On Sunday, it was clear that Pittsburgh's team captain Sydney Crosby, 37, had accepted to play in the championship being held in Stockholm and Herning, Denmark.
Then came the message that Colorado's assistant team captain Nathan MacKinnon, 29, would also be part of Canada's World Championship team, MacKinnon's agent announced to The Athletic .
Both Crosby and MacKinnon were part of when Canada won NHL's national team tournament Four Nations in February. The duo, who both come from the province of Nova Scotia, were among other things the bearing offensive players in the team's power play lineup. They are now coming to Sweden after their teams Pittsburgh and Colorado missed the Stanley Cup playoffs respectively were eliminated in the first playoff round.
Crosby has not played the World Championship in ten years, when Canada won gold in the Czech Republic. MacKinnon has not played the World Championship in eight years, when it became silver after a final loss to the Three Crowns in Cologne.
In this year's World Championship, Canada meets Sweden in the last group stage match on May 20 in Avicii arena, previously Globen. Canada plays its group stage premiere against Slovenia on Saturday.
