While Canada had to play without Sidney Crosby in its semifinal, the captain hasn’t been ruled out of the gold-medal game just yet.
Speaking to reporters after Canada rallied past Finland 3-2 on Friday, head coach Jon Cooper said Crosby has “a lot better chance of playing (in the gold-medal game) than he did of playing today,” adding that they have “48 hours to determine.”
And while Crosby wasn’t on the ice for Canada’s penultimate Olympic game, Connor McDavid said he still played a big role for his team, joining them in the locker room between periods.
McDavid donned the ‘C’ in Crosby’s absence and told reporters he was “just keeping it warm for Sid,” post-game. Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar served as alternates.
Crosby suffered a lower-body injury in Canada’s quarterfinal against Czechia on Wednesday. He hobbled off the ice in the second period after he was crunched along the boards in the neutral zone by Czech defenceman Radko Gudas at centre ice and took another awkward hit along the boards later in the same shift.
The Canadians’ opponent for the gold-medal game will be determined when the U.S. plays Slovakia in the other semifinal on Friday at 3:10 p.m. ET / 12:10 p.m. PT.
