McDavid relishing first chance to play for Canada at Olympics

EDMONTON -- The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are less than two weeks away, but Connor McDavid says they have been in the back of his mind all season.

"Going into the summer, you know you need a big summer and a big year," the Edmonton Oilers captain said Wednesday. "You have to play a lot of hockey and get yourself ready for what should be a great tournament. I'm definitely excited about it, it's on my mind a lot these days for sure and I'm excited to get going."

With NHL players participating in the Olympics for the first time since 2014, this is McDavid's first chance to play for Team Canada in the Games.

"It's the biggest sporting event in the world and to do it together with 25 of Canada's best hockey players, it's a dream come true, it really is," McDavid said. "I know everybody feels the same way and we're just looking for the opportunity to go over and play."

Edmonton has four games remaining on its schedule before the Olympic break.

The Oilers host the San Jose Sharks on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; SN1, NBCSCA), the Minnesota Wild on Saturday and the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday, before traveling to play the Calgary Flames on Wednesday.

McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and recently recalled forward Josh Samanski will represent the Oilers at the Olympics. Draisaitl, and Samanski, who made his NHL debut in a 7-4 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday, will play for Team Germany.

The men's Olympic hockey tournament begins Feb. 11, and concludes with the gold medal game Feb. 22. Canada is in Group A of the 12-team tournament with Czechia, Switzerland and France.

Canada's first game is against Czechia on Feb. 12 (10:40 a.m. ET; USA, CBC Gem, CBC).

The Olympics open on Feb. 6, but McDavid is not sure if he will be able to take in any other events while in Italy.

"It's the Olympic Games, but it's a hockey tournament at the end of the day, and we're there to play hockey and we're there to do a job," McDavid said. "It will be cool to experience the city and know what it's like. I think (events) are pretty spread out this year with things happening all over the place, so it might be a little bit of a unique experience. But we're there to play a hockey tournament and are there to win."

Canada has won gold at three of the five Olympic tournaments featuring NHL players: 2002 (Salt Lake City), 2010 (Vancouver) and 2014 (2014). The Czech Republic won in 1998 (Nagano) and Sweden won in 2006 (Turin). The NHL did not participate at the Olympics in 2018 (Pyeongchang) and 2022 (Beijing).

"I vaguely remember the 2002 one," said McDavid, who is now 29. "I remember the whole thing with the Looney and the ice that was a pretty cool story looking back on. Obviously there's the Sid (Crosby) one in 2010. I remember that one pretty good."

Crosby scored the golden goal to defeat the United States 3-2 in overtime of the gold medal game in 2010, which became an iconic hockey moment in Canada.

McDavid had a similar moment at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February, scoring in overtime in a 3-2 win against the United States in the championship game.

The four-team tournament last season gave hockey fans a taste of what to expect at the Olympics.

"The whole point of the tournament was to play for something, but I think all the teams that played in that are better for it, working out some of the kinks," McDavid said. "There are some changes (to rosters) here and there, but not many to most teams that were there. There should be a little bit of familiarity there, not only with the players, but the staff and the support staff as well. We should be able to get over there and be comfortable right away."

McDavid took a starring role at 4 Nations and is expected to take another at the Olympics, but said everyone has part to play in trying to win gold for Canada.

"I know my place in that room and it's a great room, there's a lot of great players, a lot of great voices and leaders," he said. "Everybody just has to do their part, that's all it is, that's what makes a team like that special. Everybody can contribute in their own way and I'm looking to do that obviously."

Throughout the season, the focus for McDavid has been on getting the Oilers back in a playoff position to take another run at the Stanley Cup after falling short to the Florida Panthers in each of the past two years. But that hasn't stopped members of the Olympic team discussing a return to the global stage, particularly once the entire Canadian team was announced on New Year's Eve.

"There's lots of things that go on behind the scenes, lots of conversations that go on, little interactions here and there," McDavid said. "Even though we're out playing against each other, I think there is still an understanding that we're going to be teammates in a couple of weeks. We play hard obviously, but there is still that little relationship there. There's lots of things that go on behind the scenes that will allow us to hit the ground running in Italy."