NASHVILLE — Several of Nathan MacKinnon’s lifelong hockey dreams came true this past week.
MacKinnon, along with Cale Makar and Devon Toews, had the opportunity to play for Canada in a best-on-best men’s tournament for the first time at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. He had the chance to play with his childhood idol-turned-friend Sidney Crosby in games that matter for the first time.
He also didn’t let down 8-year-old Nathan MacKinnon.
“That’s my hero. That’s my guy,” MacKinnon said Saturday a few hours before returning to play with the Colorado Avalanche. “It was really cool. I definitely felt pressure there, too. I didn’t want to lose playing with Sid.
“My 8-year-old self definitely wouldn’t have wanted that, either. Just got to do it again in 12 months.”
The morning of Canada’s first game at the tournament, the NHL posted a video on social media of MacKinnon watching a video from his sister, Sarah. MacKinnon got emotional during the video, particularly when she said, “Maybe think about telling 8-year-old Nathan that you’re playing for Team Canada, with and against the best players in the world with some of your closest friends.”
He said that his 8-year-old self wouldn’t believe that someday he’d play for Canada alongside Crosby, who also grew up in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, and was the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft eight years before him.
So what would young Nathan think of how the tournament turned out? All MacKinnon did was score the first best-on-best goal in nine years, less than one minute into the tournament, on a pass from Crosby. Then he went on to lead the event with four goals in four games, including the opener in a 3-2 overtime win against the United States in the championship game, and earn tournament MVP honors.
“I don’t think he could have comprehended that,” MacKinnon said. “Just being there and having a role on Team Canada, let alone a prominent role and being relied upon, that’s a lot of pressure.
“I didn’t know what to expect. So many past tournaments, before I blossomed a little bit more, I would be a depth guy. I wouldn’t have had a big role. So coming to this and having a big role right away is a big difference. I’m glad I experienced this before the Olympics.”
MacKinnon called the first goal against Sweden at an electric Bell Centre one of the most memorable goals of his career. Canada lost to the Americans in round-robin play in Montreal but came back and got revenge in the final at TD Garden in Boston.
Cale Makar, who didn’t play in the first game against the U.S. because he was sick, helped set up the tournament-winning goal by Connor McDavid in overtime.
“Yeah, it was pretty cool. To be out on the ice for that was pretty sick,” Makar said. “I felt like, when I kind of saw (McDavid) in the slot there, I was like ‘Alright, he’s got a good chance.’ And it was nice to end it there and not go too deep into OT.”
The entire tournament was a success, but the two U.S.-Canada showdowns in particular were a watershed moment in recent hockey history. Given the political tensions between the two countries, the three fights in nine seconds in Montreal and the incredible combination of speed and physicality, hockey is having a moment beyond its usual place in the sports landscape.
There have been plenty of great U.S.-Canada games — the 2002, 2010 and 2014 Olympics, the 1996 World Cup — but the Americans fielded their best team ever, and it took everything the Canadians had to fend them off in the end.
“I think what made it so special is how bad the Americans wanted to win, too,” MacKinnon said. “We felt a lot of pressure as a country to win. Yeah, if we were playing a bunch of 4-year-olds, it wouldn’t have felt that great.
“It’s a healthy rivalry. We respect them. They respect us. But we don’t love them and they don’t love us, either. It was great. Everyone had a blast watching. I couldn’t believe how many texts I had after we won.”
This tournament was considered an appetizer for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, and now that tournament can’t get here fast enough. It will likely be another chance for all three of the Avs’ Canadians to wear the maple leaf on their chests.
Between now and then, MacKinnon finally has something over Crosby, the player and the standard he’s been chasing his entire life. MacKinnon is only the third player in hockey history to be the reigning NHL MVP and the MVP of the most recent best-on-best tournament, joining Joe Sakic (2002) and Wayne Gretzky (1987).
“Honestly, I don’t think about that at all,” MacKinnon said. “I already forgot about the tournament MVP. Individual success, you can’t share with anybody. It’s all about the team stuff.”
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