Zizing ‘Em Up: McDavid to fulfill dream of teaming up with Crosby at 4 Nations 

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger has been covering the NHL regularly since 1999. Each Monday he will use his extensive network of hockey contacts for his weekly notes column, "Zizing 'Em Up.”

PITTSBURGH — The story of Connor McDavid’s relationship with Sidney Crosby began when, as a boy growing up north of Toronto, he had a poster of No. 87 up on his wall.

Maybe, just maybe, the future captain of the Edmonton Oilers thought to himself, I’ll get to meet him one day.

Next month, that goal already having come to fruition more than a decade ago, McDavid’s dream will reach the next level.

At that time, mentor and student will be teammates at the 4 Nations Face-Off from February 12-20, wearing the red-and-white of Canada.

It is something both have wanted for so long. And now, it’s about to become reality.

Not just at an all-star game or a summer skate. No, this is about playing together while representing the country they both love.

For McDavid, who turns 28 years old on Monday, it’s one of the best birthday presents he could have ever asked for.

“I think there’s an old saying that you should never meet your idol because you’ll be disappointed,” McDavid told NHL.com. “But that’s the furthest thing when it comes to Sid.

“To be able to watch him as a kid, to see what he’s done in this league, to be able to watch him throughout his entire career and now have the opportunity to have gotten to know him over the course of the last couple of years, to participate in camps with him and skate with him and build a little bit of relationship with him, well, the eight-year-old Connor would never have believed it. That being said, I couldn't be more excited to be his teammate, to be on the same ice with him, be on the power play with him, maybe be on a line with him, whatever it may be, just to get the opportunity to play on his team, it’s just so exciting.”

There is almost a child-like giddiness when he talks about Crosby, the sign of a mutual respect between generational players 10 years apart in age.

“Over the years, whether it’s playing against one another, skating at different camps, different things with the League, I’ve gotten to know him,” Crosby said. “He’s a great role model and, obviously, an unbelievable player.

“I’m just very excited for the opportunity to play with him.”

The inside tale of their friendship first began in 2013 when McDavid, then just a wide-eyed 16-year-old, was a rookie with Erie of the Ontario Hockey League. With the beginning of the 2012-2013 NHL season put on hold due to a lockout, Crosby said he had watched YouTube clips of the Otters sensation and admitted to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review at the time that the kid “reminded me of myself.”

On February 12, 2013, McDavid, accompanied by Erie teammates Stephen Harper and Hayden Hodgsen, made the 130-mile drive south from Erie to PPG Paints Arena to watch Pittsburgh host the New Jersey Devils courtesy of an invite from the Penguins. Having been told they’d get a tour of the arena, they were blown away when they discovered they’d be watching the game in a private box owned by Mario Lemieux, the Hall of Famer.

The best, however, was yet to come.

After the Penguins 3-1 loss, they were brought to the dressing room where Crosby was waiting for them.

“I remember meeting him quickly after the game and just asking about his time in junior there,” Crosby told NHL.com last week. “It’s always nice to see young players come in and see how excited they are.”

In McDavid’s case, it was more than that.

“I just remember being in awe,” McDavid said. “I was excited just for the game. But to meet Mario and then, I mean, Sid, it was just such an incredible night, one I’ve never forgotten.

“Getting the chance to meet him, being so young and looking up to him, there were so many nerves. And now getting to know him, he’s just such a great guy.”

Both admit they have aspirations of representing Canada together at the 2026 Milan Olympics in 13 months. But, for the moment, in this moment, they don’t want to get ahead of themselves. It’s the 4 Nations Face-Off, featuring Canada, the United States, Sweden and Finland, that they are focused on right now.

“It’s been a long wait to finally get this chance to be his teammate in best-on-best hockey,” McDavid said. “I can’t wait.”

Neither can fans of the sport.

GENERATION NEXT

If anyone knows what it’s like for generational players like Crosby and McDavid to finally get the opportunity to play with each other as teammates, it’s Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet.

Tocchet was a forward with Canada for the 1987 Canada Cup, a team that featured two of the greatest players ever to lace up a pair of skates in Hall of Famers Lemieux and Wayne Gretzky. The best-of-three Final between Canada and the Soviet Union, considered one of the most exciting exhibitions of hockey ever seen, featured each team skating to 6-5 wins before Lemieux scored with 1:26 remaining in the third and deciding game to give Canada a 6-5 victory to win the tournament.

Having seen what it meant for Lemieux and Gretzky to be teammates, Tocchet understands how it will be the same for Crosby and McDavid next month. He was an assistant coach for the Penguins from 2014-2017 and, as such, knows Crosby very well.

Now, having been selected as an assistant on coach Jon Cooper’s staff for Canada at 4 Nations, Tocchet will get to see firsthand what Crosby and McDavid can do together, much like he did with Gretzky and Lemieux 38 years earlier.

“It’s going to be an unreal thing, an unreal experience,” Tocchet told NHL.com on Saturday. “And for me, you can pick who’s better down the road, now’s not the time.

“I don’t know Connor that well, although I’ve obviously had a first-hand view coaching him. But (Oilers assistant) Paul Coffey tells me he’s a terrific human being. Sidney Crosby, terrific human being. Wayne Gretzky, all-time best human being. Mario Lemieux, no better guy. So, when you get four star players who have or are about to play in a best-on-best tournament like this and care about other people, not themselves, that’s the common theme I see in these great players.”

