Cole Harbour 'bursting with pride' watching Team Canada at Olympics

NHL players are competing at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, the first time in 12 years that they’ve been on this global stage. In order to provide an inside look at the experience, NHL.com has enlisted former Olympic players, coaches and others around the game to share their insights. Today, Paul Mason, who has coached minor hockey and minor baseball in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, for 47 years, including several NHL players, notably Team Canada’s Sidney Crosby.

COLE HARBOUR, Nova Scotia -- Like the rest of the country, we here in Nova Scotia continue to get cranked up as the road to gold enters the knockout stage at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

We’re all bursting with pride at how what we’re calling our "Nova Scotia trio" have done in playing their respective parts to help Team Canada to a perfect 3-0-0-0 record in the preliminary round, with an impressive goal differential of plus-17.

First off, as he usually has been for the past two decades, is Cole Harbour’s own Sidney Crosby, who has six points (two goals, four assists) in the tournament and is now Canada’s all-time leading scorer in Olympics with NHL participation with 16 (six goals, ten assists). Jarome Iginla, who set up Sid for the Golden Goal that gave Canada the 3-2 overtime victory against Team USA in the championship game at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, held the previous record of 14.

Even at 38-years-old, Sid shows no sign of slowing down.

And how about his fellow Cole Harbour native and pal Nathan MacKinnon, who’s right behind him in scoring with five points (two goals, three assists)? Nathan has been waiting a long time to play in his first Olympics and has been going full out as always.

Last but not least, it was great to hear that another Halifax-area native, Brad Marchand, will be back in Canada’s lineup for the stretch drive. Brad’s been banged up a bit this season and sat out the final two games of the preliminary round of the tournament, but they say he’ll be ready to go to bring the energy and enthusiasm he does to every game.

It’s been great to watch all three contribute to what has been an impressive effort by Canada heading into the next series of games. We’re all behind them with support.

Even the kids. Especially the kids.

I coach the Cole Harbour U-13 AAA Wings, the same team Sidney and Nathan once played for. We had a practice scheduled the same time as Canada's game against Switzerland on Friday. Technology allowed us to watch the game in the dressing room up until practice and even use it as a teaching tool.

What’s cool is the kids practice at Cole Harbour Place, the same rink that Sidney and Nathan used to play in. In fact, while the kids were doing drills, they could look up and see banners honoring both Sidney and Nathan dangling from the rafters.

The kids were so all-in, they wore Team Canada jerseys out on the ice in tribute to the entire team and, in particular, the "Nova Scotia trio."

That’s how enthused this area is. And it’s only going to get crazier.

The unique start times (morning and afternoon) have created schedule juggling and work requests that typically aren’t required. Many people watched Canada's opening game versus Czechia at work or, if they could, at home.

Many people are already making so-called “lunch arrangements” for Canada’s quarterfinal game on Wednesday and, hopefully, similar plans for the remainder of the week.

Big Leagues Pub & Eatery, a local sports bar which has locations in both Cole Harbour and in Bayers Lake (close to where Marchand played minor hockey) has applied for liquor licensing hours extensions for their locations so that they can host viewing parties on Sunday morning, which is when the gold medal game in Milan is scheduled to be played. They have indicated that they have been getting tons of requests for reservations.

Should Canada play in the gold medal game, members of the Cole Harbour Minor Hockey Association and the local community would fill the venue.

Here on the east coast, an entire community and province, not to mention an entire country, certainly is hoping they do.