Jon Cooper, Team Canada head coach Head coach Jon Cooper reacts to Team Canada’s 5-1 win over Switzerland to clinch top spot in Group A of the 2026 Winter Olympic hockey tournament.
On the “nuclear” option of putting McDavid and MacKinnon together:
The nuclear option!? Hey, listen. Your job as a coach is to put the team in the best situation to succeed.
Take away the fact that they’re all phenomenal players and number-one picks; many times, it doesn’t work. There has to be chemistry between the group. Those are three guys who need the puck, and there is only one puck out there. I have to admit there was a lot of unselfishness between those guys. That is what you want to see.
My point, though, with those guys: As electrifying as it can be with the puck, it is how they play without it. For the most part, I thought they did a great job.
When the game was still in the balance, those guys were a big reason the tide turned.
On the importance of the loaded-up line finding the right balance and avoiding forced plays to each other:
Well, they found it. You can’t get caught looking for the extra play. You get an A chance, and you turn it into a B chance.
Listen, who is it for me to sit here and take away from the talent? You want to let these guys go. You want to let them breathe. But they have to do it where they’re taking risk out of their game and aren’t trying to manufacture things that aren’t there.
You know what they did? They made all the plays that were there. And the finishers finished.
On Connor McDavid’s six points through two games:
That kid is so talented and is just a phenomenal kid. We talked about it after 4 Nations, and he didn’t think he was at his best in that tournament. I thought he was outstanding for us.
He has come in here on a mission. You are watching it tonight. These are the best players in the world, and he is finding a way to rise above.
On Nathan MacKinnon’s suggestion that Macklin Celebrini is the second-best player in the world behind McDavid:
There is a lot to learn with these kids, and he has a special talent, with his instincts, hockey sense, and all of those things. But you still have to pull some of the risk out of your game. There were times in the game where maybe we were not doing the high-percentage play that eventually these guys are going to get. Part of being a superstar is having some patience, and he is learning that.
This kid is something special. It’s tough (to make declarations). He is 19 years old, but I will sit here and say San Jose has a good one.
On the contributions of the Marner-Crosby-Stone line so far in the tournament:
Those guys are kind of stabilizers for us. Clearly, we are going to talk about the Celebrinis and the MacKinnons and McDavids, but that line has been outstanding for us.
I just call them stabilizers, Marner, Stone, and Crosby. They just calm the waters. And they’re pretty damn good players.
That was big for us.
On Sidney Crosby closing in on Jarome Iginla’s record of 14 Olympic points for Canada:
Well, generational. There are players’ names you can say in this league for a generation. There are only a few of them you can call generational. In our lifetime, Sidney Crosby has been generational.
Game Highlights: Team Canada 5 vs. Team Switzerland 1