EDMONTON — Chris Pronger was 23 years old when he walked into his first Team Canada dressing room as a pro, and the international experience had already left a dent.
“I got bypassed for the ’96 World Cup, which was probably another kick in the ass to wake me up and get me going in the right direction,” Pronger chuckled over the phone from St. Louis.
In the fall of ’97, he was invited to the Team Canada training camp prior to the 1998 Olympics. That roster would flame out in Nagano, but it did contain an impressive list of legendary Canadian players.
“Scott Stevens, Al MacInnis, Ray Bourque — contemporaries like Rob Blake and Scott Niedermayer. For me, coming into that room as a 23-year-old, it was just eyes wide open, mouth shut, be a sponge and just soak it all up,” recalled Pronger. “You had (Wayne) Gretzky. They don’t even pick (Mark) Messier. They make (Eric) Lindros the captain. You’ve got Stevie Yzerman and Shanny (Brendan Shanahan). Paul Kariya’s hurt, but you’ve got (Joe) Sakic…”
Connor McDavid may be a few years older at 28, but at this week’s 4 Nations Face-Off, hockey’s best player will finally get the experience of donning the red Maple Leaf in international best on best.
It’s the Face-Off this February and then the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics in February of 2026.
And, yes, the first tournament very much will impact the other.
“Absolutely,” said Pronger, a veteran of four Olympic tournaments. “It gives management and the coaching staff a free look at line combinations. Can players keep up with this pace? I mean, this is going to be a fast tournament.
“You’re going to see guys weeded out, or you’re going to see guys elevated and potentially use this as a kick-starter for their NHL career.”
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4 Nations Face-Off
With the inaugural edition of the 4 Nations Face-Off fast approaching, be sure to catch up on all the latest news about the highly-anticipated best-on-best event. Puck drops on Feb. 12, 2025, on Sportsnet.
McDavid is the one player — even above Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Sidney Crosby — who Canadians most want to see in red, black and white. Outside of two World Championships, McDavid’s last stint in red and white was at the 2015 World Juniors — a decade ago.
He was named an assistant captain but whatever the letter, Pronger believes the 4 Nations experience will make McDavid a better captain when he puts his Edmonton Oilers sweater back on post-tournament.
“If they’re able to finish the deal and win, he’ll have a unique understanding of what it’s going to take to win. Which I think he already realizes,” Pronger said. “But it’s another opportunity for McDavid to learn how to win. It’s a different environment, you’re playing with the best players in Canada and the world… It’s a way to showcase (himself). To put that stamp down, that ‘This is my league. I’m the best player in the league, and I’m winning this thing.’”
McDavid was the first to say, months ago, that Crosby should wear the ‘C’ on Team Canada. “It’s a no-brainer,” he said.
Whatever happens at this short, and admittedly somewhat contrived, best on best, it will have a bearing on next year’s Olympics, for sure.
“That experience in ’98 helped set the stage for ’02, understanding the pitfalls of losses and experiences you have,” Pronger said. “The adversity and challenges you face (in a short international tournament) that allowed us something to fall back on when we ran into hard times in ’02 in Salt Lake.”
These are the things that elite international hockey can teach a player — even one of McDavid’s pedigree.
The one thing you learn if you’re lucky enough to be around a McDavid, a Gretzky, a Pronger or a Crosby, is that the better they get, the more room for improvement they realize exists.
McDavid will go to school at the 4 Nations, and again in Italy next year.
“You’re able to match up against the best every single night (of the tournament), and with implications of gold medals and World Championships, World Cups… Playing for your country on the biggest stage in the world, and with everything at stake,” Pronger said. “Understanding how to play under that type of pressure in Canada, where it feels like it’s life or death when you win or lose…
“When you have that opportunity and you take advantage of it, not only does it build your resume, but it allows you to build out on what it’s going to take to win in those high-pressure, high-stakes games.
“You won’t fall into the trap of worrying about how big the magnitude of a game is,” he said. “You almost need to take a step back (in those games), take a breath and go play your game. Not press and force thigs, because that’s when mistakes happen.”
So, the next time McDavid plays a Game 7 in a Stanley Cup Final, should he be so fortunate, he’d be better prepared?
“Correct.”
