Connor McDavid wore the C for Canada for the first time on Olympic ice, and if he was feeling the weight on his shoulders, he certainly didn't let it show, even when things got pretty uncomfortable against Finland.
And uncomfortable is putting it mildly. Canada allowed Finland to cruise to a 1-0 lead on the power play, and before Canadian fans could fully process what was happening, the Finns had pushed it to 2-0, a cushion that had people across the country quietly wondering who to cheer for in the other semifinal.
For a team with this much talent, going down two goals to Finland in an Olympic semifinal is the kind of thing that tests not just skill, but the quality of leadership that can pull a group back from the edge before the situation gets away from them entirely.
Canada responded. They scored, they clawed their way back into it, and they didn't let their newly appointed captain down when the moment demanded more from them. The details of the comeback are important, don't get me wrong, but so does the broader picture of what this game revealed about this team and the man wearing the C.
Because when McDavid stood in front of the cameras in his post-game media availability, this is what he offered: "Just keeping the seat warm for Sid."
Humble, measured, and entirely on brand for a player who has never been particularly comfortable absorbing the kind of praise constantly being thrown his way. He knows why he's wearing the C, and he has no interest in pretending otherwise.
Crosby got hurt, he didn't retire, didn't hand over the reins permanently, and McDavid is acutely aware of that distinction.
A 2-0 deficit in an Olympic semifinal, in your captaincy debut, against a defending gold medal team, that's a pressure cooker, but the response Canada showed in clawing back into that game doesn't happen in a vacuum. It happens because of the energy on the bench, the belief that something can be salvaged, and the tone set by the players who've been trusted to lead.
McDavid might be keeping the seat warm, but he was doing a lot more than that when Canada needed a response.
There's also a hypothetical worth sitting with for a moment. Had Canada lost this game, gone down 2-0 and never recovered, the conversation around McDavid's ability to lead this group would have been loud and unforgiving. Hockey is not a forgiving sport in more ways than one, and a semifinal exit in McDavid's first game as captain would have followed him into every future leadership conversation for years.
The fact that Canada found a way to come back doesn't just keep their gold medal hopes alive, but it removes that particular narrative before it ever has a chance to take root.
Finland was no pushover in this one either, and it's worth acknowledging that. The defending champions play a suffocating defensive game that makes life difficult for even the most skilled teams, and getting two goals against Canada in a semifinal is no accident.
They tested Canada in a way that few teams can, and for a stretch of this game, they had the better of it.
Canada's response said plenty about the depth of this roster and the belief that runs through it, but it also said that McDavid is the kind of player you need when games stop being comfortable, and when the team around him needs more than just skill. He delivered, quietly, without flourish, the way he tends to do everything.
He'll hand the C back to Crosby when the captain is healthy, and he'll do it without any ceremony or reluctance. That much is obvious.
But if Canada goes on to win gold in Milan, tonight's semifinal will be remembered as the night they had to dig deep, with McDavid leading the way, even if he'd never describe it that way himself.
Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site to never miss the latest news, game-day coverage, and more. Add us to your Google News favourites, and never miss a story.