Crosby Expected to Miss a Minimum of Four Weeks

After Sidney Crosby missed the Gold Medal Game of the 2026 Winter Olympics on Sunday due to injury, in which Team Canada won silver, he returned to the United States on Monday.

Head Coach Dan Muse said they would know more about Crosby’s status after he was back in Pittsburgh, and the team announced on Wednesday that Crosby had been placed on injured reserve, and was expected to miss a minimum of four weeks.

The captain met with the media this morning after the news came out that he would be sidelined for much of a busy March.

“We’ve shown all year (that) we’ve had injuries and guys have stepped up,” Crosby said. “To get to where we are at this point, it’s because of our team play. I don’t think it’s been because of any one person. It’s because collectively as a group, we’ve found different ways to win and different guys have stepped up. As long as we continue that and understand that, then I think we give ourselves a good chance.”

Crosby sustained the injury during Canada’s quarterfinal matchup with Czechia on Wednesday (Feb. 18) in a collision with Ducks captain Radko Gudkas, who stepped up to deliver a hit.

While Crosby declined to get into the specifics about the nature of his injury, he said he didn’t have a problem with the play.

“He was trying to be physical and step up,” Crosby said. “Play hard as any defenseman would. It went the wrong way as far as my end of it. I don’t think he should feel the need to reach out or anything like that. It’s hockey and that stuff happens. Unfortunately, it’s one of those things.”

Crosby said he was aware of the severity that night, and took it day by day from there. Crosby said he’s never had this type of injury before, so he wasn’t quite sure what to expect, and timelines are different for everyone. But he gave a lot of credit to the medical staff both here and abroad for getting Crosby in a position to be a game-time decision.

“Close. Yeah, a lot closer than I thought (to playing),” Crosby said. “So, the fact that I even had a chance, or was close to it, the staff there was unbelievable. [Penguins head team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas] here was really helpful, too, in trying to go through that whole process. But unfortunately, it wasn't something I could do.”

There’s been a lot of talk about how that could have been Crosby’s last Olympics, as he is 38 now. He’s well aware of that, but tried not to let the possibility factor into his decision-making.

“I try not to think that far ahead. My mind was just on trying to play,” Crosby said. “You can’t let that creep into your head when you’re trying to overcome something or you have something that is challenging. I think the worst thing you can do is think about worst-case scenarios. I was just trying to be positive and try to focus on playing and find a way to overcome that. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”

Crosby was asked for his thoughts about whether the Olympics experience outweighs the injury risk that NHL players face when they participate.

“It’s the Olympics, and it’s an amazing experience,” Crosby said. “Just as an athlete, not just a hockey player. If you want to look at it just from the hockey perspective, it’s incredible, the product on the ice. The way that fans see the games and just how competitive it is and how it bring everyone together, I think it’s pretty amazing. Obviously, injuries are part of the game. They come with that, especially at that level with the speed and the intensity and the physicality of the games. It’s great that guys have the opportunity to go and showcase and have that opportunity.”

Now that he’s back, Crosby’s focus is on returning to NHL action with his Penguins teammates whenever the time comes.

“Obviously, I want to be back out there as soon as possible,” Crosby said. “Just have to figure out what that looks like, how long it’s going to be and find a way to make sure that I’m at my best when I come back.”

In the meantime, the Penguins know that Crosby is irreplaceable, and they said as much. He’s literally one of the greatest players and leaders in the history of professional sports.

“You don’t replace him. It’s an opportunity for a lot of guys to continue what guys have been doing all year. And when there is an opportunity, take advantage of it,” Muse said. “It gets spread out across the entire group. It’s for everybody just to be able to continue raise their game for us, to continue to raise our collective game. This is the reality of sports, this is the reality of our sport. There are injuries. But now it’s opportunity for us, opportunity for others.”

The Penguins really have done an admirable job of that all season long, and it’s a big reason why they are in a good position coming out of the break, sitting second in the Metropolitan Division. They have weathered absences to players like Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust, just to name a few.

But they do have a challenging stretch ahead, as the Penguins have games essentially every other day against extremely difficult opponents. Not to mention the race is tight, with only a few points separating the teams in the standings. They are one point ahead of the third-place Islanders, and five points ahead of the Blue Jackets and Capitals, on the outside looking in.

“It's a sprint to the finish line,” Rust said. “We're in a really good spot in the standings going into this last little stretch. But I think for us, we got to continue this, because there's a whole lot of games and not a lot of days. And if things start to go bad, they can kind of get into a landslide quickly. So, I think we got to continue to just try and take it one day at a time.”