The 2026 Olympics are nearly here, and Team Canada icon Sidney Crosby will try to win a historic third Olympic gold medal. Is Crosby Canada's ultimate Olympic men's hockey player?
Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby already stands out as one of the five best players in the history of the sport.
If he never played another game, Crosby would be one of the most decorated players of all-time. But in a couple of weeks, Crosby has a chance to cement himself as the greatest Canadian men's Olympic player in the era of NHL participation, and possibly ever.
As it stands, Crosby already has two Olympic gold medals to his credit from the 2010 and 2014 Games. But it isn't just his two golds that make Crosby Canada's greatest Olympic performer. It's also about how he contributed to securing Canada's gold medals.
Of course, in the 2010 gold medal win, Crosby netted the overtime-winner against the United States. In 2014, he scored the second goal against Sweden in a 3-0 win in the championship game.
Crosby's overall dominance in important moments gave the country glory more than once. He's also a member of the exclusive Triple Gold Club, with a Stanley Cup, Olympic gold and IIHF World Championship. There are only 30 members of the Triple Gold Club right now, so Crosby is in esteemed company.
In fact, if he wins gold this month, Crosby would move into a tie with Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Scott Niedermayer for the most combined World Championships, Olympic golds and Stanley Cups in the post-USSR Era, with seven.
As the likely captain of the squad, he has a terrific opportunity to go out on a brilliant note. If he leads Canada to another gold this year, he'd be the first player to captain multiple gold-medallists in the NHL era.
Winning another Stanley Cup with the Penguins will be an especially mountainous challenge for the 38-year-old, so the Olympics in Milan could be the last significant triumph of a truly stunning career chock-full of them.
As for non-Canadian NHLers who have participated in the Olympics since 1998, Finland sniper Teemu Selanne scored a career 17 goals, while Czechia goalie Dominik Hasek was amazing as he led his country to gold in Nagano. But neither of them has more than one Olympic gold to their credit. So if Crosby locks up a third gold medal, you have to rank him at or near the top of the list of the greatest Olympic hockey players ever.
In the 2030 Olympics, Crosby will be 42. Barring some competitive miracle that keeps him playing, Crosby will be happily in retirement by then. So if you're looking for someone to keep an eye on at the upcoming Games, it's Crosby. A Crosby with the urgency to reach the top of the Olympic podium for the third time is going to be magnificent to watch.
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