Connor McDavid breaks silence with three-word instruction for Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and Team Canada

They say there’s no use crying over spilled milk, but no idiom can truly ease the pain of watching solid gold slip through one’s fingers. Connor McDavid has learned that lesson, though he is still being schooled in it. Following the heartbreaking end to the 2026 Winter Olympics, McDavid kept his message to Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon, and company short and simple.

The 2025–26 NHL season will resume shortly. Perhaps the rhythm of the regular season and the frenzy as the league approaches its trade deadline will help turn the Winter Olympics into a distant memory. It might be wishful thinking from McDavid and the Canadians—but who knows? Maybe what happens in Milan stays in Milan.

Addressing the defeat to Team USA—yet another loss in a decisive stage for him—McDavid voiced three words that may be helpful for Crosby, MacKinnon, and Team Canada, as well.

“Just move on,” McDavid answered a question on how he deals with the emotions after being in the losing end of an unforgettable gold medal game in the 2026 Winter Olympics, via Mark Masters of TSN. “Onward.”

Why McDavid must move on

Falling just short of the finish line isn’t easy for any player on Team Canada. However, nobody has it tougher than McDavid. After scoring the golden goal in the 4 Nations Final last year, it looked like everything would finally click for McDavid.

Finally his time had arrived—or so it seemed. McDavid had won enough individual awards to fill cabinets, but he was still missing the important hardware. After McDavid scored the 3-2 overtime winner at TD Garden, fans across the NHL felt like they were witnessing the birth of a new era: The McDavid Show.

Instead, McDavid fell once again in the Stanley Cup Final in 2025. This time, there wasn’t even a Conn Smythe Trophy to serve as consolation. Losing once again in a decisive, legacy-altering matchup will definitely leave a mark on McDavid. How he reacts to this is entirely up to him. For the time being, putting the loss in the back burner seems like the right decision.

Why MacKinnon should move on

Right from the get-go, MacKinnon made it clear his stay in Milano Cortina was strictly professional. From the moment he touched down in Italy, he proved he meant business. Opting out of the Olympic Village lifestyle to stay at a hotel—Team USA star Dylan Larkin took a shot at that controversial decision from Canada—was further proof of the business trip Team Canada was on. For the most part, Canada held up its end of the bargain. However, at the most crucial stage, it failed to meet its own standard.

MacKinnon, who had scored the game-winning goal in the semifinal against Finland, missed a wide-open net that would have put Canada up 2–1 in the third period. He knows he buries that shot 99 times out of 100, but the one time he missed came in one of the biggest games of his career. Still, he can’t afford to dwell on the loss. As the NHL season resumes, MacKinnon returns to the Colorado Avalanche, who have steamrolled the opposition so far this campaign. The Avs can’t take their foot off the gas, and if MacKinnon isn’t at his best, the entire team could feel it.

Colorado’s resilience will be put to the test as MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Devon Toews return to the ice crestfallen. The latter, like MacKinnon, missed a golden chance in the final—one that will likely keep him up at night for a while. Fortunately for the Avalanche, Brock Nelson also returns to the lineup in high spirits, having become a third-generation member of his family to win gold for Team USA at the Winter Olympics.

Why Crosby can move on

The loss undeniably stings, and the fact that he wasn’t on the ice to help his teammates and country only makes the feeling worse for Crosby. What he feels inside must be far more painful than the injury in his right leg—and that is saying a lot. Still, Crosby owes nothing to Team Canada. His legacy will not be tarnished by the loss at Milano Cortina 2026.

Since he was a prodigy playing against older kids in Nova Scotia, Crosby was dubbed Canada’s Golden Boy. His iconic golden goal against Team USA in Vancouver 2010 only proved that prophecy right. He was, still is, and forever will be Canada’s Golden Boy.

Unfortunately for the Canadians, in his absence during the gold-medal game, no one else could rise to the occasion and seize that title. Not McDavid, not MacKinnon, not Mitch Marner, nor Macklin Celebrini—whom Crosby took under his wing—could find the back of the net when it mattered most. Would the story have been different had Connor Bedard been named to Team Canada? No one will ever know.

Perhaps Crosby’s luminous legacy casts a shadow too large for the next generation to escape. Perhaps. Canada won’t get its chance at redemption until 2030. Whether Crosby will still be part of that team is another question, but his presence will always be felt by those who shoulder the burden of reaching the standard set by “Sid the Kid”.