This is what the Olympics are all about and Sidney Crosby’s words about his teammate say it all
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Jonathan Ouimet
Feb 17, 2026 (8:25 PM)
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![US, Mexico Canada customers only] Feb 13, 2026; Milan, Italy; Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Darcy Kuemper and Logan Thompson of Canada celebrate after the match against Switzerland in men's ice hockey group A play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/i/photo/643095.webp "US, Mexico Canada customers only] Feb 13, 2026; Milan, Italy; Nathan MacKinnon, Sidney Crosby, Darcy Kuemper and Logan Thompson of Canada celebrate after the match against Switzerland in men's ice hockey group A play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.")
Photo credit: Marton Monus/Reuters via Imagn Images
Sidney Crosby praising Connor McDavid at the Olympics hits different, because Team Canada and Olympic hockey are built on rivals choosing trust in real time.
Crosby isn’t handing out compliments to be polite. When he says a guy is driving the whole thing, it’s because the bench feels it.
Mark Masters shared Crosby’s take after Canada’s latest game. Crosby said McDavid is “doing everything,” and “leading by example.”
That’s the fascinating part of best-on-best. These guys spend most of the year trying to ruin each other’s nights, then they snap into the same mission.
Canada rolled through the preliminary round undefeated, and the vibe around the group has been calm, almost clinical.
McDavid has backed it up with production, including a 1-2-3 line in the blowout win over France.
Here’s the post with Crosby’s quote about McDavid.
You can feel the respect underneath it. Crosby knows what it takes to carry expectations, and he recognizes the same burden on McDavid’s shoulders.
The Olympics also force a different kind of leadership. There’s no time to “grow into it” when the medal rounds are one bad shift away.
Sidney Crosby and Team Canada turn rivals into brothers
As a fan, it’s honestly wild seeing people you’ve argued about for a decade suddenly protect each other like they’ve played together forever.
You saw that same solidarity when Nathan MacKinnon took a high elbow from France’s Pierre Crinon. It wasn’t a maybe, it was a moment that could have changed the tournament.
Tom Wilson answered immediately, fighting Crinon even with Olympic rules making that an automatic ejection. That’s not subtle support, that’s a line in the sand.
Crinon was later suspended by the French federation after the incident, which tells you how seriously this all escalated.
MacKinnon appears to be fine, and Canada kept rolling. But the message landed, this group is protecting its own.
That’s the Olympics in a class of its own. National sweaters flip the usual rivalries on their head, and suddenly respect is the loudest thing on the ice.
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