When Hockey Canada’s 25-man roster was unveiled on New Year’s Eve for the Olympic Winter Games of Milano Cortina Montreal Canadiens’ captain Nick Suzuki will make his Olympic debut with Team Canada. “That (chance to wear the Team Canada jersey) means the world,” Nick Suzuki said to Luc Gelinas of RDS. “It’s something that I dreamt of as a kid, to make it a reality now is amazing feeling, and I can’t wait to get with the guys and get over to Italy and chase after the gold medal. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity.”
The announcement also gives Suzuki some peace of mind now that he knows. “There’s been a lot of stress, and thinking about it,” Suzuki said. “Obviously I wasn’t trying to let it impact my game too much. I needed to play well, especially to help my own team win. I tried not to let it slip in, but sitting in bed late at night, you think about it a little bit too much. It’s nice to have it’s over, and I’m super proud and happy that I’m on the team.”
Suzuki, who leads the team with 44 points (13G, 31A) and a +13 differential in 39 games this season was hard not to notice by the Hockey Canada brain trust that would assemble the roster. The savvy forward was hot right from the opening faceoff of the season as he recorded a career-high 12-game point streak, registering 19 points over that span. That was the longest run by a Canadiens player since Pierre Turgeon in 1995.
Suzuki enjoyed an 89-point season last year with 30 goals and 59 helpers, a career high. He averaged over a point-per-game for the first time in his NHL career. He was cut from the Four Nations Cup roster, but captain Suzuki focused on his team. “I think being cut from the team gave me a little motivation,” he said. “I just wanted to play the best I could and help the Canadians get into the playoffs, and we did that last year. We had an amazing run, and we started the year off the same way, and it’s been such a fun year so far, and just trying to do my best every single night to help my team win and hopefully put a good impression in Hockey Canada. And luckily and thankfully, they saw that.”
Suzuki, now in his fourth campaign as team captain, attended a Hockey Canada orientation camp early on, but what his role will be still lies ahead. “I haven’t heard anything on the hockey side,” he said. “We didn’t really talk systems or anything in Calgary. It was just about getting together and getting close as a group. Whatever they want me to do, I can do, and I’m looking forward to the challenge and the task ahead.”
Suzuki has worn the Team Canada jersey in international play at the 2015 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup, and the 2019 World Junior Ice Hockey Championship.