Connor McDavid isn’t just representing  his country for the first time on the Olympic stage.

He is also representing the Edmonton Oilers.

And what we’re seeing from the superstar at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games is eerily representative of his NHL club, where all the focus is on offence.

Not that it’s McDavid’s fault, of course. All he’s done since arriving in Italy for his first taste of Olympic hockey is set a record of nine assists and 11 points through his first four games.

All gas, no break. Out-offensing any mistakes made.

Sound familiar? It sure does to Oilers fans.

Not that they’re letting that dark cloud hanging over Rogers Place rain on Team Canada’s Olympic parade ahead Friday’s semi-final showdown against Finland. They are happy to see McDavid wear the red and white Maple Leaf as a superhero cape. As are his Oilers teammates back home.

“I think we’ve seen it all tournament, his excitement and his passion, he has a way to elevate his game in every moment and make the most of it and enjoy it,” said Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse, who was also watching his cousin, Sarah, play for gold Thursday with Team Canada’s women. “It’ll be fun to watch. It’ll be fun to see him go out there and do his thing. I think he’s just being himself.”

Even if the look on McDavid’s face doesn’t exactly scream ‘fun’.

“I’m sure he’s having fun on the inside,” Nurse said. “I don’t think you commit yourself that much to something you don’t love.”

The semi-final represents the biggest international game McDavid has played since scoring the overtime winner for Team Canada in last-year’s final of the Four Nation’s Face-Off against the United States, while one more win would have him competing for Olympic gold.

“I think with his preparation, he puts a lot of pressure and focus on him playing at his best,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “I believe that’s for anything; regular season, exhibition, he always wants to do his best.

“He’s a very serious person and he just wants to perform at his best. The higher the stakes of the game, there’s more preparation, there’s more focus.”

But whereas McDavid is the clear leader in the Oilers dressing room, in Milan he is sharing space with the rest of the best this country has to offer.

“How he is in the (Canadian) dressing room? I don’t know the dynamics there, who is talking, who keeps it loose and that’s stuff,” Knoblauch said. “I just see with Connor, he’s a very serious guys and he just puts a lot of pressure on himself and this is something that he’s been waiting to do for a long time, play in the Olympics.

“And he doesn’t want it just to be an experience, he wants it to be a positive experience and part of it is winning goal and playing well.”

For Knoblauch, these Olympics have offered him a chance to watch someone else walk a mile in his shoes.

As Oilers head coaches even before him have discovered, there is a draw to play McDavid alongside the team’s next-best scorer in Leon Draisaitl — who suited up for Team Germany — whenever the going gets tough and they need points on the board.

And you can add Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper to the list of believers in that strategy, as it didn’t take him long to put McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Macklin Celebrini together on the same line at the Olympics.

The trio are the highest-scoring Canadians in the NHL so far this season, sitting first-, second- and fourth-overall in the points race coming into the Olympic break.

“It’s hard not to, he’s game-breaking,” Knoblauch said of his captain. “He can make something out of when there’s nothing there. He makes a play whether he’s scoring the goal or he’s creating that offence.

“He’s the best in the NHL and when you have that ability to put him over the boards, it’s pretty hard to keep him on the bench and go with somebody else because he’s so dynamic.”

Either way, it’s been must-see TV for his Oilers teammates back home.

“Obviously, playing with some of the guys you watch a little more closely. It’s been very fun to watch, it’s been entertaining and I think it’s great to see the NHL players over there again,” said Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry, who is making the most of not having to come up against McDavid as practice resumed for the rest of the Oilers this week.  “He’s a special player. I don’t think you could say anything else, other than that.

“He’s one of a kind and the things he’s doing there, it’s special.”

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On X: @StarkRavinMod

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