Sidney Crosby is the elder statesman at Canada's Olympic orientation camp, and his younger teammates aren't taking the 38-year-old's international legacy for granted as they begin to prepare for the Winter Games in Milan and Cortina in February.
"It's not lost on us, our generation," forward Sam Reinhart told NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "The biggest motivation there is for us (is) it doesn't look like the window is closing for him any time soon."
Reinhart and Crosby were teammates at the 4 Nations Face-Off this past winter and were among the first six Canadian players selected for the Olympic roster along with Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Brayden Point.
"For our generation, for him to still be here and be the captain and still play a massive role, it's special," said McDavid, 28. "It's special for all of us."
Crosby scored the golden goal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver and captained Canada to another triumph at the 2014 tournament in Sochi. NHL players haven't been able to participate since, but Crosby was always optimistic he'd have a chance to compete for a third Olympic gold medal.
"With the way things went with so many things out of our control the two prior times, you know, I try not to think too far ahead and try to let it play out, and I was pretty confident that we'd find a way to get back, and I wanted to be a part of that, obviously," Crosby said.
The men's Olympic tournament runs from Feb. 12-22. Canada has won the past four international best-on-best events, and Crosby's been on each team.
