Fifteen years after he scored the “Golden Goal” to deliver Canada an Olympic championship on home ice in Vancouver and 11 since he captained his country to another victory in Sochi, Sidney Crosby is taking on a familiar job for another international competition.
Crosby is reprising his role as Canada’s captain for the 4 Nations Face-Off taking place next month in Montreal and Boston, just as he did in 2014 and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Auston Matthews is the U.S. captain for the first time in his career after only earlier this year taking over that job with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Matthews does not expect to alter his leadership style, while Crosby — who has been captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins since he was 20 years old back in ’07 — understands that short international tournaments are a much different animal.
“There’s always a learning curve,” Crosby said on a video call with reporters Friday. “When you have a new group and you’re in a situation like that, the learning curve’s quick, so, you’ve got to take in as much information as you can. But ultimately everyone’s picked for a reason, they’re selected for what they bring, so you’ve got to be able to bring that and just find a way to be at your best right away.”
Since the world championships occur annually in the spring while the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs are ongoing, and because the league did not participate in the past two Olympics, the 4 Nations is the first international tournament featuring the world’s best players since 2016. And even that World Cup had the asterisk of Team North America putting together the likes of Matthews, fellow American Jack Eichel and Canadians Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon — and keeping them from their national teams.
WATCH | Crosby on representing Canada:
The 37-year-old Canadian captain on his fellow Nova Scotian teammates that will be joining him at the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off.
‘Getting excited’
That changes this time, with Crosby, McDavid and MacKinnon all on the same roster for the first time.
“With our team, just the collection of guys, there hasn’t been much opportunity for this group to be together,” Crosby said. “Getting excited to get the guys together, to be in the same place, to practice and build.”
The first practices are Feb. 10, with games to follow quickly. There’s no training camp or time to reinvent the wheel, so Matthews figures he’ll continue doing…
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