4-nations: Sidney Crosby “barked” and got what he wanted

The two North American rivals squared off in an epic clash in the 4 Nations Face-Off final Thursday in Boston. And you could not have scripted it any better. The final game went to overtime between Team USA and Team Canada, and none other than Connor McDavid played the country’s hero, scoring at 8:18 of overtime as Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in a riveting showdown.

McDavid as named game MVP, while Nathan MacKinnon was named tournament MVP.

The boys, led by captain Sidney Crosby, hoisted the trophy and partied in the dressing room.

The 4 Nations Face-Off tournament replaced the traditional NHL All-Star break. It was a round-robin tournament that featured the United States, Canada, Sweden and Finland.

The idea of holding the tournament emerged after he NHL barred its players from competing in the last two Winter Olympics. This led to the 4-nations showdown in which international hockey again had the “best-on-best” facing off against each other.

According to Jeff Marek, the concept was pushed by none other than Sidney Crosby, who, per the insider, “barked” to get what he wanted in order to provide fans the “best-on-best” hockey.

As Marek put it in his podcast:

“Just to be blunt Crosby barked. Crosby barked really loud about this. He’s the biggest star in the game.

There is an element of to use an established phrase “give the baby his bottle”

Okay you want international hockey before the Olympics we will do something.”

You can listen to the segment here down below:

Crosby has never denied his desire to represent his country again and admitted before how he would welcome the chance to add a third medal to his count in 2026 when the NHL returns to Olympic competition in Milan, even though he will be 38 when it comes around.

The NHL has played in five previous Olympics and came close in 2022 in Beijing before COVID-19 interrupted their plans.

During the hiatus, Crosby was always vocal about the need to bring back “best-on-best” hockey and made sure he was heard by the NHL. And finally he finally got his wish.

And I mean, it was an awesome tournament! Aren’t you glad the Pittsburgh Penguins captain barked?