MILAN — Team Canada will be without its captain, Sidney Crosby, for its Olympic semifinal game against Finland on Friday.
Crosby suffered a lower-body injury after taking a hit from Radko Gudas in the quarterfinal two days prior, a game Canada required overtime to win 4-3 over Czechia.
Hockey Canada announced that Connor McDavid would wear the ‘C’ against Finland, with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar as alternate captains.
Coach Jon Cooper said Thursday that Crosby was “by no means ruled out for the tournament,” so it is still an open question whether he will play in the final should Canada make it that far.
“We’ll take it day by day,” Cooper said. “And we’re not going to put anyone in harm’s way. But if he can play, he’s definitely going to.”
Back on the homefront, Crosby’s Penguins are in the midst of a playoff race, going into the Olympic break in second place in the Metropolitan Division, one point ahead of the Islanders.
Penguins GM Kyle Dubas is part of Hockey Canada’s management group for the Olympics.
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Whether he plays or not, Crosby will likely stay around the team to serve in a leadership role.
Team Canada was open about the motivation of making sure he’d get another game at the Olympics before going into overtime Wednesday.
“I think Sid is just himself and it doesn’t need to be anything more or less,” McDavid said Thursday. “I think everybody’s different in their own way. Obviously, everybody goes about things differently. That being said, Sid’s an unbelievable leader and everybody here watches him and is trying to learn off him.”
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