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Team Canada could get a big boost to its lineup in its Olympic gold medal game against Team USA in men’s hockey on Sunday: the potential return of captain Sidney Crosby.
Crosby, 38, did not play in Canada’s 3-2 semifinal win against Team Finland on Friday after suffering a lower-body injury in the quarter-final against the Czech Republic, but skated during practice Saturday. Canada head coach Jon Cooper said Crosby will be a game-time decision.
“We’ll see,” Cooper said, according to NHL.com. “I saw him skate today. I haven’t talked to him yet. We’re going to meet tonight and have a decision on what’s going to happen tomorrow.
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Sidney Crosby of Team Canada reacts during the men’s ice hockey quarter-final match between Canada and the Czech Republic on day 12 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Milan Santa Giulia Ice Hockey Arena. Milan, Italy, 18 February 2026. (Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)
“He’s not going to put himself at risk. He’s not going to put the team at risk. Obviously, we’d love to have him, but that decision will be made tonight.”
Cooper insisted that Crosby will not play unless he is able to make an impact on the team.
“It’s too important and we don’t have somebody in there as an inspiration when we could have a player that is able to help and you never know if guys are going to get hurt in the game,” Cooper said. “Neither would he.”
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Canada’s Sidney Crosby (87) is treated after being injured in the second period of a men’s ice hockey quarter-final between Canada and the Czech Republic at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Milan, Italy, Feb. 18, 2026. (Hassan Ammar/AP Photo)
The International Ice Hockey Federation states that teams must have a player wearing “C” on their jersey. With Crosby out against Finland, Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid wore the “C” in Crosby’s place.
McDavid said the team wanted to give Crosby an opportunity to play on Sunday after missing the semifinals.
“We definitely wanted to give him an opportunity to play one more,” McDavid said, according to NHL.com. “We’ve done that and we’ll see.”
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Canada’s Connor McDavid wears the team captain’s letter C on his jersey in place of the injured Sidney Crosby during the second period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal against Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. Milan, Italy, 20 February 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
McDavid said Crosby has been “extremely positive” and still contributing to the team even though he hasn’t played.
In turn, Team USA’s Tage Thompson was on the ice for the team’s skate Saturday after leaving the team’s 6-2 win over Team Slovakia in the third period on Friday. Thompson was held out of the third period for safety reasons.
The highly anticipated gold medal game is at 8:10 a.m. ET on Sunday.
