Sidney Crosby suffered a lower-body injury during the quarterfinals against Czechia, which caused him to limp off to the bench, exit through the tunnel, and not return for the rest of the game. Now, that raised significant concern for the tournament favorites. And with the semifinals coming up against Finland on Friday, that same concern prevails.

On Thursday, journalist Ryan Rishaug came up with a concerning update around Crosby on X: “Sounds like Crosby may go for a quick skate tomorrow morning to see where things are at, but is unlikely to play against Finland. If he can’t, Suzuki likely to slide into his spot as he did in the 1/4 finals.”

Crosby’s injury happened in the second period when Czechia’s defenseman Radko Gudas made a strong check on him, and his legs appeared to buckle. He got back to his feet only to get sandwiched by Gudas and forward Martin Necas in another rough physical play. That was all for Crosby that night. Later, it was confirmed that he wouldn’t be returning to the game as Canada trailed 2-1.

Even when he wasn’t in the midst of all the action, he played his role by motivating his teammates, and that worked as Canada eked a fine 4-3 win after forcing overtime in the third period. Overall, it was a tricky encounter for the favorites, and they needed every bit of Crosby’s motivation to spur them on.

“He couldn’t come out for the third, but he did address the players,” Canada’s head coach Jon Cooper said. “That was a big thing coming in is, if we lose this game, we didn’t want this to be Sid’s last game at this Olympics, so that was a big motivator for the guys.”

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Nick Suzuki, who slotted in for Crosby and is expected to play in the semifinals against Finland, also shared how the team came together to win it for Crosby.

“I think a lot of guys stepped up,” the 26-year-old told Olympics.com. “All four lines just kept rolling and kept pushing, and I think it was just a matter of time for us to get one there in the third.”

For now, there are no indications of the Canadian captain getting ruled out of the Milan Olympics. But there are definitely possibilities emerging.

Sidney Crosby is not yet ruled out of the 2026 Milan Olympics

With all the uncertainty around Crosby’s health, there’s no official news that he has been ruled out of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. The 38-year-old’s status right now is day to day, but Jon Cooper has clearly mentioned, “by no means ruled out of the tournament.”

Cooper highlighted that the player’s health is of optimum priority, but if he recovers and there’s a possibility of featuring, then Crosby could be back in the lineup:

“We’ve got the best of the best looking at him. We’re taking this day by day, and we’re not going to put anybody in harm’s way. But if he can play, he’s definitely going to. We’ll know more again in 24 hours. Everything is going down as we speak. We have time.”

Crosby’s return could determine Canada’s chances of winning the gold medal this time. The Pittsburgh Penguins star has been a crucial member of the Canadian men’s hockey team at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. Apart from his charismatic leadership, he has also recorded two goals and four assists in the group stage games.

Overall, he won the gold medal in the 2014 Sochi Olympics and the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He even scored a goal in overtime against the United States in the gold medal game back in 2010. For now, he is relying on his teammates to keep his dream of winning three Olympic gold medals alive, hoping that he can replicate his heroics from 2010 in the finals in Milan.