Crosby travels to Montreal, will skate Monday as evaluation for 4 Nations continues
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Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby will travel to Montreal and is planning to skate on Monday as part of Canada's ongoing evaluation, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reports.
Crosby has been participating in practice since he suffered an upper-body injury last week, but has missed each of the past two games for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Team Canada announced on Saturday that Los Angeles Kings defenceman Drew Doughty has joined the team to replace the injured Alex Pietrangelo, now Crosby remains as the biggest question mark.
“Obviously he’s got a ton of experience internationally and then in the NHL on the runs that he’s been on with LA,” Canada captain Sidney Crosby said. “But I think above that too he’s pretty versatile back there. He’s a guy you can play in any situation, really, so I think just his experience and the fact that he can play in a lot of different situations would be things that he brings.”
The most experienced member of the 4 Nations roster by a long shot is Crosby. The native of Cole Harbour, NS twice led Canada to gold in the Olympics, and his 'Golden Goal' in Vancouver in 2010 stands as an all-time goal in the annals of Team Canada history.
Crosby has 17 goals and 41 assists over 55 games with the Penguins in 2024-25, his 20th season with the team. Pittsburgh sits second last in the Metropolitan Division and seem like longshots to make the playoffs.
TSN Hockey Insider Chris Johnston discussed Crosby's 4 Nations status during Thursday's edition of Insider Trading.
"What do you want to start with? The good news or the bad news? It's almost the weekend, so we'll go good news. He was on the ice in Pittsburgh on this day. Was able to be skating on his own, did a couple drills with the team, but that is obviously an encouraging sign after he missed practice Wednesday. The bad news here, I would suggest, is just how secretive everyone around the situation is being," explained Johnston.
"It's almost like they're guarding the nuclear codes when asked about Crosby's potential availability. And you can contrast that with other players like say, Mitch Marner, who missed the game for the Maple Leafs this week, everyone in that case was quick to say, 'don't worry, he's going to play.' So this is still somewhat up in the air. I think there's a whiff of optimism behind the scenes, but until we hear anything definitively, this is a serious situation for Canada."
Canada opens the tournament Wednesday against Sweden in Montreal, with the first practices for all four teams set for Monday.