When the puck hits the ice hours from now for Canada’s quarterfinal matchup against Czechia, the narrative story practically writes itself.

It’s the top-seeded Canadians vs. the eighth-seeded Czechs, who survived the qualifying round and eeked out a 3-2 win over Denmark Tuesday morning. Canada has earned the right to call it an easy game, but they won’t.

After all, this is what dominance buys you. The Canadians swept through Group A without so much as a stumble, shutting out Czechia 5-0, handling Switzerland 5-1, and dominating France to the tune of 10-2 in their round-robin finale. Sidney Crosby broke Jarome Iginla’s record to become Canada’s all-time leading scorer in the NHL-era Olympic play, while Connor McDavid is well on pace to threaten the all-time single Olympics points record. Through it all, the Canadian machine just kept rolling.

Meanwhile, Czechia limped into Wednesday’s game, losing twice in the preliminary round — once to Canada, and again to Switzerland — sandwiched by a 6-3 win over France, living to see another day with their win over the Danes.

But of course, hockey has a funny way of humbling the overconfident. So Canada isn’t pretending the game will play itself.

The most pressing question heading into puckdrop for Canada, however, is the status of Nathan MacKinnon. The superstar took a hit to the head against France and was absent from Tuesday’s practice, as was Sam Bennett.

For a team this deep, missing a single practice wouldn’t normally raise eyebrows, but when you’re talking about one of the two or three best players in the world, fans tend to pay attention.

Head coach Jon Cooper moved quickly to ease concerns.

“That was a big thing for him to get out here (yesterday),” Cooper said, referencing MacKinnon’s limited work before practice wrapped, to Sportsnet. “He looked great. But (I won’t decide) until after I talk to him.”

It’s not exactly a clean bill of health, but there are no major red flags. The apparent message from the coaching staff to worried fans? Relax.

And nobody delivers that message more convincingly than Crosby. Canada’s captain has seen MacKinnon in every conceivable situation, and he knows what the 28-year-old is made of.

“I don’t think I’ve ever questioned it once. I know how much he loves the game,” Crosby said. “He’ll play through anything.”

Cooper echoed the sentiment with the kind of colourful bluntness that comes naturally to a Stanley Cup-winning coach.

“Well, he’s a bull,” Cooper said. “To have that much power, strength, and skill all packed in one, it’s a rarity.”

A bull who may or may not practice. A bull who, if healthy, is probably the second-best player on a stacked team that already has McDavid, Macklin Celebrini, Cale Makar, Crosby, et al.

A refreshed Brad Marchand, who is likely to return to the lineup after missing the last two games, and defenceman Josh Morrissey, who also missed the last pair of games, will hopefully help provide a boost to what may be the deepest team in these Olympics. Czechia, meanwhile, has an always dangerous David Pastrnak and a red-hot Martin Necas, who has found himself near the top of Olympic scoring.

Puck drop between Canada and Czechia is set for 8:40 AM MT on CBC.

Celebrini – McDavid – Wilson

Hagel – MacKinnon – Suzuki

Marner – Crosby – Stone

Marchand – Horvat – Jarvis

Bennett

Toews – Makar

Morrissey*  – Parayko

Harley – Doughty

Theodore

Binnington

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