Well it is Sunday, two days after the opening ceremonies, and just days ahead of this Thursday’s kick-off to their men’s ice hockey tournament as part of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and Canada made some fun news. Today, they named their captains. This news may have been around for a while, but today it was made official. No surprise, the veteran, the scorer of the 2010 Olympic Golden Goal, Sidney Crosby will wear the C. The two A’s will go to, perhaps the greatest player in the game right now, Connor McDavid, and maybe the best defenceman in the world, Cale Makar. This is a highly-skilled roster, and why not have the most skilled players lead. They will be sure to lead by example throughout the tourney, as they try to bring home (another) gold for Canada.
Meet the captains! / Voici nos capitaines! 🇨🇦
C: Sidney Crosby (@HockeyNS)
A: Connor McDavid (@OHFHockey)
A: Cale Makar (@HockeyAlberta)#MilanoCortina2026 pic.twitter.com/7V2wXOQFKH— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) February 8, 2026
Canada Has Named Sidney Crosby their Captain
Crosby’s record of leadership, is among the most elite of all-time. Certainly, he is the greatest of his generation. Since he came into the league in 2005, he has captained three Stanley Cup winners. Only Jonathan Toews has achieved that accomplishment, in that span of time. Additionally, Crosby captained two non-Olympic best-on-best Team Canadas (2016 World Cup, 2025 4 Nations Face-Off) to championships.
From his previous two trips to the Olympics, winning gold each time we might add, he was an assistant (2010 Vancouver) and then captain (2014 Sochi). In his three career trips to the World Championships, he twice was captain and once assistant. The only time representing Canada in a major international event where he didn’t wear a letter, was at his two trips to the World Juniors. But then again, not being drafted yet, he was a little young to get a letter.
As for Makar, he hasn’t had a huge standing of wearing a letter on his jersey, you know, outside of the NHL, say. The only time he wore a ‘C’ was in his sophomore season at UMASS. Furthermore, he has had the ‘A’ with the Colorado Avalanche for the past five seasons. He also was an assistant captain at the 4 Nations tourney. But again, he is a leader. He is probably the best defenceman, on perhaps the best defensive team in tournament. Although, their is stiff competition for that title, such as the Victor Hedman led Team Sweden or Quinn Hughes and Team USA.
Connor McDavid has arguably been the best player, during his time in the NHL. He has been the captain of his Edmonton Oilers in every year in the league, except his rookie season. He also wore the ‘C’ for the Erie Otters in his junior days, impressive when you consider he was 17, at that time. Finally, he has even wore the ‘C’ internationally, at the 2018 World Championships and representing Team North America at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.
There is Plenty of Leadership Qualities on this Roster
Canada had plenty of options, but ultimately made a great choice, going with the best. Other current captains from around the NHL on this roster include Brad Marchand, Mark Stone and Nick Suzuki. Moreover, Drew Doughty wouldn’t have been a bad choice. He is the only player, along with Crosby, going for their third career Olympic Gold Medal.
Since the NHL starting going to the Olympics, other captains include Eric Lindros, Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic, and Scott Niedermayer. In the two years NHLers didn’t go, 2018 and 2022, two former NHLers were captains, Chris Kelly and Eric Staal, respectively.
Canada begins their tournament 10:40 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thursday, February 12th versus a David Pastrnak led Team Czechia.
Main Photo Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images
