Sidney Crosby leads Canada through “super intense” first practice

Team Canada hit the ice for their first practice ahead of Wednesday evening's tournament opening game against Sweden. Captain Sidney Crosby officially confirmed this morning that he'll be in the lineup on Wednesday evening and even helped put the team through their paces at practice this morning in Montreal.

“Everything went well,” Crosby said following practice. “I feel good from that standpoint. There’s been a lot of questions. A lot of, ‘How are you feeling?’ the last five days, so I’m excited just to get into a routine here and get back to normal.”

Crosby took line rushes with Mark Stone and Nathan MacKinnon as his wingers. 

“It’s funny how quickly you jell in a day, even,” MacKinnon said. “We hung out for seven, eight hours yesterday just around a table, shooting it and having a great time, getting to know each other and today we had a great practice. Guys are super intense, buzzing around."

On Crosby's decision to play despite maybe not being 100%, MacKinnon said it's special to suit up alongside his childhood hero.

“It means a lot to us,” MacKinnon said. “I think all of us would have been really bummed if he wasn’t here. He’s our captain. I think most of us grew up huge fans of him, I’m sure. I think this is his first time playing with a bunch of fans of his, for him. I think he looks great and I think he feels pretty healthy. But if he’s not, then he’s the last guy I’m worried about in terms of toughness.”

When asked about the opportunity to play alongside Crosby for the tournament, Stone admitted that his “heart was pounding.”

Here's how the rest of Canada's roster shook down in practice today:

For our earlier report on Crosby and his decision today, read below for our report from Hockey Feed staff writer Jonathan Larrivee.

After a great deal of speculation, concern and consternation, it is now official.

On Monday afternoon, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby officially confirmed his participation for the upcoming Four Nations Face-Off tournament. Crosby did so by confirming that he will play in his country's very first game of the tournament, which will be this coming Wednesday against Sweden.

There had been some concern that Crosby would be forced to pull out of the Four Nations Face-Off after he suffered an injury during an awkward collision with New Jersey Devils' forward Erik Haula earlier this month. Crosby has not appeared in an NHL game since suffering the injury but it would seem that he was determined to represent his country at this tournament.

Here's a look at how the Penguins captain was injured:

That Crosby will be playing in this tournament after missing NHL games may not sit well with some fans in Pittsburgh, the Penguins acknowledged that Crosby had more than earned the right to make this decision after being such a loyal staple of their franchise for his entire NHL career thus far.

Crosby will now join some of the NHL's truly elite talent in the Canadian lineup, and this tournament will be all that much more exciting to watch with him participating in it.

If you'd like to check out Team Canada's lineup you can do so by reading my report from earlier today.