Crosby will play for Canada at 4 Nations Face-Off

BROSSARD, Quebec -- There were 60-plus reporters surrounding the podium at CN Sports Complex on Monday, a seemingly endless sea of cameras, phones and microphones all poised for a highly anticipated press conference to start.

It was the type of reception normally reserved for a movie star, a head of state or some kind of royalty.

As such, it was fitting.

Because in Canada, Sidney Crosby is royalty.

Hockey royalty.

And with the entire country holding its collective breath about whether "Captain Canada," as teammate Cale Makar calls him, would be able to play in the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, he walked into the room, sat behind the microphone and was asked if he was ready to go.

"Yeah," he said.

It was the one word so many Canadians from St. John's to Squamish wanted to hear, whether they be casual fans at home or his fellow teammates who will be representing their country with him.

Crosby will continue to be checked out by doctors the next two days but expects to play in Canada's opening game against Sweden at Bell Centre in Montreal on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS).

The 37-year-old's status had been up in the air after he was involved in a collision with New Jersey Devils defenseman Luke Hughes and forward Erik Haula midway through the third period of a 3-2 shootout loss on Feb. 4. Crosby appeared to favor his left arm following the collision but returned after several minutes and took part in the shootout.

After missing the Pittsburgh Penguins next two games prior to the 4 Nations break, there were no shortage of questions regarding the availability of the Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, native, even within the Canadian dressing room.

"When we saw him get hurt, I think most guys were concerned," forward Mark Stone said. "Obviously we want him here. He's the captain of our team, he's been to every best-on-best that we've had in the last, whatever, 10, 15 years.

"He's really won everything there is to win."

Even his pal Nathan MacKinnon, a fellow Cole Harbour native, wondered what was going on with his friend.

"I was calling him quite a bit but he wasn't answering my calls. I kept bothering him," MacKinnon said with a chuckle.

"I don't think he likes people asking him how he's doing to be honest."

There were plenty of people doing just that.

"There's been a lot of questions. A lot of, 'How are you feeling?' the last five days," Crosby said. "So, I'm excited just to get into a routine here and get back to normal."

After getting medical clearance Monday morning, he stepped onto the ice for Canada's first practice wearing a huge smile on his face, much like his teammates had at the sight of him stickhandling and shooting pucks seemingly without any issues.

"I never really had a doubt, to be honest," MacKinnon said. "He's so tough."

That being said, Crosby said it was not an easy road to get here the past week.

"It's a long process," he said. "I met with a couple different doctors, and obviously we were playing a couple games before the break. I was ruled out for those. And then a couple days here later, I've talked to docs here and had some good dialogue with the coaches and just seeing where I was at.

"Obviously today was the first time I skated with the group. I was skating on my own prior to that. Everything went well. I feel good from that standpoint."

And when Crosby feels good, especially while wearing a Canadian jersey, the results usually are too.

He has won gold medals with Canada at the 2005 IIHF World Junior Championship, the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, when he scored the golden goal in overtime against the United States, the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2015 IIHF World Hockey Championship, and also captained his country to the title at the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.

In the process, Canada has won 25 straight games in tournament play with Crosby in the lineup, having not lost since a 5-3 loss to the United States in the preliminary rounds of the Vancouver Games on Feb. 21, 2010.

"This is an awesome opportunity, something I haven't done in a long time," Crosby said. "I wanted to be part of this group and obviously also wanted to make sure that I can play at the level that you need to to compete here.

"Everybody seemed comfortable with that, and I feel good about it."

So, too, does MacKinnon, especially since he'll be playing on the same line with Crosby. The two scrimmage against each other in the Halifax area during the summer but normally line up on opposite sides. Stone will be the third member of that line.

"Obviously it's incredible," MacKinnon said of playing with Crosby. "He's one of the best players ever.

"Being close to him, it's not too weird for me. It's easy communication. We spend so much time together. If I didn't know him, I'd probably be really, really intimidated. Wouldn't know what to say to him.

"He's one of the smartest players ever to play."

You don't have to sell Mike Sullivan on that. He already knows.

Sullivan is the coach of the Penguins and was behind the bench when Crosby and his teammates won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017. For the next two weeks, however, they'll be on opposite sides with Sullivan coaching the United States.

"It's going to be a little awkward for me not having him on the same bench," Sullivan admitted.

Speaking of awkward, that's exactly how Canada's Seth Jarvis felt when he walked into the dressing room and found out his cubicle was directly next to Crosby's.

"Surreal," the 23-year-old Carolina Hurricanes forward said. "I mean, when he scored the golden goal that won Canada the gold medal against the U.S. at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, I was 8 years old attending a friend's birthday party in Winnipeg.

"Now I'm sitting next to him and playing on the same team. Unbelievable. Just so happy to see him out there."

He's not the only one.