Canadian ice hockey great McDavid finally set for Winter Games debut

TORONTO, Jan 9 : Canada's ‌Connor McDavid has been giving ice hockey fans chills for years with his otherworldly talent and now the game's most dynamic player finally gets to showcase his skills on the global stage with fellow NHL stars at the Milano Cortina Olympic Games.

McDavid has said it would be a dream to represent Canada at an Olympics but the wait has been longer than expected as the National Hockey League did not send its players to the last two editions of the global sporting showcase.

However, the time has finally come for the 28-year-old to let loose in a best-on-best tournament where he hopes to lead Canada to Olympic gold ‌once again, after the country missed the podium at the 2022 Beijing Games.

McDavid, who is in ‌the 11th season of a glittering NHL career spent entirely with the Edmonton Oilers, said he shared the excitement of his fellow Canadians ahead of the Games.

"It kind of seems to be on the back of everyone's mind," he told reporters ahead of a December NHL game in Toronto.

To the surprise of nobody, McDavid was one of six players named on the preliminary roster in June and confirmed in the wider squad in December.

Even those unfamiliar with the NHL will be hard-pressed not to notice McDavid when he takes the ice in Milan.

His extraordinary acceleration, electrifying speed, ‍uncanny on-ice vision, goal-scoring ability and seemingly endless array of moves that have produced countless highlight-reel plays over the course of his career set him apart.

Often compared to fellow Canadian greats of the sport Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby, McDavid learned to skate at the age of three and began playing ice hockey at four, demonstrating an immediate affinity for the game.

At 15 he was granted "exceptional