Canada names Sidney Crosby captain for 4 Nations: Why he was the pick and notable omissions

New York Times

30-01-2025

Captain Canada is Captain Crosby.
In what was arguably the easiest decision team management and the coaching staff had to make ahead of next month's 4 Nations Face-Off, Team Canada officially named Sidney Crosby as its captain for the tournament on Thursday afternoon.
The man who scored the Golden Goal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics previously wore his country's 'C' at the past two best-on-best international events: The 2014 Sochi Games and 2016 World Cup of Hockey, both of which were won by Canada.
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Not only is Crosby the NHL's longest-tenured captain — he's held that honor with the Pittsburgh Penguins for more than 17 years, and counting — but he's also among Canada's most decorated international hockey players of all-time.
The country is 45-5-0 in games when he's worn the sweater.
Crosby's resume includes two Olympic gold medals, a gold from the IIHF World Hockey Championship, a gold at the World Junior Championship and a World Cup title. He was also named MVP of the 2016 World Cup tournament.
So while Crosby may have ceded the unofficial title of 'best player on the planet' to Connor McDavid in recent years, there was no serious discussion about anyone else taking the captaincy for the Feb. 12 to 20 tournament. McDavid, named an alternate captain along with Cale Makar, made sure of that.
'It should be Sid. It should be Sid for sure,' McDavid told reporters in October when asked about Canada's captaincy decision. 'That's not even a question. It's just how it should be. He's Sidney Crosby and he's been there so many times and he's the guy. It's not like I thought about it a lot, it's just such a no-brainer.'
There was nothing ceremonial or nostalgic about the Crosby choice.
At age 37, he'll be the oldest participant in the 4 Nations Face-Off field, but he remains an incredibly impactful player with 55 points in 53 games for the Penguins on the season. That includes scoring the overtime winner in Utah on Wednesday night. Crosby's current rate of production puts him on pace to become the first NHLer ever with 20 consecutive point-per-game campaigns, which would break a record he currently shares with Wayne Gretzky at 19.
Among active Canadian players, his 1,651 career points are nearly 500 more than anybody else. Steven Stamkos (1,170 points) is No. 2 on that list and he didn't receive a 4 Nations invite.
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McDavid owns the next-highest total among Crosby's Canadian teammates with 1,048 career points — including 21 goals and 66 points in 44 games this season. He will likely take the mantle as the next Canadian captain once Crosby's playing career is finished. McDavid is in his ninth season serving as Edmonton Oilers captain and won the Conn Smythe Trophy in a losing cause last spring after leading his team to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Makar is the youngest member of the leadership group at age 26. He's a former Conn Smythe winner himself — in 2022 when the Colorado Avalanche lifted the Cup — and he was the only defenseman included among Canada's initial six roster selections in June.
He wears an 'A' for the Avalanche and has drawn comparisons to Bobby Orr while compiling 392 points through 367 career NHL games. He's likely to log the most minutes of any of the Canadian skaters at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
There's no shortage of Canadian players who wear letters with their NHL teams, including present-day captains Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins and Mark Stone of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Marchand was also included in Canada's initial six roster invites.
Among the other team members who wear an alternate captain's 'A' in the NHL are Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado), Colton Parayko (St. Louis Blues), Josh Morrissey (Winnipeg Jets) and Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers).
Alex Pietrangelo would also have drawn serious consideration to serve as one of Canada's alternate captains due to his extensive international experience and Stanley Cup-winning pedigree, but he withdrew from the tournament last week because of an ailment.