15 years after Sidney Crosby’s golden goal, Connor McDavid has become Canada’s latest hockey hero
International hockey history has always been kind to Team Canada. Paul Henderson’s Summit Series heroics. Sidney Crosby’s shining moment in 2010. Gold in four of five best-on-best tournaments from 2002-16.
And now, Connor McDavid can etch himself in the history books.
Skeptics might write the 4 Nations Face-Off as a gimmick – not a real best-on-best tournament, per se. Just four teams, and Russia wasn’t one of them. Neither team from the gold medal game at the most recent World Championship was even invited.
But for many, this tournament will be the one that brought in the most new fans – bringing back the fun at the global stage. Sure, it was seven games over eight days with just four teams under what felt like thrown-together circumstances. But to those who truly gave the event a chance, it provided so many incredible moments.
Thursday’s title game – a 3-2 overtime win for Canada over the United States – was everything you could have asked for. Both teams held the lead. NHL stars like Brady Tkachuk and Nathan MacKinnon stole the show. It was a goaltending duel to the very end – something, on paper, that seemed impossible. The political tensions between Canada and USA are at near-historic levels, with one leader suggesting the idea of annexing the opposition altogether. This wasn’t just a hockey game: both sides had something to prove.
So to have the tournament go out in the most remarkable way, with one of the NHL’s biggest superstars scoring one of his biggest goals in front of what many expect to be one of the most-watched games in recent memory, was exactly what the NHL wanted when it planned this event.
Sidney Crosby only had to wait five years to get his big moment on the national stage. Connor McDavid went nearly a full decade. It was out of his control and he was robbed of so many opportunities to chase some of hockey’s most prestigious honors as the NHL elected to sit out the past two Olympics.
He’s still missing that all-elusive Stanley Cup. Many will hold that against him until he finally gets one. But when Canada needed him the most, he delivered. This might be the only 4 Nations Face-Off we ever see, but his goal will go down as one of the more memorable game-winners in Team Canada history.
Even at 37, Crosby is still among the game’s top stars. But despite an explosive three-point opening game, we saw age was starting to catch up to Crosby. This wasn’t the one playing in his prime in the early 2010s. It was some of the fastest, most competitive hockey ever seen. It was special – but you could see Crosby had issues keeping up with the pace at times.
The 2010 Winter Olympics will go down as one of Crosby’s defining moments. But it was also 15 years ago. People who watched the game as kids back then are having kids now themselves. Only four players from Canada’s 2010 team are still in the NHL today. The 2016 World Cup of Hockey didn’t seem to resonate with audiences in the same way – they dominated the group stage and cruised through the playoff round, beating a made-up Team Europe in just two games of a best-of-three series. It lacked drama. There weren’t many Made for TV moments. For Canadian hockey fans craving greatness – especially younger fans – it had been way too long since Canada found a new international hockey hero.
McDavid got the job done against the best team the United States has ever iced. And with how deeply emotional the past eight days were for everyone involved – both on and off the ice – people won’t forget Thursday night any time soon.
Watching McDavid shoot from the slot, turn around and rush to find his teammates in a sea of red – that’s the money shot. That’s the one fans are going to remember for decades to come, like Crosby raising his hands behind the American net or Yvan Cournoyer going in for the celebratory hug with Henderson.
Big players tend to be clutch in essential moments. Crosby scored an insurance marker in the gold medal game in 2014 and had three assists in the final series against Europe two years later. He came alive when the stakes were at the limit. Here’s a few of the Conn Smythe Trophy winners over the past decade: Crosby (twice), Alex Ovechkin, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Cale Makar and even McDavid lead the pack. All future hall of famers – and all but McDavid have a Stanley Cup to their credit.
Unlike the NBA or NFL, where a star player can make or break a team, hockey is different. We’ve seen players like Ross Colton, Lars Eller, Dave Bolland and Travis Moen etch their names in the history books after scoring Cup-clinching goals. So when a NHL star has his own Steph Curry or Tom Brady moment, it’s special. People pay good money to watch the world’s top athletes deliver on the biggest stages – like McDavid did in overtime in Boston.
It’s huge for the sport as a whole having one of its most recognizable names creating a Hallmark moment. Next winter, McDavid will have a chance to do it again when the Olympics head to Italy. It’ll be the most global stage he’s ever been apart of. And he’s at his absolute best – he’s truly the elite of the elite.
Crosby isn’t done, and he’ll be in Milan to chase a third Olympic gold. But it’s time for McDavid to take the mantle as Canada’s hockey hero – and Thursday helped kickstart that.
Eight days of tremendous hockey capped off by a game-winner from the best player in the world. As a hockey fan, you can’t ask for a better ending.
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