Canada's Sidney Crosby Speaks Out on Gold Medal Game Absence

What was a historic day of absolute joy for the U.S. men's ice hockey team and American hockey fans everywhere, was also heartbreaking for Canada.

Feb. 22, 2026 marked Team USA taking home the Olympic gold medal for the first time since 1980. Jack Hughes played the overtime hero for the Americans, seeing a reversal of the golden goal from Canada's Sidney Crosby back in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Hughes scored the OT goal only 1:41 into OT, giving the Canadians the silver.

However, the Canadians were playing without their captain, Crosby. The Pittsburgh Penguins legend previously left Canada's quarterfinal matchup against Czechia early with an injury.

Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby — Feb 15, 2026; Milan, Italy; Cale Makar of Canada, Sidney Crosby of Canada, Connor McDavid of Canada and Sam Reinhart of Canada react against France in men's ice hockey group A play during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

As Crosby dumped the puck into the offensive zone near the center line against the Czechs, defenseman Radko Gudas stepped up on the veteran center. Trying to avoid the hit, he ducked down low but fell awkwardly with Gudas landing on top of him. His right leg also appeared to bend awkwardly.

Crosby then appeared to keep weight off of his right leg as he skated to the bench and departed to the locker room for further evaluation. He since underwent an MRI, with ESPN's Emily Kaplan reporting that Crosby was seen wearing a walking boot at the hotel on Feb. 20 — he was then ruled out for Canada's eventual gold medal game.

Sidney Crosby Not Able to Help Team Canada to Gold

Postgame to the media, Crobsy said he ultimately just was not in a position to be able to help his team.

"It's a lot easier playing than watching," Crosby said. "I think everyone should be proud the way the team performed. I thought that obviously we did everything but score. In every facet, we were just so good today. We deserved better and unfortunately, we didn't come away with the win ... It was pretty close [to me playing.] Ultimately, I wasn't able to go out there and do what I needed to do to help the team. So at that point, you have to make a decision that's best for the group and [it] was not an easy one, but that's hockey. It's hard, you just try to be around and be a positive influence."

Sid said he was pretty close to playing. Also said Canada deserved better vs USA. This is a really good interview. pic.twitter.com/5ewXYEkTFs
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) February 22, 2026

Through the first three Winter Olympics games, Crosby posted six goals (two goals, four assists) for Team Canada. The Canadians took down Finland 3-2 without Crosby on Feb. 20 after trailing 2-0 to advance to the gold medal game which resulted in their previously mentioned silver.

Connor McDavid wore the "C" in place of Crosby. The Canadians put up 42 shots on goal against the Americans in their attempt for gold.

Crosby is known for being an absolute NHL legend; the 38-year-old has a whopping 1,746 points across 652 goals and 1,094 assists. He has played his entire career with the Penguins after being selected by Pittsburgh at No. 1 overall back in 2005. At 38-years-old, Crosby is known as one of the oldest figures still active in hockey. It is entire probable that his Olympic career is now over with two golds (2010, 2014) and now one silver (2026).

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