Team Canada coach Jon Cooper also announced that defenseman Josh Morrissey is out for game against Team USA with an upper-body injury.
MILAN, Italy - For the second day in a row, Sidney Crosby skated on his own. But heading into Sunday's gold-medal final at the 2026 Olympics, the Team Canada captain's status remains unclear.
"We’ll see. I saw him skate today. I haven’t spoken to him yet. We’re going to meet tonight. I have no information on what’s going to happen tomorrow," said coach Jon Cooper. "He won’t put himself in harm’s way. He’s not going to put the team in harm’s way. But obviously, we’d love to have him."
Crosby, who was injured in the quarterfinal game against Czechia, missed Friday's semifinal win against Finland with what is suspected to be a right knee injury after getting hit awkwardly by Radko Gudas.
The 38-year-old Crosby is one of only two players (Drew Doughty is the other) who won gold at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics for Canada, with Crosby having scored the "golden goal" in Vancouver. In his absence on Friday, Canada rallied from behind and defeated Finland 3-2, with many players saying that Crosby was the inspiration for the win.
"I think we definitely wanted to give him an opportunity to play one more. We’ve done that and we’ll see," said Connor McDavid, who has worn the 'C' while Crosby has been out. "He's been around a lot, obviously. He's been extremely positive. He's still contributing, even though he didn't play last game. He's still being the leader he is."
For that reason, Cooper asked if there is any value in having Crosby on the bench as a 13th forward, even if he isn't 100%.
"No. It’s too important," said Cooper. "We don’t want to have someone in there as an inspiration when we could have player who could be capable of helping. You never know if guys are going to get hurt in a game. And he wouldn’t want to do that either."
Crosby is not the only player who is banged up for Canada.
Josh Morrissey, who hasn't played since the opening game against Czechia on Feb. 12, was ruled out of Sunday's gold-medal game with an upper-body injury. It's a tough blow not only for Canada, but also for Morrissey, who missed last year's 4 Nations Face-Off final with an illness.
"In the end, Josh just wasn’t able to perform," said Cooper. "That’s a tough one. This is a year now where we’re having the same conversation. I feel for him. He’s an all-world kid and been through hell and back."