Crosby shows confidence in practice as Canada prepares for 4 Nations Face-Off

BROSSARD, Que. - It didn't look as if anything was bothering Canada captain Sidney Crosby as he took part in every drill in a practice for the 4 Nations Face-Off on Monday.

His recovery from an undisclosed injury a week ago, which cost him two games with Pittsburgh, has come a long way.

"Every opportunity you can, whether it's playing for Pittsburgh or playing for Canada, you don't want to miss games," Crosby said. "This is an awesome opportunity, something I haven't done in a long time. I wanted to be part of this group and obviously also wanted to make sure that I can play at the level that you need to compete here.

"Everybody seemed comfortable with that, and I feel good about it."

Crosby centred one of the top lines, between Nathan MacKinnon and Mark Stone. And he was on the first power-play unit with MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Connor McDavid and Sam Reinhart.

"It was a long process," Crosby said. "Obviously today was the first time I skated with the group. I was skating on my own prior to that. Everything went well, 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 did so much it would be hard to imagine him missing the opener Wednesday against Sweden, but that remains a possibility.

"We're not going to put him in a position that's going to put Team Canada in jeopardy or the Pittsburgh Penguins," Canada coach Jon Cooper said. "Check all those boxes off, now is Sidney Crosby playing in the tournament? We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Exactly when? It could be Wednesday night. But he's definitely playing."

Long journey

Maple Leafs stars Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander got to Montreal on Sunday with only a short stop in Toronto after the Leafs finished their road trip Saturday in Vancouver.

"I got to go home for about four hours, see my dog for a little bit and then pack up again," Marner said. "It was kind of nice to go home, regroup, get used to the time change. I didn't want to pack for a month-long trip."

Said Matthews: "It was a quick couple of hours. Did some laundry and repacked for this."

The Leafs were on the road for 10 days and face two long road trips shortly after this tournament, with only one home game in February.

"I took the dogs out for a walk and got back on a plane," Nylander said.

Cheering for Marchand

Bruins star Brad Marchand was asked what it would feel like to have the Bell Centre crowd cheer him, playing for Canada, rather than boo him as they do when his Bruins visit Montreal.

"We have not seen it yet, so it may not happen," Marchand said. "Like they might cheer for the team, but that doesn't mean they'll cheer for me."

The reverse could be true when the tournament moves to Boston, especially if Canada plays the United States in the final.

"Maybe we can throw off the crowd, and get them to cheer for Team Canada for a little bit," he said.

Brotherly love

American forward Jack Hughes says it's unfortunate he won't get to play with his brother, injured defenceman Quinn Hughes.

"That was definitely something I was really looking forward to," he said. "But that's hockey. People get injured all the time. He really wanted to be a part of this and he was really excited to come and put the USA jersey back on. But if you're injured, you're injured."

Jack Hughes took a very hopeful stance he and Quinn would play together at another best-on-best tournament.

"That's the best part. Today is day one of this tournament. But you're hoping it's day one for a new future for USA Hockey. This is a fresh start, a lot of new faces and some high-end players in this tournament who've never played in the Olympics. So with next year coming, I think it's a really exciting start for us and this tournament."