The Pittsburgh Penguins are in town to face the Edmonton Oilers, which has naturally led to a shift in focus to Connor McDavid vs. Sidney Crosby.
The two superstars of this generation have played against each other many times since McDavid entered the NHL nearly a decade ago and we’ll soon see them play together on a team for the first time.
Both McDavid and Crosby have already been confirmed for Canada’s roster at the inaugural Four Nations Face-Off, along with Nathan MacKinnon, Brad Marchand, Brayden Point, and Cale Makar. The event will feature Canada, Sweden, Finland, and the United States playing each other in a round-robin style tournament in Montreal and Boston in February.
When asked about who should be the captain of Team Canada on Thursday, McDavid replied: “It should be Sid. It should be Sid, for sure. That’s not even a question.”
“I’m really looking forward to it,” McDavid added about playing in the Four Nations. “To play with Sid, to play with so many of the guys, Nate [MacKinnon], [Cale] Makar, the list goes on and on of great Canadian players. All four teams will be really good and it’ll be highly competitive.”
McDavid is the best hockey player in the world at this point, but the 37-year-old Crosby has among the most decorated trophy cases in the history of the game. Beyond his three Stanley Cups with the Penguins, Crosby has two Olympic gold medals from Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014 along with gold medals from the World Juniors, World Cup, and World Championships.
There hasn’t been an opportunity for McDavid to play in the Olympics yet, as the NHL didn’t participate in Pyeongchang 2018 or in Beijing 2022. He won gold with Canada at the World Juniors in 2014 and at the World Championships in 2018 and also captained North America at the World Cup in 2016.