At age 37, Sidney Crosby understands few opportunities remain to represent Canada in international competitions.
That’s why the Pittsburgh Penguins’ centre was doing everything possible to make it to the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament despite suffering a recent upper-body injury. The competition, comprising teams of NHL players from Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland, will be held in Montreal and Boston starting Wednesday.
Canada opens the tournament against Sweden at the Bell Centre Wednesday night (8 p.m., SN, TVA Sports). Crosby was named the captain by head coach Jon Cooper, whose Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Canadiens Sunday afternoon in Montreal.
“I haven’t been around him in my career other than the fact of competing against him,” Cooper said on Monday, after Canada practised for 60 minutes at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard. “The way he is and interacts. The guy that carries so much weight. He’s like a polarizing figure. But there’s so much humility that just bleeds through him, and that’s why people follow him.
“Gosh. You talk about wanting to play for your country. This kid, it’s remarkable the passion he has for it. It’s probably the reason why he has a whole lot of wins and not a whole lot of losses when he plays in these events.”
International play is nothing new to Crosby, the Cole Harbour, N.S., native.
It began with gold at the 2005 world junior championship. He also has represented Canada at the 2010 Vancouver and 2014 Sochi Olympics along with the world championship the following year. He also was Canada’s captain at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey in Toronto.
While Crosby missed the last two Penguins games, he reportedly skated at length Saturday morning. On Monday, he skated on a line with Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights. He also was part of the team’s first power-play unit.
While Cooper admitted the Canadian entourage will monitor Crosby’s health on a day-to-day basis, and stressed that nothing be allowed that could jeopardize his status with Pittsburgh, the coach confirmed Crosby will face the Swedes.
Crosby said it was a busy week, between treatment sessions and ensuring he received medical clearance. But he’s happy to be here, the excitement palpably etched on his face.
“It means a lot,” Crosby said about the upcoming competition. “It’s another opportunity to represent Canada, get to play with guys I’ve played with before, a couple, but mostly a lot of new faces, too. Guys that haven’t had the opportunity in a long time to play for Canada. There’s a lot of different reasons but, obviously, playing for Team Canada is always a huge honour. Especially to be here, in Montreal. It’s a great atmosphere. Every opportunity … whether it’s playing for Pittsburgh or Canada, you don’t want to miss games. This is an awesome opportunity, something I haven’t done in a long time. I wanted to be part of this group. Obviously I wanted to make sure I can play at the level you need to, to compete here. Everybody seemed comfortable with that.
“There’s obviously a ton of talent and a ton of skill. Having to think and move quickly, be instinctive but also reactive to some of the plays they make. That’s fun and challenging. The biggest challenge is becoming a team and getting sharp. Today was the first step. It’s fun to see the skill, the speed and the talent.”
While coming together cohesively as a unit in a short period of time will be Canada’s biggest challenge, each of the other three countries faces a similar obstacle. Cooper said much deliberation went into comprising the assembled players.
“We picked what we felt was the best team,” Cooper said. “Every team at some point will be second-guessed. There was a ton of work that went into this. It was so darn impressive to see the information that was gathered and the eyes that were watching. It’s not always the best players that win, it’s the best team that wins. I think the team that gels the quickest and plays for each other, especially in such a short tournament, will have the advantage. I’m super confident that’s at least what we have.”
While Canada is carrying three goalies — the Canadiens’ Samuel Montembeault; Vegas’ Adin Hill and St. Louis’ Jordan Binnington — Cooper refused to disclose his starter against Sweden until Tuesday. However, in a short tournament, Cooper said he’s loath to rotate the netminders.
“You lose your first game, now what?” he asked.