What Nathan MacKinnon can learn from Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury in Sweden

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STOCKHOLM — Plenty of big names and future Hall of Famers are participating in the World Championship this month.

But there is only one Team Canada. Three names stand out on its roster — the three players who receive the loudest cheers from the hockey fans in Sweden.

Sidney Crosby. Marc-Andre Fleury. Nathan MacKinnon.

The living legend. The Hall of Fame goalie with the personality to match. The superstar in his peak years.

It’s impossible to take your eyes off them. In an otherwise underwhelming tournament that understandably receives B-level attention in North America because it overlaps with the Stanley Cup playoffs, three of hockey’s biggest draws are here, playing for the same team, receiving The Beatles treatment in every corner of Stockholm.

Because of all that attention, it’s easy to see that MacKinnon is hurting. Not physically, but he’s hurting.

His Colorado Avalanche didn’t just win the Stanley Cup in 2022, they did so with such conviction that it seemed hockey’s new superpower had arrived.

Then, the Avalanche somehow lost to the upstart Seattle Kraken in the first round of the 2023 playoffs. The following season, the Dallas Stars knocked them out in Round 2. In a meeting of titans this year, the Stars stunned the Avalanche in a classic Game 7, with MacKinnon’s old running mate, Mikko Rantanen, doing the job.

A couple of weeks later, MacKinnon scored twice against Austria in a half-empty building half a world away from Denver. After that game, he was perfectly polite with Swedish reporters when they asked about his experience here in Stockholm. He was even funny. Yet, his grumpiness was noticeable.

MacKinnon’s peak years are coming to an end. He turns 30 in September. What he surely thought was the beginning of a potential dynasty has instead resulted in one playoff series win in three years, leaving MacKinnon in Sweden.

Do you like Sweden, Nate? 

“We love it,” he said. “We all might move here. Really nice, clean city. People are really nice. It’s been a nice experience.”

Then came the question he was dreading.

Why did you decide to come?

“I have nothing else to do,” he said. “I might as well play hockey.”

Ouch.

I asked MacKinnon if his World Championship experience is fulfilling.

After all, the Avalanche, because of a couple of stunning trades before the deadline, set themselves up nicely in the nasty Western Conference. They had become trendy Stanley Cup picks. They were rolling. They went into Dallas and destroyed the Stars in Game 1. Gabriel Landeskog knocked the hockey world on its collective backside with his inspirational return. Things were looking up in Denver.

Then, just like that, another season quickly slipped through MacKinnon’s fingers.

So, about that trip to Sweden.

“It is fun,” MacKinnon said. “I really love playing Worlds, honestly. It just feels like I can have fun again. The season is pretty stressful. It’s more work. This is optional. So, it’s a lot of fun. And, like I said, it’s May. I have nothing better to do.”

MacKinnon, of course, should have something better to do in May. His decorated teammates know the feeling.

The visual was striking after Canada’s win against Austria on Thursday.

At one end of a hallway stood MacKinnon, surrounded by European reporters who were asking polite-but-redundant questions about playing in Sweden. MacKinnon handled it like a pro, but you could feel him seething from 20 feet away. He wasn’t seething at the reporters. He was still wearing the pain of the Game 7 loss to Dallas all over his face.

Crosby and Fleury stood a few feet to the right.

Fleury was giving a comedy routine and had the European media cackling, as only he can. One reporter noticed that Fleury was giving air high-fives to players from afar after one of MacKinnon’s goals. Fleury didn’t understand the question at first, so he asked the reporter to repeat himself. After hearing the question again, Fleury explained that he’s a man of many superstitions, and one of them is high-fiving people when they aren’t nearby.

“Good observation,” Fleury said. “You were watching.”

Everyone always seems to be watching Fleury. MacKinnon should, too.

Once upon a time, the Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Crosby and Fleury, were the Avalanche. They didn’t just win the Cup in 2009, but they toppled the mighty Red Wings, kind of like Colorado toppled the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of the previous two championships.

Like the Avalanche, the Penguins were young, faster than everyone else, more talented than everyone else and poised to be the team of their generation.

Then, the Penguins lost in the second round of the playoffs in 2010. They lost in the first round in 2011 and 2012. They lost in the conference finals in 2013, the second round in 2014 and the first round in 2015.

Thud.

Winning the Stanley Cup is so much more difficult than it might seem. Even when you’re great — the best team, in your prime — you’re usually not going to win it. It’s that hard.

Fleury and Crosby know.

Crosby was done speaking with the media while Fleury was busy entertaining a new wave of reporters. Team Canada’s captain walked behind the goaltender and gave him a playful punch while walking past. Crosby then turned around and grinned at Fleury.

B-level tournament or not, they’re having fun. It’s good for the soul.

MacKinnon, legendary for his uncommon level of intensity, followed his buddy Crosby a moment later. Even MacKinnon stopped and grinned at Fleury.

“Never played with him before,” MacKinnon said. “Amazing person.”

Crosby and Fleury, of course, are at a different point in their careers than MacKinnon. This is Fleury’s victory lap and, apparently, his final hockey before retirement. Crosby isn’t done yet, and he has an edge about him when he’s reminded about the Penguins’ recent struggles, but he’s won the Cup three times. His legacy is safe.

MacKinnon is an all-time great, sure. But his legacy is still being written, and the last few years have hit him hard.

Crosby and Fleury know all about it. Seven years separated their first title from their second (the third came a year after that). It seemed so easy, so predetermined for the 2009 Penguins. It felt that way for the 2022 Avalanche, too.

Then hockey happened. And hockey can be cruel.

MacKinnon may still be brooding, and he may still be furious. But he’s smart to come to Sweden. You can learn a lot by being around Crosby and Fleury, who have seen it and done it all. You could almost see MacKinnon start to crack by the end of the evening.

All the media here cared to ask about, of course, was the host city.

“Just walked around the area,” MacKinnon said. “Old town. I can’t pronounce all the areas. We covered pretty much everything. Walked a few miles the other day.”

MacKinnon hasn’t just walked a few miles around Stockholm. He has walked a few miles in the shoes once worn by Crosby and Fleury.

It’s not easy when you’re in your prime and fail. But Crosby and Fleury have been there, and they never lost their ability to smile.

This could be yet another lesson MacKinnon has learned from Crosby over the years. Having Fleury along for the ride can only help.

I wouldn’t expect MacKinnon to start high-fiving himself anytime soon. But a smile or two would do him good.

(Photo: Jonathan Nackstrand / Getty Images)

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