Team Canada fell short in overtime against Team USA in the gold medal game. Canada was unsure if their captain, Sidney Crosby, would be playing in the game. Crosby ended up not playing in the game, as Canada fell in overtime 2-1.
After the game. Nathan MacKinnon spoke about his captain, per Arpon Basu of The Athletic.
“He did it for us and the country to not play,” MacKinnon said after the game.
Crosby was injured in the second period against Czechia in the quarterfinals. He did not return to the ice after the hit, and then would go on to miss the semifinal against Finland. There was hope that Crosby would be able to go against the United States, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
“We’ll see, I watched him skate today,” Team Canada coach Jon Cooper said Saturday. “We’re going to meet tonight and have a determination of what’s going to happen tomorrow. He won’t put himself in harm’s way, he’s not going to put the team in harm’s way.”
Crosby is a two-time gold-medalist at the Olympics already and was hoping to add a third. Still, with so much talent available for Canada, having Crosby take a spot not at 100 percent may not have been an option.
“No, it’s too important, we don’t want to have someone in there as an inspiration when we could have a player in there capable of helping,” Cooper responded about dressing Crosby as the 13th forward to have him on the bench. “You never know if guys are going to get hurt in a game. And he wouldn’t want to do that either.”
MacKinnon hinted that it may have ultimately been Crosby's decision not to play. If this is Crosby's final Olympics, he finishes with seven goals and nine assists in his Olympic career, along with two gold medals and one silver.
