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Crosby to captain Canada once again at 4 Nations Face-Off

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Pittsburgh Penguins veteran Sidney Crosby will once again wear the "C" for Team Canada, this time at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The tournament will mark Crosby fourth time serving as captain for Canada, having done so at the 2014 Olympics, the 2015 World Championship and the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Crosby captained the team to championships at each of those tournaments and won an additional Olympic gold as an alternate captain under Scott Niedermayer at Vancouver 2010.

Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche will serve as alternate captains for the upcoming tournament.

McDavid told NHL.com earlier this season that he was backing Crosby to be the team's captain. 

“It should be Sid. It should be Sid for sure, that’s not even a question,” McDavid said. “It’s just how it should be. He’s Sidney Crosby and he’s been there so many times and he’s the guy. It’s not like I thought about it a lot, it’s just such a no-brainer.”

Crosby, 37, has 16 goals and 55 points in 53 games this season.

Canada has a roster spot still to fill ahead of their opening game on Feb. 12 against Sweden after Alex Pietrangelo withdrew from the tournament last week. 

 

4 Nations Leadership Groups Complete

Canada was the final team to name their leadership group on Thursday. 

Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Auston Matthews will captain the United States, Tampa Bay Lightning blueliner Victor Hedman will wear the "C" for Sweden and Aleksander Barkov will captain Finland.

Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers and Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins will serve as alternate captains for the Americans. William Nylander of the Maple Leafs, Penguins defenceman Erik Karlsson and Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm will be alternates for Sweden.

Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho and Mikko Rantanen along with San Jose Sharks centre Mikael Granlund will be the alternates for Team Finland. 

The four-team tournament will run from Feb. 12 to Feb. 20 at the Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston.