With just two games left before the Olympic break, the Edmonton Oilers are pushing toward the postseason, and their captain, Connor McDavid, has his eyes set on two major goals: chasing a Stanley Cup with Edmonton and chasing gold with Team Canada.
For McDavid, the Olympics represent something he's been waiting for his entire life. He’s finally getting the chance to suit up for Canada on the sport’s biggest international stage, and he’s bringing with him not only a decade of NHL dominance but also a deep sense of pride and purpose. In a recent letter to fans, McDavid opened up about what this moment means to him - not just the Olympics, but the journey that brought him here, the city that’s shaped him, and the game that still lights him up like a kid on a backyard rink.
“I don’t want to play golf. I don’t want to sit by the pool.
I don’t want to be in the Bahamas,” McDavid wrote. “I just want to be in Edmonton, playing hockey.”
That line hits hard - not because it’s flashy, but because it’s real. This is a guy who’s logged nearly a hundred playoff games, who’s carried the weight of a franchise since he was 18, and who still talks about the game like it’s a privilege, not a job.
That passion has never wavered. McDavid was the top pick in the 2015 NHL Draft and made his debut that same year.
Despite injuries cutting his rookie season short, he’s since become one of the most consistently dominant players the league has ever seen. He’s recorded 100 or more points in eight of his nine full seasons - and he’s on track to hit that mark again this year.
He’s led the Oilers to two Stanley Cup Final appearances, though the Cup itself has remained just out of reach.
But if McDavid sounds like a man obsessed, it’s not with the hardware - it’s with the game. “If that sounds like a robot, then I guess I’m a robot,” he wrote.
“But I see it differently. It doesn’t feel like work to me.
It’s just the game that I love.”
And now, he gets to bring that love to Italy, where he’ll finally wear the Team Canada jersey on Olympic ice. He’s no stranger to representing his country - he won gold at the World Championships in 2016 and again at the Four Nations Face-Off in 2025 - but this is different.
This is the Olympics. This is the dream.
“I really cannot wait for these Olympics,” McDavid said. “I’ll be bringing everything I’ve learned to Italy to represent my country.
I’ve waited a long time to say that.” He reflected on his first time wearing the maple leaf back with the U17s, and how that moment planted the seed for this one.
“Pulling on that sweater, being in a room with the different generations of great players - Sid and Nate and Celebrini and all those guys. It’s such an honor, really.”
That lineup - Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini, and McDavid - is as loaded as it sounds. Canada opens group play on February 12 against Czechia, and expectations are sky-high. With McDavid at the center of it all, they have every reason to believe they can bring home gold.
Back in Edmonton, the Oilers are 28-20-8 and sitting second in the Pacific Division. They’re right in the thick of the playoff race, and McDavid’s leadership - on and off the ice - is a huge reason why. The team returns to action Wednesday night, hosting the Toronto Maple Leafs in what promises to be a high-intensity matchup before the Olympic pause.
For McDavid, there’s no such thing as an off switch. Whether it’s chasing gold with Team Canada or chasing the Cup with the Oilers, he’s all in.
Every shift, every game, every chance to step onto that fresh sheet of ice - it still matters. And that’s what makes him special.