Marchand excited to play with Crosby, MacKinnon at 4 Nations Face-Off
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Boston Bruins veteran winger Brad Marchand has plenty of reasons to be excited for next month's 4 Nations Face-Off.
Not only will the 36-year-old native of Halifax get to wear the Maple Leaf for the third time in his professional career, but he'll have the opportunity to play alongside two of the greatest athletes from his home province of Nova Scotia.
Cole Harbour's Sidney Crosby and Halifax's Nathan Mackinnon joined Marchand as part of Canada's original six selections for their 4 Nations Face-Off roster last June.
All three are excited to play with each other for the first time on the international stage in a best-on-best tournament.
“Yeah, we talk a lot,” the two-time All-Star told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic. “We have a good group chat going. We’re all very excited. It’s a privilege to be able to play on the same team as those guys. We have fun and practice together in the summertime.
“It’s not often you have a dynamic like the one we have on a team. We’re all very excited and proud of it and really looking forward to playing together.”
The 29-year-old MacKinnon, who is putting together another prolific season with the Colorado Avalanche, scoring 14 goals with 52 assists across 41 games, shares the same sentiment as Marchand
“I’m very excited to play with everyone and especially Brad and Sid,” said MacKinnon, who put up a career-best 140 points in 2023-24. “They were two of my role models growing up and paved the way for me to chase my dreams of playing in the NHL. Two of the most competitive guys in the league. We’re all lucky to have them on Team Canada!”
Marchand and Crosby played together at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, the most recent best-on-best international hockey tournament as NHL players have been absent from past two Olympics.
“It will be cool to play with them. We skate a lot together in the summer, and I’m really grateful to be with them on the same team,” said the 37-year-old Crosby, who has 11 goals and 31 assists across 41 games in his 20th season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Marchand scored five goals and three assists over six games at that World Cup, helping Canada capture gold. The 2011 Stanley Cup champion also helped Canada win the gold medal at the 2016 World Championship a few months earlier, netting four goals and three assists in 10 games. Marchand won back-to-back gold medals at the 2007 and 2008 World Juniors as well. But the Bruins captain said the World Cup was his favourite international hockey experience.
“The World Cup is by far my favorite,” Marchand explained. “Just because when I got to the NHL, I never, ever thought or expected that I could be at that level or be part of a team like that. I remember my first day sitting down in that room and looking around and thinking, ‘I don’t belong here.’
“From where my career started to get to that point, it was such a tremendous growth or 180 jump to even be in conversation with that group. So that was really special. And it kind of projected me to the last eight years and how things have gone. To be part of that group and be so nervous going into it and not feeling I belong, to how comfortable I got pretty quickly and how close I became with some of the guys was obviously pretty special.”
A third-round selection in 2006, Marchand has scored 15 goals and 17 assists in 42 games with the Bruins in 2024-25, his 16th season in the NHL.
Crosby has the most international experience among the three, winning Olympic gold for his country in 2010 and 2014.
Despite no Olympic appearances on his resume, which might change a year from now if he makes Team Canada for the 2026 Olympics in Italy, Marchand is fully aware of the pressure playing for Team Canada.
“That’s what comes with playing for Canada,” Marchand said. “It’s the country that cares about hockey the most. It’s the most scrutinized. That’s part of being in the position we’re in. And we’ll take that any day.”
The best-on-best tournament begins on Feb. 12 with Canada taking on Sweden at Bell Centre in Montreal. Canada then plays the United States on Feb. 15, also from Bell Centre, before travelling to TD Garden in Boston to battle Finland on Feb. 17.
The top two teams after round-robin play will square off in the championship game on Feb. 20 in Boston.