Team Canada's Olympic hockey team entered the 2026 Olympic Games as the favorite to win gold. They cruised through round robin play, setting the stage for Wednesday's quarterfinal vs. Czechia. In what turned out to be a thriller, Canada prevailed, 4-3, in overtime. But the win came at a price. Canadian captain Sidney Crosby suffered a lower-body injury in the second period.
He initially remained in the game and played a couple of shifts. But later in the period, Crosby headed to the locker room and did not return. He was officially ruled out for the rest of the game in the third period.
Crosby is slated to undergo imaging to determine the severity of the injury, per ESPN.
Afterward, Team Canada coach Jon Cooper updated his star captain's injury with some concerning words.
“You just rarely see it, and so for him, something definitely went wrong,” Cooper said after the game. “But he just thought he wasn't in a position to help the team for the rest of the night. And we'll reevaluate after that.”
Olympic physicality was the culprit of Crosby's injury. After skating through unchallenged, Czechia upped the intensity on Wednesday.
Trailing 2-1 during the second period (first time trailing in the tournament), Crosby was rocked by Czechia defenseman Radko Gudas. Shortly afterward, the Pittsburgh Penguins captain was double-teamed into the boards by Gudas and Martin Necas. Crosby then slowly skated to the bench and limped to the locker room.
The sides exchanged goals, which saw Canada on the wrong side of a 3-2 score late in the third period. But Nick Suzuki tied the game with less than four minutes remaining, sending the game into overtime.
In OT, Mitch Marner scored what he described afterward as the goal of his life.
Canada advanced to the semifinals. They will face either No. 4 seed Finland or No. 7 seed Sweden.
