Sidney Crosby skates in positive Canada sign ahead of clash with US for Olympic hockey gold


MILAN — Sidney Crosby skated Saturday morning with Team Canada, but no determination has been made yet on his status for the gold medal game Sunday against Team USA, coach Jon Cooper said.

Team Canada closed its practice to reporters, so there was no chance to see what Crosby looked like on the ice or with whom he skated with.

“I haven’t spoken to him yet,” Cooper said. “We’re gonna meet tonight and have a determination of what’s gonna happen tomorrow. He won’t put himself in harm’s way and he’s not gonna put the team in harm’s way. Obviously, we’d love to have him. That determination will be made tonight.”


Sidney Crosby skates in positive Canada sign ahead of clash with US for Olympic hockey gold
Sidney Crosby was injured in the quarterfinals. REUTERS

Cooper said Crosby will not dress in a limited role, or to serve as an inspiration, a la Victor Hedman in Sweden’s quarterfinal game.

“It’s too important,” Cooper said. “We don’t want to have somebody in there as an inspiration when we could have a player that could be capable of helping. You never know if guys are gonna get hurt in the game. He wouldn’t want to do that either.”

He also fielded a question about whether it was allowed for Crosby to be behind the bench as a de facto assistant coach, saying he didn’t know, but it won’t happen.

Cooper did confirm that Canada will be without defenseman Josh Morrissey, who suffered an upper-body injury in the first game of the tournament.


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He deflected when asked whether Morrissey — who practiced fully before Canada’s preliminary-round finale against France and looked set to return — suffered a setback.

“Josh, in the end, he just wouldn’t be able to perform at what he could,” Cooper said. “We made the decision.”


Canada’s Sidney Crosby out of Olympic semifinal | Globalnews.ca


Canada will have to win without captain Sidney Crosby to reach the Olympic gold-medal game.

Canada’s Sidney Crosby out of Olympic semifinal  | Globalnews.ca

The Pittsburgh Penguins superstar was scratched from Canada’s lineup with a lower-body injury ahead of its men’s hockey semifinal Friday against Finland at the Milan Cortina Games.

Connor McDavid will serve as captain in Crosby’s absence.

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Crosby exited Canada’s nail-biting overtime win over Czechia in the quarterfinals after his right leg crumpled as he braced for a neutral-zone hit from bruising defenceman Radko Gudas in the second period.

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The two-time Olympic gold medalist played another 13 seconds before Gudas and Czech forward Martin Necas sandwiched him along the boards. One stride later, he circled back to the bench in noticeable discomfort before limping down the tunnel.

The United States and Slovakia face off in the other semifinal later Friday at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. The bronze-medal game is scheduled for Saturday, followed by Sunday’s matchup for gold.

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Canada men’s hockey demolishes France in latest show of Olympic dominance


MILAN — Neither of the favorites has been tested at these Olympics yet, not truly. But Team Canada spent the preliminary round marking out its territory as the dominant force of the men’s hockey tournament here in Milan.

Through three games, the last of which was an easy 10-2 win over France on Sunday afternoon, the Canadians outscored opponents 20-3. Twelve different players scored goals in the preliminaries; nine different players did so on Sunday. Canada never trailed.

None of its pairs or line combinations — with Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby as the top three centermen — struggled, but for good measure, coach Jon Cooper combined McDavid and Macklin Celebrini with MacKinnon in Canada’s second game, a 5-1 win over Switzerland. What he got was a Death Star-like weapon, though he opted against using it against the French, who were predictably and totally overmatched on Sunday.


Canada men’s hockey demolishes France in latest show of Olympic dominance
Connor McDavid #97 of Team Canada celebrates with teammate Tom Wilson #43 after scoring a goal in the third period against France on Feb. 15, 2026. Getty Images

The closest thing to suspense on Sunday afternoon came when Floran Douay tied the game at one just 13 seconds after Tom Wilson opened the scoring for Canada. The suspense lasted 39 seconds before Devon Toews scored, and that was pretty much it.

From there, the most exciting thing was Wilson dropping gloves with Frenchman Pierre Crinon in the third period, with both players promptly getting ejected, as fighting is illegal under IIHF rules. Crinon had caught MacKinnon with an elbow up high a few minutes prior.

The Canadians all but officially sealed the No. 1 seed in the knockout round due to the lopsided margin. The United States could, technically, catch them later on Sunday, but entered their game against Germany needing to make up 10 goals. The No. 2 seed will be in line to face Sweden, widely believed to be the third-best team in the tournament, in the quarterfinals, a result of the Swedes dropping a game to the Finns and failing to run up the goal differential in their other games.


Macklin Celebrini (17) of Canada scores against France on Feb. 15, 2026.
Macklin Celebrini (17) of Canada scores against France on Feb. 15, 2026. AFP via Getty Images

Of course, that is only the expectation for this wildly talented Team Canada. Everything, though, is humming along as smoothly as can be.

McDavid is the tournament’s points leader, averaging one per period of play, and appears on a mission for gold. Crosby’s three points on Sunday made him Canada’s all-time leading point-getter in the NHL’s Olympic Era. Celebrini, who became the first NHL player to convert a penalty shot at the Olympics on Sunday, is dominating the Games at 19 years old. Go down the roster and not a single player is underperforming.

To the extent there is concern, it is that Josh Morrissey was hurt in Canada’s first game (Cooper said he will return before the Olympics are over), and that Jordan Binnington let in two goals against France.

If there’s a crack in this team, it hasn’t shown yet.