Stopping Team Canada Feels Like an Unsolvable Puzzle

How does one stop a freight train?

No, that’s not a riddle. It’s a question that has a simple answer: You don’t.

Replace the words “freight train” with “Team Canada,” and the answer is pretty much the same. One simply doesn’t stop the Canadians from accomplishing their hockey dreams. If one does, it’s a minor miracle.

It’s not because there aren’t talented players on other national teams. Quite the opposite is true, actually. The United States is filled to the brim with star power; the same is true for Finland, Sweden and even the Czech Republic. But none employ the likes of Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Macklin Celebrini and a host of other top-line players. Therein lies the difference.

An Embarrassment of Riches Up North

Team Canada forward Sidney Crosb — Feb 20, 2025; Boston, MA, USA; [Imagn Images direct customers only] Team Canada forward Sydney Crosby (87) during the 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey championship game against the United States at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

McDavid’s prowess is fairly self-explanatory. Over the course of a 10-year NHL career, the former No. 1 overall pick — as so many Team Canada players are — has won the Hart Memorial Trophy three times and has consistently been one of the league’s top scorers. When people compile a list of the best players in the NHL, McDavid’s name is usually at the top.

The same can be said for MacKinnon. Just like McDavid, scoring is not a problem for the Colorado Avalanche center. He currently leads the league in goals with 40, which has helped the Avalanche become the bona fide top team in hockey. What he has that McDavid doesn’t is a Stanley Cup — he won his first and only championship during the 2021-22 season.

But the buck ultimately doesn’t stop with those two — it stops with Sidney Crosby. The captain and leader of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Crosby is the heart and soul of Canadian hockey. He has been a force for so long that players like McDavid, MacKinnon and young superstar Macklin Celebrini, who all grew up watching Crosby dominate, are now competing alongside him in pursuit of a gold medal. Sometimes life truly does come full circle. His presence alongside the talent of McDavid and MacKinnon fully rounds out the roster and makes it almost impossible to stop, especially with him having one of the best seasons of his career. Crosby has posted 59 points in 55 games at age 38.

With all that talent, it’s clear that stopping Canada will be tough — impossible, maybe. But this is hockey, a game that is unpredictable at its core, and anything can happen. Even the most loaded teams (just ask the 2022-23 Boston Bruins) can succumb to pressure at any given moment. And even though that is unlikely given the abundance of experience Crosby, McDavid, MacKinnon and so many others bring to the table, it’s hard to imagine anything less than a podium finish being in the cards for Team Canada. In fact, anything short of a gold medal might even be considered a failure — the team is that good.

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