Sidney Crosby captained Canada to gold at the 2015 World Championship.
photo: Richard Wołowicz/IIHF
Hey, Stockholm, you want star power? You got it!
Sidney Crosby is coming to play in the 88th World Championship starting on Friday. And so is his neighbour in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia—Nathan MacKinnon. That news immediately makes Canada the pre-tournament favourite to win gold.
The two friends most recently teamed up to lead Canada to victory at the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February, and not only is the WM another opportunity for the two to play together, it is surely also good preparation for the Olympics in Milano next February.
Canada has won 30 of the last 32 games it has played with Crosby in the lineup. The two blips were preliminary-round losses to the United States at the 2010 Olympics and the aforementioned 4 Nations. Canada went on to defeat the Americans in both those events, and, indeed, Canada has won the last five events Crosby has played in, starting with the Vancouver Olympics, when he scored the golden goal at 7:40 of overtime.
The only time Crosby has not won gold at a senior event was his first Ice Hockey World Championship, in 2006, when the 18-year-old finished his rookie season in the NHL by becoming the youngest player ever to lead the WM in scoring (16 points in nine games). He was also named the IIHF Directorate Award/Best Forward.
After 2010, Crosby next played for Canada at the 2014 Olympics, scoring a highlight-reel goal in a 3-0 win over Sweden for gold. A year later, he played at his second Men’s Worlds, a dominant tournament for the Canadians who went 10-0 to win gold again. Canada beat Russia, 6-1 in Prague in the finals, Crosby scoring once and adding an assist. That win was monumental for Crosby. He became the 26th member of the Triple Gold Club, and he was the first TGC member to achieve all of his victories as team captain. Canada's perfect 10-0 record, all in regulation, also meant the team earned a cheque for one million Swiss francs from InFront.
In 2016, Crosby again captained Canada to victory at the World Cup and then added to his legacy this past February by wearing the “C” as Canada defeated the U.S. in the 4 Nations final in Boston, a dramatic OT win with Connor McDavid playing the hero on this occasion.
As a junior, Crosby won gold at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship as a 17-year-old on arguably the greatest U20 team of all time. They had a perfect 6-0 record and a goals differential of 41-7 with a roster that included Patrice Bergeron, Corey Perry, Shea Weber, Mike Richards, and Brent Seabrook.
MacKinnon is eight years younger than Crosby, so when he was a kid his hero was number 87, who was not only the premier player in the game but lived just down the street in small Cole Harbour. MacKinnon was on that 2015 gold-medal team and also played at the 2014 WM, when Canada finished 5th. He also played for Team North America (U24) at the 2016 World Cup and appeared in his third World Championship in 2017, a silver-medal performance.
By adding two world-class players, Canada will certainly be favourites to win it all in Stockholm, and along the way fans will be treated to two of the game’s greatest playing side by side.
Sidney Crosby is coming to play in the 88th World Championship starting on Friday. And so is his neighbour in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia—Nathan MacKinnon. That news immediately makes Canada the pre-tournament favourite to win gold.
The two friends most recently teamed up to lead Canada to victory at the 4 Nations Face-Off this past February, and not only is the WM another opportunity for the two to play together, it is surely also good preparation for the Olympics in Milano next February.
Canada has won 30 of the last 32 games it has played with Crosby in the lineup. The two blips were preliminary-round losses to the United States at the 2010 Olympics and the aforementioned 4 Nations. Canada went on to defeat the Americans in both those events, and, indeed, Canada has won the last five events Crosby has played in, starting with the Vancouver Olympics, when he scored the golden goal at 7:40 of overtime.
The only time Crosby has not won gold at a senior event was his first Ice Hockey World Championship, in 2006, when the 18-year-old finished his rookie season in the NHL by becoming the youngest player ever to lead the WM in scoring (16 points in nine games). He was also named the IIHF Directorate Award/Best Forward.
After 2010, Crosby next played for Canada at the 2014 Olympics, scoring a highlight-reel goal in a 3-0 win over Sweden for gold. A year later, he played at his second Men’s Worlds, a dominant tournament for the Canadians who went 10-0 to win gold again. Canada beat Russia, 6-1 in Prague in the finals, Crosby scoring once and adding an assist. That win was monumental for Crosby. He became the 26th member of the Triple Gold Club, and he was the first TGC member to achieve all of his victories as team captain. Canada's perfect 10-0 record, all in regulation, also meant the team earned a cheque for one million Swiss francs from InFront.
In 2016, Crosby again captained Canada to victory at the World Cup and then added to his legacy this past February by wearing the “C” as Canada defeated the U.S. in the 4 Nations final in Boston, a dramatic OT win with Connor McDavid playing the hero on this occasion.
As a junior, Crosby won gold at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship as a 17-year-old on arguably the greatest U20 team of all time. They had a perfect 6-0 record and a goals differential of 41-7 with a roster that included Patrice Bergeron, Corey Perry, Shea Weber, Mike Richards, and Brent Seabrook.
MacKinnon is eight years younger than Crosby, so when he was a kid his hero was number 87, who was not only the premier player in the game but lived just down the street in small Cole Harbour. MacKinnon was on that 2015 gold-medal team and also played at the 2014 WM, when Canada finished 5th. He also played for Team North America (U24) at the 2016 World Cup and appeared in his third World Championship in 2017, a silver-medal performance.
By adding two world-class players, Canada will certainly be favourites to win it all in Stockholm, and along the way fans will be treated to two of the game’s greatest playing side by side.