Sidney Crosby and Erik Karlsson were named as captains for their respective nations, and head coach Mike Sullivan's leadership group was revealed Thursday

After a seven-game, 15-day road trip, Pittsburgh Penguins players were happy to get back home and settled in for practice on home ice Friday afternoon.

But, the big topic of conversation Friday was the upcoming 4 Nations Face-off, as team captains and alternate captains were named on Thursday.

Longtime Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was named "Captain Canada" - again - while Erik Karlsson was named as an assistant captain for Team Sweden. This will be Crosby's fourth stint as captain for Canada internationally, and he has taken home gold in all three of his previous stints at the 2014 Olympic games, at the 2015 IIHF World Championship, and at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

And given the selection pool of players this time around, he feels honored to be distinguished among that group.

"I think when you get on those teams, there's so many great leaders," Crosby said. "I think, for me, having the opportunity to play for Team Canada, be part of this group... you know, it's been a long time. So, regardless of who is wearing the letters, I think there's a lot of great leaders, and I'm just really happy to be able to play for Team Canada again." 

Karlsson has also donned a letter for Sweden before, which was during that same World Cup in 2016. He said guys are eager to play internationally again - as that hasn't happened since 2016 - and that it's a unique experience this time around because so many players have never played an NHL best-on-best international tournament.

"It's, obviously, a huge honor. It feels great," Karlsson said. "I'm excited about it, and it's been a while since nay nation put the best team forward. So, it's going to be an interesting one to play in, and I think we're all looking forward to it even more.

"There's a lot of guys that haven't been able to play best-on-best. I think they're excited about playing with all the guys that you play against and watch, especially from your own nation. It's going to be fun playing against other teams as well. They have their best players. So, it's going to be a fun tournament, and it's going to be fun to hang out with the Swedish crew again and talk some Swedish... eat some Swedish candy... and just hang out. I think it's long overdue."

This will also be Karlsson's first time squaring off against Crosby in a couple of years, as well as the first time internationally since 2016. Despite getting to know some of Crosby's tendencies as a teammate, he's not sure it will matter much against a guy like 87, and he's ready for the challenge.

"I don't think there's any secret to playing him," Karlsson laughed. "You're gonna have to play him hard, and you're gonna have to move your feet, stay on the right side, and be aware of where he is. Luckily, I've had a lot of practice over the years, so it shouldn't be something new for me."

Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan - who is coaching Team USA - also spoke highly of his leadership group consisting of captain Auston Matthews and assistants Matthew Tkachuk and Charlie MacAvoy:

"The one thing I will tell you is that when we look at the group we have for the U.S. team - and I'm sure every nation can say the same thing - there's a lot of leaders on those teams," Sullivan said. "We feel like we have a bunch of them. So, even though there will be some guys who don't wear letters, we know that these guys are going to be a big part of the leadership group."

He continued: "The three guys that are wearing letters... I think they represent everything that we'd like to be as a team. They're good professionals, they're passionate guys, they love hockey... they're incredibly good at what they do. I think their personalities are a little bit different. 

"Auston isn't so much a 'rah-rah' guy, but he leads by example with the way he plays the game. And that might be the best way leadership manifests itself in a team sport. I think Charlie and Matthew are more... they're two guys that are going to drag us into the fight. They're vocal guys, they're emotional guys, I think they're two guys that will carry that torch for us."

The 4 Nations Face-off kicks off at 8:00 p.m. on Feb. 12, which will feature Crosby's Team Canada against Karlsson's Team Sweden right from the jump. There will be round-robin play up until the championship game on Feb. 20 in Boston, and the two participants will be determined by the two highest "points totals" earned.

Teams are awarded three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime/shootout win, and one point for an overtime/shootout loss.