Somebody pinch Mitch Marner.
Marner scored one of the most electric goals in Canadian hockey history on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, from the greatest hockey player to ever put on Team Canada&#8217;s sweater, Sidney Crosby. Marner would rush home after grade school as a kid, just to watch Crosby highlights, and during game one of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, Marner&#8217;s dreams became reality.
Marner grew up idolizing Crosby. From wearing #87 playing on the outdoor rink to celebrating Crosby&#8217;s golden goal with his entire family, all he&#8217;s ever wanted is to follow in his hero&#8217;s footsteps. So, to say it was a surreal moment for Marner, to score an overtime winner for Canada, on a slick drop pass from Crosby, would be an outrageous understatement.
“If you tell 10-year-old Mitch that he scored an overtime goal assisted by Sidney Crosby, a guy he looked up to from day one. That’s pretty crazy,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/TheHockeyNews/status/1889897658141253923">stated Marner</a> following Canada&#8217;s 4-3 win over Sweden. &#8220;Ever since day one, like I’ve spoken about all week, 87 is all I wore growing up, it’s all I cheered for. Yeah, it’s a really cool, surreal, pinch-me moment there, for sure.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🇨🇦CANADA GOAL🇨🇦
MITCH MARNER WINS THE GAME IN OVERTIME!
🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canada?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sweden</a> <a href="https://t.co/I84FpmgTqm">pic.twitter.com/I84FpmgTqm</a>
— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1889889827199525195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
While Marner was just 12 years old when Crosby won Canada Olympic gold in Vancouver, since he&#8217;s been in the NHL, he&#8217;s had a chance to form quite a friendship with the hockey legend. From playing together during the all-star weekend to training together for a couple of weeks during the offseason to now hitting the ice together in overtime for Canada, it&#8217;s been quite the journey. While Marner was quick to point out it was a great pass from Crosby to leave it in the neutral zone for him with a head of steam, Crosby wasn&#8217;t going to take any credit for what came next.
“I was on the bench when he scored so he did all the work,&#8221; <a href="https://x.com/MatiszJohn/status/1889905642158301615">said Canada&#8217;s captain</a> with an ear-to-ear smile after the game. Crosby finished the night with three assists, was the game&#8217;s first star, and felt nothing but absolute love from the crowd in Montreal.
During the 2023 all-star weekend, Marner relished the chance to get to spend some quality time with Crosby. Marner was asked then what stood out the most following Sid&#8217;s hockey journey, and despite the multiple Stanley Cups, Marner was quick to point out that the golden goal takes the cake:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Marner on Crosby: &#8220;For how talented and skilled he is, and for what he does on that ice, he’s just a super down to earth human being and something that you appreciate from someone.&#8221;
Riding along to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLAllStar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NHLAllStar</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/Marner93?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Marner93</a> and Sid ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/Wzii1nknC4">pic.twitter.com/Wzii1nknC4</a>
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) <a href="https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1621960470927130626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
Crosby is the pedigree of a professional. He works extremely hard to master his craft, he never takes a shift, a practice, or a training session in the summer off. Everything matters to Crosby and it&#8217;s a big reason why he&#8217;s had so much success throughout the years. Marner getting a chance to soak it all in from the hockey legend is going to do nothing but help his game, give him confidence in big moments, and most of all, have a whole lot of fun along the way. We&#8217;ve been waiting almost a decade for best-on-best hockey, and for Marner, it must have felt like two decades not getting the chance to represent your country with your idol.
Crosby takes home his Rolex for winning player of the game, meanwhile, Marner leaves with a memory that will last a lifetime. Who says don&#8217;t meet your heroes?
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138774" src="https://i0.wp.com/publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2099/08/Article-727x404-1.png?resize=728%2C405&#038;ssl=1" alt="" width="728" height="405" /></a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff Live</a> is on the road! From February 10th to 20th, we’re bringing you live shows every weekday straight from Four Nations, delivering exclusive coverage, insider analysis, and all the tournament action as it unfolds. Don’t miss a beat—subscribe to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff YouTube channel</a> and follow us on social for the latest updates. It’s international hockey, so expect intensity, excitement, and maybe even a little chaos. Stay locked in and catch us live from Four Nations!

Somebody pinch Mitch Marner.

