, but that’s not necessarily the case. It takes a lot of work. I think you saw a little bit of the power play come together today, working at it after practice. It takes a lot of work and it’s got to come together really fast. But we’ll make it work.”
As the captain, Sidney Crosby’s first and foremost focus is going from a group of talented players, to a team.
It is hard to overstate the significance of Crosby’s presence at the helm of Team Canada. As a two-time Olympic gold medallist, the scorer of Vancouver 2010’s iconic “golden goal,” and captain of Team Canada at Sochi 2014, Crosby’s best-on-best performances are the stuff of legends. Many of Team Canada’s younger players grew up idolizing Crosby.
“What he’s done for Team Canada, what he means to Team Canada, is pretty special,” said forward Mitch Marner.
“He’s Captain Canada for a reason,” added Cale Makar, Team Canada’s other assistant captain.
There is extra relief regarding Crosby’s presence, as shortly after being named captain of Team Canada, Crosby missed a few games with the Pittsburgh Penguins due to an injury, raising alarm that he might not be able to lace up for Team Canada.
But Crosby reported for Team Canada looking sharp, and told media he is confident in his ability to play.
He did laugh off a line of questioning about his participation at the next Winter Olympics, choosing to stay focused on the tournament at hand.
In terms of leadership on Team Canada, Crosby says he thinks back to Canada’s Vancouver 2010 captain, Scott Niedermayer, as an example of great leadership.
“I remember the confidence that he had. He was pretty quiet, but when something needed to be said, he was there to say it,” said Crosby.
Cooper had similar high praise for Crosby, saying “There’s just so much humility that comes through, it just bleeds through him. And that’s why people want to follow him.”
READ: Team Canada roster for 4 Nations Face-Off offers potential preview for 2026 Olympics
Following their game against Sweden on Wednesday, Team Canada will play Team USA on Saturday, February 15 at 8:00 p.m. ET, also in Montreal. The tournament will then move to Boston, where Canada will face Finland on Monday February 17 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
The championship game will take place on Thursday, February 20, at 8:00 p.m. ET, in Boston.
