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MONTREAL - Sidney Crosby flashed a wide smile and hoisted the trophy over his head. 

It was Sept. 29, 2016, and Canada had just defeated Team Europe 2-1 in a knife-edged World Cup final.

The tournament's format wasn't perfect. Along with that mix of players from smaller hockey countries making the title game against the sport's powerhouse, a 23-and-under Team North America was also assembled to up competition and include young talent.

The event was still pretty close to best-on-best — an appetizer for the 2018 Olympics that would see the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍøs aim for a Games three-peat following victories in 2010 and 2014.

The NHL instead chose to skip that sporting showcase in South Korea for financial reasons before any chance of going to China in 2022 was squashed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

A generation of stars, including Canada's Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews of the United States, have never pulled on their countries' sweaters against the game's top talent.

More than eight years after Crosby helped secure the World Cup win, that will finally change.

The 4 Nations Face-Off opens Wednesday featuring Canada, the U.S., Sweden and Finland. The action begins with four games in Montreal before things shift to Boston for three more contests capped by the title game Feb. 20.

"Really excited," said McDavid, the Edmonton Oilers captain who was part of Team North America in 2016. "It's no secret that I've been vocal in terms of wanting best-on-best hockey. And while this isn't going to be the Olympics or have all the great hockey-playing countries, it'll still be a start. 

"A nice sample of what's to come." 

Russia, as McDavid alluded to, is banned because of the war in Ukraine, while reigning world champion Czechia is on the outside due to a compressed time frame. It's hoped the one-off 4 Nations serves as the tease for the NHL's Olympic return in 2026. The league went five times from 1998 to 2014.

The NHL would also like to re-establish the World Cup in 2028 and hold it in every even non-Olympic year moving forward.

"It's huge," Colorado Avalanche and ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø centre Nathan MacKinnon, another Team North America alum, said of the 4 Nations getting things rolling. "It's been a long time."

Canada faces Sweden on Wednesday at the Bell Centre. The U.S. gets Finland the following night.

Storylines include generational talents McDavid and Crosby playing together for the first time, the concern surrounding Canada's goaltending, the U.S. looking to unseat its North American neighbour atop the men's hockey pedestal, and the latest chapter of the fierce Sweden-Finland rivalry.

Focus will also, of course, be on how strained Canada-U.S. relations might play in the crowd and on the ice. Those countries meet Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

"Guys are excited," Tampa Bay Lightning defenceman and Swedish captain Victor Hedman said. "Going to be a great experience."

Rosters were announced in December, but a few players have withdrawn, including defencemen Alex Pietrangelo (Canada) of the Vegas Golden Knights and Miro Heiskanen (Finland) of the Dallas Stars. Vancouver Canucks blueliner Quinn Hughes (lower-body injury) remains a question mark for the U.S.

Crosby, who was named ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø captain, is dealing with an upper-body ailment that sidelined him for the Pittsburgh Penguins' final two games ahead of the 4 Nations. He's waited more than 3,000 days to once again don the red Maple Leaf.

"Been a while," the 37-year-old said prior to getting hurt. "A lot to get excited about."

The round-robin tournament run by the NHL and NHL Players' Association will be played under league rules, save for a 10-minute overtime period instead of the usual five. 

Regulation victories are worth three points, while teams get two for an OT/shootout win, one for an extra-time loss, and zero for a regulation defeat. The two countries with the best records make the final.

"Going to be awesome," Columbus Blue Jackets and U.S. defenceman Zack Werenski said. "To put that jersey on and get to Montreal is going to be super special."

Edmonton defenceman Mattias Ekholm said while players are excited on a personal level, competing in the spectacle is also about paying it forward.

"(Sweden) gave me the opportunity to be the player I am," he said. "To represent your country is something that, as a kid, you dream about." 

Ekholm remembers watching his heroes capture 2006 Olympic gold with a roster featuring Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Nicklas Lidstrom and Daniel Alfredsson. 

"All our big guys," he said. "Those are key memories from growing up."

"I was seven in '06," added Vancouver Canucks centre Elias Pettersson. "Now I get to play for Sweden. It's pretty cool."

It's also been quite the wait — for everyone.

"A lot of excitement," McDavid said. "A lot of buzz … all four teams will be really good, really deep. It'll be anybody's tournament." 

This report by ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø was first published Feb. 9, 2025.

With files from ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Press sports reporter Gemma Karstens-Smith in Vancouver.