Marner scored one of the most electric goals in Canadian hockey history on Wednesday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, from the greatest hockey player to ever put on Team Canada's sweater, Sidney Crosby. Marner would rush home after grade school as a kid, just to watch Crosby highlights, and during game one of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament, Marner's dreams became reality.

Marner grew up idolizing Crosby. From wearing #87 playing on the outdoor rink to celebrating Crosby's golden goal with his entire family, all he's ever wanted is to follow in his hero's footsteps. So, to say it was a surreal moment for Marner, to score an overtime winner for Canada, on a slick drop pass from Crosby, would be an outrageous understatement.

“If you tell 10-year-old Mitch that he scored an overtime goal assisted by Sidney Crosby, a guy he looked up to from day one. That’s pretty crazy," <a href="https://x.com/TheHockeyNews/status/1889897658141253923">stated Marner</a> following Canada's 4-3 win over Sweden. "Ever since day one, like I’ve spoken about all week, 87 is all I wore growing up, it’s all I cheered for. Yeah, it’s a really cool, surreal, pinch-me moment there, for sure.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
🇨🇦CANADA GOAL🇨🇦
MITCH MARNER WINS THE GAME IN OVERTIME!

🎥: Sportsnet | NHL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canada?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canada</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Sweden?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Sweden</a> <a href="https://t.co/I84FpmgTqm">pic.twitter.com/I84FpmgTqm</a>

— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) <a href="https://twitter.com/DailyFaceoff/status/1889889827199525195?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2025</a></blockquote>
While Marner was just 12 years old when Crosby won Canada Olympic gold in Vancouver, since he's been in the NHL, he's had a chance to form quite a friendship with the hockey legend. From playing together during the all-star weekend to training together for a couple of weeks during the offseason to now hitting the ice together in overtime for Canada, it's been quite the journey. While Marner was quick to point out it was a great pass from Crosby to leave it in the neutral zone for him with a head of steam, Crosby wasn't going to take any credit for what came next.

“I was on the bench when he scored so he did all the work," <a href="https://x.com/MatiszJohn/status/1889905642158301615">said Canada's captain</a> with an ear-to-ear smile after the game. Crosby finished the night with three assists, was the game's first star, and felt nothing but absolute love from the crowd in Montreal.

During the 2023 all-star weekend, Marner relished the chance to get to spend some quality time with Crosby. Marner was asked then what stood out the most following Sid's hockey journey, and despite the multiple Stanley Cups, Marner was quick to point out that the golden goal takes the cake:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Marner on Crosby: "For how talented and skilled he is, and for what he does on that ice, he’s just a super down to earth human being and something that you appreciate from someone."
Riding along to <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHLAllStar?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NHLAllStar</a> with <a href="https://twitter.com/Marner93?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Marner93</a> and Sid ⬇️ <a href="https://t.co/Wzii1nknC4">pic.twitter.com/Wzii1nknC4</a>

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) <a href="https://twitter.com/penguins/status/1621960470927130626?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2023</a></blockquote>
Crosby is the pedigree of a professional. He works extremely hard to master his craft, he never takes a shift, a practice, or a training session in the summer off. Everything matters to Crosby and it's a big reason why he's had so much success throughout the years. Marner getting a chance to soak it all in from the hockey legend is going to do nothing but help his game, give him confidence in big moments, and most of all, have a whole lot of fun along the way. We've been waiting almost a decade for best-on-best hockey, and for Marner, it must have felt like two decades not getting the chance to represent your country with your idol.

Crosby takes home his Rolex for winning player of the game, meanwhile, Marner leaves with a memory that will last a lifetime. Who says don't meet your heroes?

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-138774" src="https://publish.canucksarmy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2099/08/Article-727x404-1.png" alt="" width="728" height="405" /></a>

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff Live</a> is on the road! From February 10th to 20th, we’re bringing you live shows every weekday straight from Four Nations, delivering exclusive coverage, insider analysis, and all the tournament action as it unfolds. Don’t miss a beat—subscribe to the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@daily_faceoff">Daily Faceoff YouTube channel</a> and follow us on social for the latest updates. It’s international hockey, so expect intensity, excitement, and maybe even a little chaos. Stay locked in and catch us live from Four Nations!

From idol to linemate, Sidney Crosby is the perfect mentor for Mitch Marner

Recent articles from Shane Seney

Breaking News