Sidney Crosby spoke about the experience of playing in the 2026 Winter Olympics with Canada, thanking the effort of his group of teammates led by Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Mitch Marner. Although they were unable to win the gold medal, the legend said the trip to Italy was amazing.
“It was great. Awesome experience. Really everything. The hockey, the setup there. Being able to experience the Olympics again, it was special. Obviously, I was hoping for a different outcome, but, I just couldn’t be more proud of the team. The experience overall was unbelievable.”
Canada lost the final to Team USA with a 2-1 score in overtime in one of the most anticipated games of the last decades. Crosby suffered a lower body injury in the quarterfinals of the tournament against Czechia and now faces a recovery period of at least one month.
A tough decision to make for Sidney Crosby
Sidney Crosby confirmed that his decision not to play in the gold medal game with Team Canada against Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics had nothing to do with the possible impact it would have on the end of the season with the Penguins in the NHL.
“I’ll be honest with you. All I cared about was playing that game and I was focusing on that. That’s not any disrespect to our team or what I feel about this season. We all put a lot of wok to be as successful as possible here. But, given the opportunity to play in the Olympics, and in that game, trying to play was all my focus. As I’ve said, ultimately it came down to not being able to do it.”
In the end, despite his desire to help Canada, the veteran concluded that he was not ready to help his teammates and decided not to play. Now he faces a key rehabilitation process in order to return to the Pittsburgh Penguins as soon as possible.
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Penguins lose Sidney Crosby for NHL season restart with injury and make key roster move after 2026 Winter Olympics
