Penguins’ Sidney Crosby to serve as Canada’s captain for 4 Nations Face-Off
Hockey Canada announced Thursday that Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will serve as Canada’s captain for the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Assistant captains will be Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar.
Meet the captains! / Voici nos capitaines! 🇨🇦
C: Sidney Crosby (@HockeyNS)
A: Connor McDavid (@OHFHockey)
A: Cale Makar (@HockeyAlberta)#4Nations pic.twitter.com/Bq3XjlsWkI
This will be Crosby’s fourth time serving as captain for Hockey Canada; he was captain at the 2014 Olympics, the 2015 World Championship and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. The Penguins veteran has tallied 16 goals and 55 points in 53 games this season.
McDavid recently vouched for Crosby to be named captain in an interview with NHL.com stating “It should be Sid. It should be Sid for sure, that’s not even a question,” McDavid said. “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.”
Through 44 games, McDavid has scored 20 goals and 45 assists for 65 points, sitting second on the team in scoring.
Meanwhile, Makar has racked up 18 goals and 38 assists for 56 points in 52 games with the Avalanche this season. This will be Makar’s first major international tournament since the 2018 World Juniors.
As of Thursday, all 4 Nations Face-Off captains have been named for their respective teams with Toronto maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews being named captain for the United States, Tampa Bay Lightning blueliner Victor Hedman will captain Sweden and Aleksander Barkov will captain Finland.
The inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off will see Canada, Finland, Sweden, and the United States compete for supremacy. The tournament takes February 12-20 and will be co-hosted in Boston and Montreal.
Canada has a roster spot to fill ahead of their opening game on Feb. 12 against Sweden.