'If Anyone Can Relate To That, I Think It's Me': Sidney Crosby And Team Canada React To Connor McDavid's Golden Goal
Oilers captain Connor McDavid's golden goal from Thursday night's 4 Nations Face-Off championship game still doesn't quite feel real.
Connor McDavid celebrates his gold-medal-winning goal. (Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images)What are the odds that, once again, the best player in the world scores the gold-medal winning goal in overtime for Canada to beat the United States? If Sidney Crosby's golden goal in 2010 felt like a miracle, then McDavid's was nothing short of divine intervention.
"He does so much for his team and the league, there's a lot of expectations," Crosby said of McDavid. "If anyone can relate to that, I think it's me. I think knowing what he puts into it, seeing him get rewarded like that, is huge."
The ever-humble McDavid was, as always, more willing to talk about his teammates than himself even after such a huge moment.
"I thought everyone played tall," he told reporters. "I wasn't great all night, but we just found a way tonight."
"We just needed one look, and Connor was very open," tournament MVP Nathan MacKinnon said after the game. "Usually when he's that open it's in the back of the net."
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Unlike the 2010 Olympics, this year's Canada-U.S.A. final was not an underdog story. The United States may even have been slight favourites this time, and the roiling geopolitical issues between the two countries added extra meaning to what was already a fierce rivalry between two incredible teams.
"It obviously means a lot to our group," McDavid said after the game. "I think a lot of people were wondering what this tournament would mean to guys, and obviously you can see what it means to everyone on our side."
Of course, the biggest story from the final game itself is the inescapable parallel between McDavid and Crosby. Instead of the United States finally slaying the Canadian dragon or the rough-and tumble chaos of Saturday's round-robin game, all the focus is on the two titans of Canadian hockey.
Sidney Crosby raises the 4 Nations Cup. (Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images)"Connor's the best player in our game," said MacKinnon, who knows a little bit about both winning and following in the footsteps of Sidney Crosby. "For him to put it in like that in such an intense atmosphere and a hostile environment for Canadians was special, and hopefully he can do that again next year."
McDavid is certainly hoping the same. He brushed off the comparison to his childhood idol, looking ahead to the 2026 Olympics in Milan.
"Well, he's doing it in the Olympics, and this is just, you know, kind of a little tournament," McDavid said of Crosby's golden goal. "So we want to do it again next February. That's what it comes down to. Obviously this was great, exciting, but the focus is next February and doing it in Italy."
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