Sidney Crosby not ruled out for Olympic gold medal game

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MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 15: Sidney Crosby #87 of Team Canada skates in the first period during the Men's Preliminary Group A match between Canada and France on day nine of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 15, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Team Canada hasn’t yet ruled out Sidney Crosby from playing in Sunday’s gold medal game against the United States.

Crosby, who suffered a lower-body injury in Wednesday’s quarterfinals win over Czechia, was sidelined Friday as Canada claimed a 3-2 comeback win over Finland to advance to the finals.

“We have 48 hours to decide that,” Canada coach Jon Cooper said when asked after Friday’s win if Crosby would be playing Sunday (h/t the New York Post’s Mollie Walker). “But I will tell you he’s got a better chance of playing that than he did of playing today.”

Crosby underwent imaging after Wednesday’s injury, which reportedly revealed he had avoided the “worst case scenario,” per The Athletic’s Josh Yohe.

He was still ruled out shortly before the puck dropped for Canada’s Friday matchup. Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Team Canada’s attempts to get him back on the ice included “putting together a custom brace.”

Crosby wasn’t visible with Team Canada’s other scratches in the stands during Friday’s win over Finland. He was a presence in the locker room during period breaks, and multiple Canadian players mentioned him as a source of motivation in the win.

Connor McDavid said Sidney Crosby was around the team in the room at intermissions, dissecting and figuring out solutions for Canada.

— Arpon Basu (@ArponBasu) February 20, 2026

Brad Marchand getting injured captain Sidney Crosby another shot at gold:

"With what he's done for the game, for our team, for all of Canada, we want to show up for him."

— Joshua Clipperton (@JClipperton_CP) February 20, 2026

Tom Wilson on Crosby: "Every guy who laced up their skates wanted to make him proud. You know he’s watching. You want to give it all for him. He’s one of the highest-respected players in the game of hockey …"

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) February 20, 2026

Canada will certainly hope to get Crosby back before taking on Team USA for gold. With Crosby no longer present to anchor Canada’s second line, Cooper was leaning heavily on his top line of Connor McDavid, Macklin Celebrini and Nathan MacKinnon when Canada was trailing late in Friday’s matchup.

For the Penguins, the news that Team Canada thought there was a possibility Crosby could have played Friday— even if it would have required a custom brace— raises hope that whatever injury he suffered against Czechia won’t sideline him long-term after the Games.

Canada will provide another Crosby injury update before puck drops for the gold medal game Sunday at 8 a.m. ET. The Penguins are finally back in action four days later with a Thursday home game against the New Jersey Devils.

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