![\"Brad](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2200982867-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n Nova Scotia natives Brad Marchand, Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon celebrate after winning the 4 Nations Face-Off. (Bruce Bennett \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n
The 4 Nations wasn\u2019t just amazing for MacKinnon and Makar because Team Canada won, but also because the first best-on-best event in nine years gave those players a true sense of what the pace is like at that level.<\/p>\n
Hard and heavy and 100 miles per hour. No free ice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fastest hockey I\u2019ve ever played,\u201d Makar said, his eyes widening as he recalled it. \u201cIt was honestly awesome. There\u2019s no real time and space anywhere. So many skilled guys, and so many guys that can skate so well. It was a lot of fun. I think it\u2019s only to be elevated in Milan.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
MacKinnon certainly looked comfortable at the 4 Nations, but it\u2019s just as much the day-to-day team logistics of it all that gives him comfort getting ready for his first Olympics.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice, the level of comfortability with everybody \u2014 the coaching staff, with how things work, with how they run things,\u201d MacKinnon said. \u201cIt\u2019s awesome we have the same staff back, and a lot of the same team is back. It\u2019ll be pretty nice in that sense of having less wondering. Obviously, the Olympics are a different animal, but I think it\u2019ll be similar with the team in the day-to-day sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
MacKinnon and Makar have developed a level of on-ice chemistry one rarely sees between center and defenseman \u2014 the way they find each other with seam passes all over the ice makes it so difficult for the opposing team to plan for them defensively. Makar is almost impossible to account for when he goes in rover mode in the offensive zone.<\/p>\n
Team Canada coach Jon Cooper has picked the brain of Avs head coach Jared Bednar on how to best tap into that MacKinnon-Makar chemistry.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve talked to him sporadically about our guys and how they\u2019re playing and a little bit about how we deploy them,\u201d Bednar said. \u201cYou can watch the video and pick up a lot of that. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s too different from a lot of teams. If you get in offensive situations, you want your best players on the ice, and often that leads to Mack\u2019s line and Cale and his partner getting out there on the ice, especially in O-zone situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe play with them apart at times, depending on matchups and throughout the game. But at key points in a game, when we need one, I like to get them out together. And (Cooper) has reached out a little bit and sort of talked through that. He\u2019s got a lot of weapons on (Team Canada). I\u2019m going to be interested to watch them play.\u201d<\/p>\n
Play MacKinnon and Makar together as often as possible? Well, duh.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, they both have so much vision, so much speed, so much creativity, I mean, why wouldn\u2019t you put them out there together?\u201d Sakic said with a chuckle. \u201cEspecially third periods and when you need goals. Not even that, just if you need momentum \u2014 put them out there, and they\u2019re going to create a lot of momentum. But yeah, they see each other, they look for each other. Just two incredible hockey players, and we\u2019re lucky we get to see them on our team and see them every game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, it\u2019s really something to behold when they\u2019re both clicking.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeeing these guys up close every day and how much they put into it, you appreciate how good they are,\u201d Team USA forward Brock Nelson said of his Avs teammates. \u201cThey\u2019re better than most people think. So, a tough challenge for anybody who plays against those guys. They\u2019re as dynamic as they come.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s crazy how they find new ways to find each other and create space and create chances at any point in the game. They can make what looks like nothing for a lot of guys into something and extremely dangerous. They\u2019re just playing at a different level. It\u2019s fun to be part of right now. It\u2019s a nightmare when you play against them.\u201d<\/p>\n