Canada coach will ‘let the guys play’ as McDavid dons maple leaf

Canada's Connor McDavid (97) hits the ice for 4 Nations Face-Off hockey practice in Montreal, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

Tonight’s the night: Connor McDavid will line up alongside Canada’s National Hockey League best-of-the-best players Wednesday for the first time as the 4 Nations Face-Off begins in Montreal.

McDavid, star of the Edmonton Oilers and face of the NHL, hasn’t had a chance to represent his home country in a high-level international tournament since the end of his first pro season almost nine years ago, when he played at the world championships

The league did not send its players to Olympic games in 2018 or 2022 but has agreed to in a year’s time, when Milano-Cortina in Italy will host the Winter Games.

McDavid said Tuesday he’s excited to finally don the maple leaf-adorned Canadian uniform, something he knows several of his national teammates haven’t been able to do, either.

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“I’ve waited a long time to play in one of these events, to represent my country, play for Team Canada, but lots of guys are in that boat,” McDavid told media after Canadian practice in Brossard, Que., a Montreal suburb.

“It’s been a while for everybody. It feels like a kind of new generation, with some familiar faces, for everybody.”

Canada plays Sweden Wednesday night at the Bell Centre to open the tournament. The United States and Finland will play each other at the same venue on Thursday. Saturday will see the Scandinavian countries face off at 11 a.m. MT followed by Canada and the U.S. at 6 p.m.

The round-robin then shifts to Boston for games Monday and the championship game on Feb. 20.

In terms of being prepared to play as a team with a short amount of time to practise together – players started to arrive in Montreal on Sunday – McDavid said he doesn’t know “how much stock we put into” needing to analyze the upcoming action.

“Ultimately, it’s different when you’re in a real game,” he said. “Obviously, there (will be) lots of talent out there, but there’s only one puck, and somebody’s got to shoot it, somebody’s got to make the play.”

McDavid said “overpassing” might be the biggest problem he and his teammates might have to address.

“We’ve got a bunch of great players who want to make plays, but ultimately, somebody’s got to shoot the puck; you’re not just going to pass it into the net,” he said.

“Definitely something we talked about is being assertive, not deferring off to other guys, and definitely something that I think we’ve tried to do the last couple days in practice.”

Canada head coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday morning his job is to “not get in the way” and to put his players “in the best position to succeed.”

“Then when decisions have to be made, be assertive and do it, but ultimately, you’ve got to let the guys play,” Cooper told media.

Club rivalries and relationships will be put aside, McDavid and Oilers teammate Mattias Ekholm said.

McDavid is slated to skate on a line with the Toronto Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner and the Florida Panthers' Sam Reinhart, the latter who battled the Oilers captain all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final and scored the goal that clinched the 2-1 win.

“We’re after the same thing. We’re on the same team together here for two weeks and (are coming) together for the same job,” McDavid said.

Swedish defenceman Ekholm said “there’s no real script” when it comes to playing against his star teammate.

“He’s so good, so dynamic, so explosive,” Ekholm said Tuesday. “(You’ve) got to make sure you’re on your toes and do your best (to) try to not get into foot races and stuff that’s usually not going to end well.

“He’s a hell of a player, but they’ve got 22 of those kind of players on the roster and so do most of these teams.”

McDavid expects Ekholm to play “a hard game.”

“I’m going to go at him, too,” he said. “It’s the nature of the business and we’re here on different sides, and that’s just the way it is.”