Will Sidney Crosby play against the USA in the gold medal game? Here's what we know.
There is a "better chance" Sidney Crosby plays for Canada against the United States in the men's hockey gold medal game of the Olympic tournament, his coach said.
Crosby was injured during his team's quarterfinal win over Czechia on Wednesday. He left the ice in the second period after a hit from defenseman Radko Gudas. Crosby, Canada's captain, remained on the bench for a couple of minutes before heading to the locker room. He was favoring his right leg on the ice before being ruled out.
Here's what we know about his status for Sunday morning's gold medal game.
Sidney Crosby's status for gold medal game
The USA beat Slovakia 6-2 in the semifinals on Friday, setting up Sunday's colossal matchup between the two rivals.
The last time the U.S. and Canada played in an Olympic men's hockey final was Vancouver 2010, when Crosby scored the game-winning goal in overtime.
While it remains to be seen if Crosby plays on Sunday, his coach, Jon Cooper, said Canada has "the best of the best" experts trying to get Crosby back on the ice safely.
However, on Saturday in Milan, Crosby skated with his teammates at a closed practice.
"We'll see, I watched him skate today, I haven't spoken to him yet," Cooper said to The Athletic. "We're going to meet tonight and have a determination of what's going to happen tomorrow. He won't put himself in harm's way."
Cooper also said that dressing Crosby as the 13th forward just to keep him on the bench was not an option.
"We don't want to have someone in there as an inspiration when we could have a player in there capable of helping," he said. "He wouldn't want to do that, either."
Sidney Crosby injury update
Cooper addressed Crosby's status after his team beat Finland 3-2 in the semifinals on Friday.
"He's got a lot better chance of playing in the gold medal game than he did today," Cooper said, according to ESPN.
Crosby reportedly skated in a closed session before Friday's game against Finland, but he was ruled out about 60 minutes before the puck dropped.
Cooper has previously said that Crosby and Canada are taking the lower-body injury "day-by-day," adding that Crosby is "by no means ruled out of the tournament."
The 38-year-old star for the Pittsburgh Penguins has two goals and four assists for Canada at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games.