CALGARY — Connor McDavid felt what it meant to be an Olympian as he looked around at Canada's broader hockey team.
The Edmonton Oilers' captain was among 92 NHL, women's and para hockey players summoned to a three-day orientation camp in Calgary to prepare for 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.
"Being here with the women's team, the para team, you just get the feeling of being part of something that's bigger than just your club team, just being part the Oilers, or Pittsburgh, or Florida, it's so much bigger than that," McDavid said Wednesday.
"It unites the country."
McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Sam Reinhart, Nathan McKinnon, Brayden Point and Cale Makar were the first half-dozen players named to Canada's 2026 men's team.
There were 36 other NHL players at Calgary's camp hoping to join them when the 25-man Olympic roster is announced in early January.
The NHL makes its Olympic return after skipping Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018 and Beijing in 2022.
Crosby and defenceman Drew Doughty were the only players with previous Olympic experience in 2010 and 2014 invited to Calgary's camp "so this is uncharted waters for the men," said Hockey Canada senior vice-president of high performance and hockey operations Scott Salmond.
Crosby scored Canada's overtime golden goal in Vancouver in the 2010 final and captained the country to gold again in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
"I was pretty confident that we'd find a way to get back and I wanted to be a part of that," the 38-year-old said. "I guess I kept the belief.
"It's a tough sport and it's competitive, so to be part of this, just grateful, but I also know how special the opportunity is and what it means, so in knowing that, it's motivating, it is a lot of fun to be a part of."
Reinhart, 29, and McDavid, 28, will be Olympic rookies. They were teenagers when Crosby scored in OT in Vancouver, which Reinhart says sent furniture flying during the celebration at his family's house.
"There's a lot of players, a lot high-end players that kind of missed out on that opportunity so you know you have to kind of cherish it," Reinhart said.
"Someone like me, it's kind of coming at a perfect time."
Reinhart and McDavid do know what international best-on-best is after winning February's 4 Nations Face-Off with Canada. McDavid scored the OT winner in the final against the United States.
"For myself, the hockey at the 4 Nations was the fastest, tightest-checking, most difficult hockey I've ever played and ever been a part of, so I can only imagine what it's going to be like at the Olympics," McDavid said.
He wants to peak for both the Olympic Games in February and another NHL playoff run next spring after back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup final for the Oilers. The 4 Nations was a dress rehearsal for that.
"It's a little bit similar to last year," McDavid said. "I felt that same way. Some of the guys are going through the dog days of the season, getting ready for their vacations, and I felt a great deal of wanting to get going, and play the right way, play a detailed game, a tight-checking game, and making sure I'm ready to go to play at the highest level."
The orientation camp doesn't include on-ice sessions, although the women and para players will stay in Calgary and get on the ice after NHL players depart.
The last NHL game before the Olympic break is Feb. 5. Canada opens against Czechia on Feb. 12.
"This is the only time we'll be together before the Olympic Games," Salmond said. "The preparation part's really important."
The players have been given an overview of the Olympic environment, including what the athletes' village and transportation will be like.
"We'll probably go over some system stuff here the next couple of days, so we'll get a better feel for that," Crosby said. "It's NHL ice surface, so I would think that, as far as structures and things like that, it would be pretty similar.
"But you look at the skill level, the speed, it's a whole other level. If it's anything like 4 Nations, it is going to be fast."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2025.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
