Sidney Crosby, 38, is making his second straight World Cup and his third championship in a year.
At the Milan Olympics, the Canadian veteran was forced to withdraw in the quarterfinals due to injury and could not play again in the tournament. The United States won the gold medal after an overtime victory against Canada in the final.
In last year's World Cup in Globen and Herning, Canada was eliminated in the quarterfinals after a shock loss to Denmark.
Now Sweden awaits in the opener with some World Junior Championship gold medalists.
I know a little about them from the World Junior Championship. They have a lot of skill and are certainly full of energy and are looking forward to the opportunity ahead of them, Crosby said. He had his first training session on Thursday after arriving in Europe.
Many of the older Olympic players have opted out of World Cup games after a tough NHL season with a compressed game schedule.
"It's been a lot, but what made me consider it was the injury and the opportunity to play for Canada again. It's something I appreciate, and even though I've been involved a lot lately, it hasn't gone our way and now I'm hoping for a different outcome," Crosby said, who during his career has won two Olympic gold medals and a World Cup gold medal with Canada and three Stanley Cup titles with Pittsburgh.
He forms a star line with San Jose's prodigy Macklin Celebrini, 19, and Winnipeg's scoring star Mark Scheifele.
The match between Canada and Sweden starts at 4:20 p.m.
