in Canada\u2019s 10-2 win over France<\/a> on Sunday while on the power play in the second period. <\/p>\nIt capped his group play statistics at one goal and three assists.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Asked what a 10-year-old Makar growing up in Calgary, Alberta, would\u2019ve said if he heard he would score a goal on the greatest international stage, Makar showed why he\u2019s considered a leader on such a loaded Canada roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, that he can do it in an important game,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Canadians are on to the quarterfinals, where they will play the winner of Czechia and Denmark. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s difficult to imagine Team Canada struggling to reach the gold medal game, especially if its key players continue to produce as they have.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS<\/p>\n
Tied with McDavid for the best plus-minus rating at plus-7, Makar has been a key piece of a Canada power play that is leading the tournament with four goals in three games.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Avalanche defenseman noted that while they\u2019ve had success with the man-advantage, there is still room for improvement. <\/p>\n
His elite ability to facilitate the puck on the power play makes the group, which also features Crosby, McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Reinhart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Cale](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2026-cale-makar-canada-action-121231347.jpg\")
Cale Makar of Canada in action with Janis Moser of Switzerland. IMAGN IMAGES via REUTERS<\/p>\n
Skating alongside his Avalanche teammate Devon Toews on the top defensive pairing, Makar has been just as effective over the last week as he is at the NHL level. <\/p>\n
For Canada to have a top defensive pairing that also serves as the No. 1 duo for their respective NHL team, it has paid off in their apparent comfortability with one another.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve played together for six odd years now, or whatever it is now, but we understand each other,\u201d Toews said on Sunday after Canada captured the No. 1 spot coming out of the preliminary round. \u201cHe understands what I do well and when I need him, and I understand when he needs me, and I try to get the puck in his hands as often as possible because he\u2019s so dynamic. He\u2019s one of the best players in the world for a reason.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the NHL\u2019s absence from the Olympics, Makar\u2019s international appearances have been few and far between.<\/p>\n
He competed for Canada at the 2018 IIHF World Junior Championship, but he had only pulled on the Maple Leaf for the 4 Nations tournament before arriving in Milan. <\/p>\n
Back at the 2016 World Junior A Challenge, an annual under-20 international tournament, Makar reaffirmed his status as a premier NHL draft prospect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With seven goals and 11 points in 10 games, Makar became the first defenseman in World Junior A Challenge history \u2014 and just the seventh player ever \u2014 to record five points in a single game.\u201d<\/p>\n
More international hockey accolades could be on the horizon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReally looking forward to it,\u201d Makar said of moving on. \u201cRegardless of who the opponent is, we\u2019re going to be playing somebody really good. So for us it\u2019s just continue each of these days to get a little bit better and put ourselves in the right spot and right head space to be really good the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILAN \u2014 Sidney Crosby is serving as Canada\u2019s captain for a fourth straight best-on-best tournament, with three Stanley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[19,155,5,4,2602,768,43,2787,31286],"class_list":{"0":"post-460316","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-canada","9":"tag-connor-mcdavid","10":"tag-hockey","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-olympics","13":"tag-sidney-crosby","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-winter-olympics","16":"tag-winter-olympics-2026"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116083093285996138","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Canada's](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/08-cale-makar-reacts-mens-121390421.jpg\")
Canada\u2019s Cale Makar reacts during the men\u2019s preliminary round Group A Ice Hockey match between Canada and France at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n