Connor McDavid’s Olympic Dream Finally Feels Real: Pride, Honor, and the Road to Milano Cortina 2026
As the countdown to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina ticks closer, one of hockey’s brightest stars is letting his excitement show in a way that resonates deeply with fans across Canada. Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid recently opened up about the moment Team Canada’s roster for the Games was announced, describing how the long-awaited opportunity is suddenly sinking in.
Speaking after the Oilers’ morning skate on December 31, 2025—shortly after being named to the squad—McDavid shared a mix of thrill and gratitude that captured the essence of what representing your country truly means.
“As a player, I’m just excited about the fact it’s becoming more real, coming together, the team’s announced, the Olympics are getting closer,” he said. “It gets more and more real by the day.”
For McDavid, who missed the 2022 Beijing Games due to the NHL’s withdrawal amid COVID concerns, this marks his first Olympic appearance. The roster reveal, featuring fellow superstars like Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and rising talent Macklin Celebrini, turned a dream into tangible reality.
“Everyone wants to earn their spot, so it’s an incredible honour to be named to that team,” McDavid added. “It’s an incredible honour to represent your country at the biggest sporting event in the world.”
That quiet intensity in his words—pure pride mixed with the weight of national expectation—has fans reaching for tissues. It’s the kind of heartfelt reflection that reminds everyone why hockey matters so much in Canada: not just for wins, but for the shared identity and joy it brings.
McDavid isn’t resting on the selection either. He emphasized ramping up his game even further as February approaches, adjusting his preparation to peak for the Olympics rather than solely the NHL playoffs. With the 4 Nations Face-Off triumph earlier in 2025 (where McDavid scored the overtime golden goal against the U.S.) still fresh, the momentum is building. That win, celebrated by head coach Jon Cooper’s emotional line—“I just hope Canada is proud, because every player in that room is proud to be a Canadian”—set the tone for what’s coming.
Now, with the maple leaf on his back at the Olympics, McDavid is ready to chase gold on the global stage. For a nation that lives and breathes hockey, his genuine excitement feels like a promise: this isn’t just another tournament—it’s a moment for the country to rally around one of its own.
As McDavid put it, it’s finally real. And for fans everywhere, that’s more than enough to get emotional. 🇨🇦
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics hockey tournament kicks off in February, with Team Canada poised to lead the charge. Stay tuned—history is in the making.
U.S. men’s hockey team eyes gold, ready to challenge Canada at Milan Cortina Olympics
United States’ Brady Tkachuk checks Canada’s Devon Toews (5) during the first period of the 4 Nations Face-Off championship hockey game, Feb. 20, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)
One more goal. That’s how close the U.S. was to beating Canada in the final at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics before losing in overtime.
One more goal. That’s how close the U.S. was from tying Canada in the semifinals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics before losing 1-0.
One more goal. That’s how close the U.S. was to beating Canada in the final at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago before losing in overtime.
“Canada won, right?” U.S. center Jack Eichel said. “So, they’re obviously on top.”
Canada has won every major international men’s hockey tournament featuring a the NHL’s best players over the past 16 years, a run that includes the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. With Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar joining forces for the first time on the same sheet of ice, the nation known as the cradle of the sport goes into the Milan Cortina Olympics next month as the gold medal favorite.
“It’s always been Canada,” longtime U.S. star Patrick Kane said.
The U.S. has been closing ground for decades, and the fight-filled 4 Nations put the border rivalry in the spotlight while ramping up expectations that the Games will be another showcase of North American dominance.
“The men haven’t been able to get over that hump and defeat Canada and win a gold medal, and I think this is their best chance to do it,” said retired U.S. winger T.J. Oshie, whose shootout heroics against host Russia in Sochi is one of the most memorable Olympic moments in history. “This is the best U.S.A. team that I’ve seen. And if they can come together like they did in the 4 Nations, I think that for the first time, I’d say it’s a pretty fair fight going into it.”
European powerhouses Sweden and Finland, the latter being the defending Olympic champion, will be in the mix, as could the Czechs or Germans. But in a tournament without the Russians, the U.S. and Canada look like the teams to beat. BetMGM Sportsbook set Canada as a 5-4 favorite, ahead of the U.S. at just over 2-1.
Canada won the 4 Nations on McDavid’s goal in Boston last February and has the deepest, most talented forward group of any of the 12 countries involved. That includes 19-year-old Macklin Celebrini, who was on the couch cheering last February while in awe of the quality of play on display.
“That was the best hockey I’ve ever watched,” Celebrini said. “Just the pace, the amount of skill, physicality — all of it combined is the best.”
It could be even faster in Milan, and not only because the rinks are more than 3 feet shorter than NHL-regulation length.
“That’ll probably make the game a lot tighter, too,” Makar said. “The Olympics will be a completely different kind of thing, almost even more amplified.”
The U.S. has hopes for its first men’s hockey gold medal at the Olympics since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team. That’s not a pipe dream, as the U.S. National Team Development Program and grassroots growth of the sport has closed the gap on Canada.
“The talent pool and the level of the players of the Americans now I think is as high as it’s ever been,” Kane said. “That’s kind of how we felt in 2010, 2014, (and it) keeps getting better.”
The teams split at the 4 Nations, games that U.S. center Jack Hughes described as crazy and just a taste of what he and other players are in for in Milan.
“Once you see the level of competition at the 4 Nations, you’re so hungry to get back to that and you want to be in the Olympics so bad just because the level of hockey was so high,” said Hughes, who is set to play with older brother Quinn at the Games.
Oshie grew up in Warroad, Minnesota, a 20-minute drive from the Canadian border. He described the simmering rivalry as hatred: “For a long time, they were just almost too good to get past.”
Maybe not anymore, particularly given Canada’s seeming vulnerability in goal and the U.S. strength at hockey’s most important position. But there is no guarantee these teams face off in single-elimination play at the Olympics, so USA Hockey general manager Bill Guerin insists he and his staff did not construct a roster just to beat Canada.
