Be aware: Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon join forces to play for Canada at the ice hockey world championship after 10 years.

As all eyes are on the NHL playoffs, the two major stars are in Europe for the worlds opening on Friday across the Swedish capital of Stockholm and Denmark’s city of Herning.

It is the final men’s international test before the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, where NHL players return to the Olympics after 12 years.

The two friends and neighbours in Halifax, Nova Scotia, were on the team that Crosby captained to gold at the 2015 worlds. By winning the tournament in Prague then, Crosby joined hockey’s Triple Gold Club, a small group of players who have won the Stanley Cup, the Olympics and the worlds.

These are the third worlds, and first since 2015 for Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup winner (2009, ‘16 and ‘17) and double Olympic champion (2010 and ‘14). He’s captured gold for Canada at every international tournament, including the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 2005 world junior championship.

In February, the 37-year-old also shone alongside MacKinnon as he captained Canada to the 4 Nations Face-Off trophy, beating archrival the United States in overtime.

Crosby has behind him a 20th NHL season featuring 33 goals, 58 assists and 91 points in 80 games for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who missed out on the NHL playoffs.

MacKinnon opted to join Canada after his Colorado Avalanche were knocked out in the first round. It will be the fourth worlds and and first since 2017 for the 29-year-old center, who recorded the second highest points in the regular season — 116 — and added another 11 in the playoffs.

Crosby will also reunite with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury who has just exited the NHL but postponed his retirement at age of 40 to play again with Crosby and at the worlds for the first time. “It’ll be fun to go spend some time together and yell at him in practice a bit, keep him honest,” said Fleury, who won the Stanley Cup with the Penguins three times.

Among the rising stars, Canada includes the 18-year-old Macklin Celebrini, the top pick in the 2024 NHL draft who collected 63 points from 25 goals and 38 assists in his rookie season for the San Jose Sharks.

Canada is the most successful nation at the tournament with 28 titles and is a favorite every year no matter who is available. With Crosby and MacKinnon, it is definitely the team to beat.

Other contenders

David Pastrnak is back for the defending champion Czech Republic after his Boston Bruins didn’t advance to the playoffs.

The Czechs beat Switzerland 2-0 in the final in Prague last year with Pastrnak scoring the winner. It was the seventh title won by the Czech Republic — or Czechia — since the 1993 breakup of Czechoslovakia. Pastrnak racked up 106 points in the NHL, reaching one hundred for the third straight season.