Canada will have to try to make the men’s Olympic gold-medal game without its captain.
Sidney Crosby has been ruled out for Friday’s semifinal against Finland with a lower-body injury, Hockey Canada announced.
Crosby suffered the injury in Wednesday’s Olympic quarterfinal against Czechia. 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.
It’s a big blow for the Canadians, as Crosby enjoyed a strong round-robin in Milan with two goals and four assists in three games.
Crosby has not been ruled out for the tournament, head coach Jon Cooper said Thursday, so he could still potentially return for Canada’s medal game on either Saturday or Sunday.
With Crosby unavailable, Connor McDavid will don the ‘C’ for the Canadians against Finland. Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar will serve as alternates.
Meanwhile, Sam Bennett will draw back into the lineup in Crosby’s absence after sitting out against Czechia, while Nick Suzuki will take the captain’s spot at centre in between Mitch Marner and Mark Stone.
Defenceman Josh Morrissey, who was injured in the first game of the tournament against the Czechs, will continue to sit out.
The Canadians and Finns will battle for a chance to play for gold at 10:40 a.m. ET / 7:40 a.m. PT (CBC Gem, Sportsnet+).
The United States will play Slovakia in the other semifinal later in the day at 3:10 p.m. ET / 12:10 p.m. PT.
The losers of each game will play in the bronze-medal game on Saturday, with the winners advancing to the gold-medal game on Sunday.
