MILAN (AP) — Canada has not decided whether injured captain Sidney Crosby will play the gold medal game at the Olympic Games against the United States Sunday, coach Jon Cooper said Saturday.
Crosby skated at practice, which was closed to journalists in order to maintain a veil of secrecy around the status of the 38-year-old center who is the team’s most decorated player with two Olympic gold medals and three Stanley Cup rings and who was a key contributor before getting injured.
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“Obviously we’d love to have him,” Cooper said. “He won’t put himself in danger, and he won’t put the team in danger.”
Crosby is gone Wednesday night’s quarterfinal match against Czechia with an apparent right knee injury and did not play against Finland Friday evening in the semi-final. Connor McDavid wore the “C” in Crosby’s absence and assisted on Nathan MacKinnon’s goal with 35.2 seconds left.
International rules allow teams to dress 13 forwards instead of the 12 allowed in the NHL, but Cooper questioned the possibility of Crosby wearing the uniform simply to fill a limited role.
“No. No, it’s too important,” Cooper said. “We don’t want to have someone as an inspiration when we could have a player who can help. You never know if guys are going to get injured in the game. He wouldn’t want to do that either.”
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Cooper pointed to two of his Tampa Bay Lightning players, Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli, who were picked for the roster but stayed home because they weren’t healthy enough to be of more help than their replacements. Injured defender Josh Morrissey has been ruled out.
“When it comes to the flag, no one stands in the way,” Cooper said. “If they’re not able to give what they think is an optimal effort, they don’t want to put the country at risk. They understand what we have here.”
Canada overcame a two-goal deficit to beat Finland, motivated in part by giving Crosby a chance to play one more game in what could be his final Olympics.
“We did it and we’ll see,” McDavid said. “He’s played a lot. Obviously he’s been extremely positive: he continues to contribute, even though he didn’t play the last game, but he remains the leader that he is.”
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Nick Suzuki, who took his place between Mitch Marner and Mark Stone, should be present again in the final if Crosby is not available. Suzuki said Crosby “looked really good on the ice” and hopes the well-respected captain is good enough to go.
“It would mean a lot to him and probably to us,” Suzuki said. “He’s a great leader, a great voice. Everyone looks up to him. It would be great if he could play.”
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PA Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
