Crosby and MacKinnon back together for Canada at the ice hockey worlds after 10 years

Be aware Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon join forces to play for Canada at the ice hockey world championship after years As all eyes are on the NHL playoffs the two major stars are in Europe for the worlds opening on Friday across the Swedish capital of Stockholm and Denmark s city of Herning It is the final men s international test before the Winter Games in Italy where NHL players return to the Olympics after years The two friends and neighbours in Halifax Nova Scotia were on the club that Crosby captained to gold at the worlds By winning the tournament in Prague then Crosby joined hockey s Triple Gold Club a small group of players who have won the Stanley Cup the Olympics and the worlds These are the third worlds and first since for Crosby a three-time Stanley Cup winner and and double Olympic champion and He s captured gold for Canada at every international tournament including the World Cup of Hockey and the world junior championship In February the -year-old also shone alongside MacKinnon as he captained Canada to the Nations Face-Off trophy beating archrival the United States in overtime Crosby has behind him a th NHL season featuring goals assists and points in games for the Pittsburgh Penguins who missed out on the NHL playoffs MacKinnon opted to join Canada after his Colorado Avalanche were knocked out in the first round It will be the fourth worlds and and first since for the -year-old center who recorded the second highest points in the regular season and added another in the playoffs Crosby will also reunite with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury who has just exited the NHL but postponed his retirement at age of to play again with Crosby and at the worlds for the first time It ll be fun to go spend particular time together and yell at him in practice a bit keep him honest mentioned Fleury who won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins three times Among the rising stars Canada includes the -year-old Macklin Celebrini the top pick in the NHL draft who collected points from goals and assists in his rookie season for the San Jose Sharks Canada is the the greater part productive nation at the tournament with titles and is a favorite every year no matter who is available With Crosby and MacKinnon it is definitely the gang to beat Other contenders David Pastrnak is back for the defending champion Czech Republic after his Boston Bruins didn t advance to the playoffs The Czechs beat Switzerland - in the final in Prague last year with Pastrnak scoring the winner It was the seventh title won by the Czech Republic or Czechia since the breakup of Czechoslovakia Pastrnak racked up points in the NHL reaching one hundred for the third straight season Utah captain Clayton Keller will also captain a U S that is seeking a first worlds medal since a bronze in Alternate captains forward Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres and forward Conor Garland of the Vancouver Canucks were on that crew four years ago Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski and Boston net-minder Jeremy Swayman were on the organization that was fifth last year Filip Forsberg will appear again for the Sweden crew that beat Canada - in the bronze-medal meeting last year The left winger will return home to play in two regular season games between Nashville and the Penguins in Stockholm in November as part of the the NHL global series Others on the Sweden squad include New York Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad and New Jersey defenseman Jonas Brodin and goalie Jacob Markstrom The champion Finland struggled at the previous two worlds finishing seventh and eighth its worst results in decades Nashville goalie Justus Annunen Chicago forward Teuvo Teravainen and Rangers forward Juuso Parssinen hope to help turn things around Switzerland features a trio from New Jersey forwards Nico Hischier and Timo Meier and defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler The format The teams are divided into two groups for the preliminary round Canada is in Group A in Stockholm with Sweden Finland Austria France Latvia Slovakia and newcomer Slovenia Group B in Herning includes the Czechs Switzerland the U S Denmark Germany another newcomer Hungary Kazakhstan and Norway The top four in each group make the quarterfinals From the semifinals all games will be in Stockholm at the iconic Avicii Arena previously known as Globen The final and bronze-medal competition are scheduled for May AP sports https apnews com sports Source