McDavid ‘keeping the seat warm for Sid’ as captain Crosby misses Olympic semifinal

MILAN – Connor McDavid lived out a boyhood dream by wearing the “C” on his chest for Canada.

The superstar centre — and a nation of fans back home — hope it’s a one-time assignment at the Milan Cortina Games.

Canada advanced to Sunday’s Olympic gold-medal game without injured captain Sidney Crosby after coming from behind to beat Finland 3-2 in a nail-biting semifinal Friday.

“Just keeping the seat warm for Sid,” said McDavid, who served as captain in Crosby’s absence. “Hopefully we can see him back here on Sunday. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him to miss tonight, and I’m sure it was a long game to watch. I know that for a fact.

“But it means a lot to represent our country here, as a team, in the sport we love. That’s what it’s all about.”

Crosby was scratched with a lower-body injury after exiting Canada’s thrilling overtime win against Czechia in the quarterfinals, leaving McDavid to assume a captaincy he’s long-seemed destined for — but not under these circumstances.

Now coach Jon Cooper and Hockey Canada’s brass have two days to determine whether the Pittsburgh Penguins icon can return when it matters most.

“We have 48 hours to decide that,” Cooper said. “But I will tell you he’s got a better chance of playing in the gold-medal game than he had playing in tonight’s game.”

Crosby’s right leg crumpled as he braced for a neutral-zone hit from bruising defenceman Radko Gudas in the second period against Czechia on Wednesday.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist played another 13 seconds before Gudas and Czech forward Martin Necas sandwiched him along the boards. One stride later, he circled back to the bench in noticeable discomfort before limping down the tunnel.

Crosby rallied his group with a pep talk between the second and third periods Wednesday. On Friday, the 38-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., became an extension of the coaching staff.

“He’s obviously got a great hockey mind,” said McDavid, who set an NHL-era record at the Olympics with 13 points in the tournament. “He’s watching the game closely and trying to dissect what they’re doing and giving us little pointers here and there of what we can look for, but he was definitely there and having those conversations.”

Heavy-hitting forward Tom Wilson said the rest of the roster didn’t know until close to game time if their captain would take the ice next to them.

“We heard he was, we heard he wasn’t,” Wilson said. “Then we were in the cab right over, and our team services guy was kind of keeping it quiet. We’re like, ‘Wait, we don’t even get to know?’ We heard pretty last minute.”

Canada trailed 2-0 until goals from Sam Reinhart, Shea Theodore and Nathan MacKinnon — with 35.2 seconds left — carried the men’s hockey team to another comeback as the crowd of mostly Canadian fans erupted at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

Wilson could feel the push to “win it for Sid” across the bench.

“Sid is one of those guys that every guy that laced up their skates wanted to make him proud,” he said. “You know he’s watching. You want to give it all for him. And he’s one of the highest-respected players in the game of hockey.”

Competing in his third Olympics, Crosby is known for shining on the game’s biggest international stage.

He scored the iconic golden goal in Canada’s overtime win over the United States at Vancouver 2010, then captained the country to the top of the podium at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi — finding the back of the net in the final against Sweden — before the NHL skipped the 2018 and 2022 Games.

Crosby has two goals and four assists through four games in Milan. He holds the Canadian NHL-era record of 16 career Olympic points.

“When he’s leading the way for us, and he can’t go tonight, every single guy was trying to play to the best of their ability for him,” Wilson said. “Hopefully moving on here he gets another shot at playing.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2026.