“Jooooooooeeeeeeee Sakic!” was the call from the late, great Bob Cole.
It was Sakic’s second goal and fourth point to cap a 5-2 win over Team USA as Team Canada ended its 50-year gold medal drought in Olympic hockey in fine form at Salt Lake City 24 years ago.
Inside the arena, with my media seat just 10 or so rows up at center ice, I could hear Jarome Iginla scream in joy as Sakic’s breakaway goal cemented the gold medal.
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Sakic would be named Olympic tournament MVP in Salt Lake City. The two-time Stanley Cup champion and former Conn Smythe Trophy and Hart Trophy winner has a treasure chest full of hockey honors, but the Olympic triumph holds a unique place in all of that.
“Oh, 100 percent,” Sakic told The Athletic recently.
And the funny thing is, although not surprising for those who know how humble he is, what Sakic immediately recalled about his three Olympic experiences had more to do with everything he soaked in around it.
“Playing in an Olympic Games, you represent your country,” he said. “You get to experience it, be part of the Olympic village, the whole Olympic atmosphere. You go check out other events on off days. You’re training with the other athletes. It was just an amazing experience to be part of that.”
His genuine tone was a reminder of why the NHL is back in the Olympics after a 12-year hiatus — and why it’s so important for this generation of players to finally have a shot at experiencing it.
Sakic, the president of hockey operations for the Colorado Avalanche, will see his twin superstars, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, as well as Cale’s defensive partner Devon Toews, put on the Olympic Maple Leaf. For many around the world who don’t tune in to watch hockey regularly, it will be a chance to see the brilliance that the Avalanche and NHL fans have watched for several years.
MacKinnon, having a Hart Trophy-worthy season, is coming off being named MVP at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February.
“Everybody knows how great Nate is — what a great competitor he is,” Sakic said. “He’s a winner. The Olympics are the showcase for the world, and the rest of the world will see how great a hockey player he is. Same for Cale. And all the players there. The NHL hasn’t been there in 12 years. There will be a whole new generation of kids around the world that get to see how good these players are.”
Makar was 11 years old when Sidney Crosby produced the Golden Goal in Vancouver.
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“I remember exactly. Just watching at home. I have a vivid memory of it,” Makar said of the overtime winner that ignited a party across the nation. “Being from Calgary, being a huge fan of Jarome Iginla growing up, so him assisting on that, was obviously a very cool moment as a kid.”
MacKinnon remembered where he was for it, too.
“I was 15, traveling home from boarding school, got snowed in, and I was at a friend’s house in Chicago,” he said with a smile. “Yeah, it was a cool memory.”
Having grown up playing his minor hockey in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, following in Crosby’s footsteps, now the two superstar pals get to share an Olympic ice sheet with fellow Nova Scotian Brad Marchand.
“It’s going to be great,” MacKinnon said. “It will feel similar to 4 Nations. We’ve spent so much time together on the ice (training every summer) that I don’t know how crazy it’s going to feel, but obviously we’re very proud, and I’m sure the province will be very proud.”
The 4 Nations wasn’t just amazing for MacKinnon and Makar because Team Canada won, but also because the first best-on-best event in nine years gave those players a true sense of what the pace is like at that level.
Hard and heavy and 100 miles per hour. No free ice.
“The fastest hockey I’ve ever played,” Makar said, his eyes widening as he recalled it. “It was honestly awesome. There’s no real time and space anywhere. So many skilled guys, and so many guys that can skate so well. It was a lot of fun. I think it’s only to be elevated in Milan.’’
MacKinnon certainly looked comfortable at the 4 Nations, but it’s just as much the day-to-day team logistics of it all that gives him comfort getting ready for his first Olympics.
“It’s nice, the level of comfortability with everybody — the coaching staff, with how things work, with how they run things,” MacKinnon said. “It’s awesome we have the same staff back, and a lot of the same team is back. It’ll be pretty nice in that sense of having less wondering. Obviously, the Olympics are a different animal, but I think it’ll be similar with the team in the day-to-day sense.”
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MacKinnon and Makar have developed a level of on-ice chemistry one rarely sees between center and defenseman — the way they find each other with seam passes all over the ice makes it so difficult for the opposing team to plan for them defensively. Makar is almost impossible to account for when he goes in rover mode in the offensive zone.