Tocchet said he and Crosby still stay in frequent contact.

“I coached three years with Sid and got two Stanley Cups (2016, 2017), so I owe him a lot,” Tocchet said. “I like picking his brain. He likes picking my brain.

“It’s fun talking hockey with Sid. It’s fun talking life with Sid. I miss him because obviously my coaching career has gone somewhere else but it’s going to be nice hanging with him for those two weeks of the tournament and picking his brain.

“I can’t wait to see the juice he has, because he’s so excited to play in this thing.”

SUPPORTING SETH

When the completed rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off were filled out and announced on Dec. 4, one of the names that created the most controversy was Carolina Hurricanes forward Seth Jarvis.

Debates immediately ensued as to why he was selected for Canada over the likes of forwards Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets, Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks, John Tavares of the Maple Leafs and Zach Hyman of the Oilers

If you crunch the numbers, the detractors do have a legitimate argument. Entering play Sunday, Scheifele (50), Tavares (42) and Bedard (38) all had more points than Jarvis (30). Hyman, meanwhile, had 14 goals, two more than Jarvis, and has shown chemistry with teammate McDavid in the past.

At the same time, the Winnipeg native is just 22 years old and is an ascending performer in the upcoming generation of young hockey players for Canada, according to Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour. The fact that he plays in Carolina is a factor in Jarvis not being a household name north of the border, but Brind’Amour said that will change once he steps on the international stage that is 4 Nations.

“Down here that’s just par for the course. Our guys are under the radar a little bit,” Brind’Amour told NHL.com in a phone interview from Raleigh. “But just watch some of our games and then decide for yourselves if he deserves to be on Team Canada.

“He creates offense. He defends well. He kills penalties. So when anyone asks why he would be on the team, well, he can occupy any role you need and do it well. They don’t need everyone to play on the top line. They’re going to need penalty killers, they’re going to need guys who are out there at the end of games, and he can do that. He’s a guy who’s on the ice, whether we’re up a goal or down a goal, and he plays at a real high pace in whatever role a coach needs him to do.

“If it’s a fourth line, he can do that. If it’s right wing, he can do that. If it’s playing higher up in the lineup, he can do that. So that’s why I think he was an easy fit for Team Canada.”

Brind’Amour said Jarvis was not surprised when he got the call informing him that he’d made the Canadian roster.

“He’s a confident kid, but very humble” Brind’Amour said. “Just a good old Canadian boy. Down to his core, he’s just a hockey player. That’s what he does. Rough around the edges a bit but he’s got a great heart.

“I think they’re going to fall in love with him when they get him and watch him. And when this tournament is over, and it’s not a long tournament, remember, I think everyone will see it’s the right choice.”

THE NUMBERS GAME

In what’s been a somewhat crazy start to 2025 in the NHL world, here’s some intriguing numbers to ponder.

— The Penguins continued their disturbing trend of allowing goals on the first shot of a game when Ottawa Senators defenseman Tyler Kleven did exactly that to open the scoring in a 5-0 victory against Pittsburgh at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday. It marked the 10th time in 44 games that an opponent had scored on its initial shot of the game.

— With all the trade rumors swirling around Canucks forward Elias Pettersson, here’s a part of his game that’s overlooked. While he doesn’t carry the reputation as a defensive specialist among most hockey fans, would you have guessed that he leads all Canucks forwards in blocked shots with 44? He and teammate Quinn Hughes led both teams in that department with five in Vancouver’s 3-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. Compare that to League leader Chris Tanev, the Maple Leafs defenseman who has 122 for the season but had just one against Vancouver.

—While on the subject of the Maple Leafs, top-pair defenseman Morgan Rielly has not been a plus player in the past eight games, going minus-eight in that span. Toronto is 5-3-0 during Rielly’s struggles.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

“It's horrible. You can't imagine losing your childhood home in a fashion like that, something where you have so many memories. And you lose cherished memories and pictures and everything that was so important to you. It's hard to really imagine.”

— Los Angeles Kings forward Trevor Moore, a native of Thousand Oaks, California, after receiving texts and messages from friends, family and loved ones regarding the horrible fires that have ravaged the Los Angeles area.

THE LAST WORD

With 4 Nations rosters having been revealed, we’ll be taking a weekly look until the tournament at one player from each country who’s on a roll with their respective NHL team.

Connor Hellebuyck (United States): The Winnipeg Jets veteran has made frequent appearances on this list the past several months, and with good reason. The 31-year-old has been the best goalie in the NHL this season and proved it again Saturday, blanking the high-flying Colorado Avalanche 3-0. He’s now shut out Nathan MacKinnon and his Avalanche teammates in each of his past three regular-season meetings.

Sam Reinhart (Canada): The Florida Panthers forward has three goals in his past two games and entered play Sunday tied with Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brayden Point for the most goals (25) of anyone on the Canadian roster.

Mikael Granlund (Finland): The San Jose Sharks forward is first on his team in points (36) and leads all Sharks forwards in ice time per game (21:12).

Lucas Raymond (Sweden): The Detroit Red Wings forward has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in his past eight games after registering two assists in a 6-2 win against the Seattle Kraken on Sunday, Detroit’s seventh straight win.