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MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 12: Captain, Sidney Crosby #87 of Team Canada react with Connor McDavid #97 during the Men's Ice Hockey - Group A match between Team Czech Republic and Team Canada on day six of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 12, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Xavier Laine/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hold the Claude Giroux jokes, we might finally be seeing a real passing of the torch at the 2026 Olympics.
Olympics.com: “How Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby is passing the torch to Connor McDavid at Winter Olympics 2026”
The evidence focused on symbolism, when Connor McDavid was the last player in line to take the ice.
Fans of the Penguins will know this is nothing new, Evgeni Malkin famously used “three years Super league” to pull rank and be last in line ever since his NHL debut, so in some veins the superstitious Crosby has no qualms about positioning of heading to the rink.
On the ice it was there too in a bigger way. McDavid created 14 chance contributions against the Czechs more than double of anyone else out there. Crosby was way down the list with two.
Of course, the torch may have been actually passed a long time ago as far as which player ascended to the higher level. McDavid already owns far more individual trophies (5 Art Ross scoring titles, 3 Hart MVPs) than Crosby (2 Art Ross’s and Hart’s). It’s just that it’s more dramatic on ice and in symbolism seeing the 29-year old McDavid take the lead as Team Canada’s dominant player for the first time at the Olympics, the position Crosby held down in the 2010’s.
The magic comes when the two are together on the power play. Combined with fellow all-world player Nathan MacKinnon, Canada’s power play down low is absolutely frightening with the amount of talent they push near the net.
Crosby, 38, has not declared this will be his final Olympics, though the question about a potentially 42-year old playing in 2029-30 and being able to perform at the level of the mighty Canadian Olympic team area answers itself.
The good news for all is that the Milan games might not be the final international ‘best on best’ even for Crosby. Relations are good between the NHL, NHLPA and IIHF these days and a post-Olympics announcement is expected with details on a 2028 World Cup of Hockey.
At this point with the games underway, Canada faces off against Switzerland this morning, it doesn’t really matter who the symbolic best player is or where the offense is coming from. Crosby chipped in two assists in the first game and is still a key figure in aura and literally for the Canadians. There of course is no actual physical torch out there that the game’s best carries, just a figurative one. For now, all Crosby and McDavid are looking for is a gold medal and the team glory that comes with it.
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