Team Canada coach Jon Cooper has picked the brain of Avs head coach Jared Bednar on how to best tap into that MacKinnon-Makar chemistry.
“I’ve talked to him sporadically about our guys and how they’re playing and a little bit about how we deploy them,” Bednar said. “You can watch the video and pick up a lot of that. I don’t think it’s too different from a lot of teams. If you get in offensive situations, you want your best players on the ice, and often that leads to Mack’s line and Cale and his partner getting out there on the ice, especially in O-zone situations.
“We play with them apart at times, depending on matchups and throughout the game. But at key points in a game, when we need one, I like to get them out together. And (Cooper) has reached out a little bit and sort of talked through that. He’s got a lot of weapons on (Team Canada). I’m going to be interested to watch them play.”
Play MacKinnon and Makar together as often as possible? Well, duh.
“Well, they both have so much vision, so much speed, so much creativity, I mean, why wouldn’t you put them out there together?” Sakic said with a chuckle. “Especially third periods and when you need goals. Not even that, just if you need momentum — put them out there, and they’re going to create a lot of momentum. But yeah, they see each other, they look for each other. Just two incredible hockey players, and we’re lucky we get to see them on our team and see them every game.”
Still, it’s really something to behold when they’re both clicking.
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“Seeing these guys up close every day and how much they put into it, you appreciate how good they are,” Team USA forward Brock Nelson said of his Avs teammates. “They’re better than most people think. So, a tough challenge for anybody who plays against those guys. They’re as dynamic as they come.
“It’s crazy how they find new ways to find each other and create space and create chances at any point in the game. They can make what looks like nothing for a lot of guys into something and extremely dangerous. They’re just playing at a different level. It’s fun to be part of right now. It’s a nightmare when you play against them.”
There’s a sense of anticipation between Makar and MacKinnon that’s completely baked in now.
“It just grows with each year,” Makar said. “Nate just does a great job getting himself open and in spaces where I can find him, and I like to think I can put myself in spots where it opens up ice for him, where he can either shoot it or pass it. It’s all about reading off one another. I think we find each other maybe in those weird spots where other guys don’t, but that’s just the connection we’ve built up over the years and the trust we have that he’s going to look there and vice-versa.”
Now they’ve got a chance to bring that show on a whole new stage. Makar said he hasn’t gone there in his mind when I asked if he has allowed himself to envision a gold medal around his neck while the Canadian anthem plays at the end of the Olympic tournament. But he does vividly recall some sweet moments from last February.
“I still think the craziest moment I’ve ever been a part of was when Mario Lemieux walked out on the ice for that first game (in Montreal),” Makar said. “I’ve never heard anything like that in my life from a stadium or a rink. That’s something you’ll cherish the rest of your life.”
It is an opportunity they’ve been waiting for their whole careers.
“Yeah, I’m excited,” MacKinnon said.
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I’m not sure I’ve ever covered an NHL superstar who gets wound up as tightly as MacKinnon. His intensity is through the roof. It obviously works for him. But I think it’s about how much pressure he puts on himself to meet his own standard. So come Milan, controlling his inner critic will probably be the biggest challenge.
What does he expect?
“Hockey is hockey,” MacKinnon said. “I’ve been in big games. Big moments. I know what it feels like. I know the magnitude of big hockey games. So I think I’ll be ready for hopefully big moments and big-pressure games.”
If the 4 Nations Face-Off was any indicator, the sport itself will be the big winner in Milan. It’s been too long.
“Hopefully, that whole energy from Canada-U.S. and 4 Nations carries over to Milan, because I think it’s a pretty cool experience we have in front of us here and cool for us to be part of the Olympics again,” Makar said.
The pressure on MacKinnon and Makar will be at a level they’ve maybe never felt before. It’s gold or else in hockey-crazed Canada.
“We ended up winning in Salt Lake, which was amazing,” Sakic said. “You feel the tension and the pressure and, in Canada, the expectations. It was amazing to come out with that gold medal there.”
Sakic paused, before adding:
“I’m still so proud that I was able to go to the Olympic Games and represent my country. There’s something different about the Olympics compared to any other event.”
As his Avalanche twin superstars are about to find out.
