McDavid likes the look of Canada's new Olympic super-line
The hockey world has been put on notice.
If Canada’s Olympic men’s hockey team didn’t scare you before, now they have a super-line for opponents to deal with.
Canada’s head coach, Jon Cooper, shook up his lines in Friday’s 5-1 win over Switzerland, moving Nathan MacKinnon onto Connor McDavid’s line, with Macklin Celebrini remaining on the other wing.
The results were instant. Asked if the chemistry with MacKinnon was “easy,” McDavid admitted it was.
“Sometimes it’s good, just get thrown into action like that. And when you score first shift together, it usually helps,” McDavid said.
“Nate’s a guy I watch a lot of obviously. Big fan of his, I watch a lot of Colorado games, with some special players there. So I have an understanding of where Nate likes to go and where to be and we play the game similarly, too. I think we have a good understanding of where we might want the puck.”
McDavid and MacKinnon are probably the two best players in the world. At age 19, Celebrini might hold that title some day soon.
“He’s a dog on a bone, that kid. It’s impressive,” McDavid said of Celebrini, who earned praise for his work on the forecheck. Celebrini now has two goals and one assist in two Olympic games.
Meanwhile, McDavid (six points) is the tournament’s top scorer, with MacKinnon (four points) right behind him.
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Cooper, who initially had Tom Wilson playing with McDavid and Celebrini, came into this tournament with the idea of putting his three superstar centres — McDavid, MacKinnon, and Sidney Crosby — on separate lines.
But he was clearly impressed with what his new super-line was able to do together.
“They went together and they showed what they needed to show,” said Cooper. “Here’s the thing, they’re three phenomenal players, general, these kids. But in saying that, you don’t know how that chemistry is going to go all the time. [With] three centres, now some guys have to play a little bit out of position. Ultimately, they’re three guys that want the puck, need the puck, and there’s only one puck. So now sacrifices have to be made, but ultimately, they did it.
“In saying that, you know, as wonderful as they are with the puck, how I’m grading them is on how they play without it. You keep doing the right things without the puck, good things are going to happen. And it did tonight for them.”