The last thing any NHL fan see is one of their top players suffer an injury. With the professional hockey league allowing its players to compete in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014, there is a fear from fans that some of their players could suffer an injury. Los Angeles Kings fans already saw Kevin Fiala suffer multiple fractures in his left leg in the group stages.
For Pittsburgh Penguins fans, they just watched team captain Sidney Crosby leave Canada's quarterfinal game against Czechia.
In the second period, with Canada trailing 2-1, Crosby received a hit from Czechia defenseman Radko Gudas, resulting in his right leg buckling. Crosby also took a second hit shortly thereafter, and it resulted in Crosby exiting the ice, being unable to put weight on his right leg. After being looked at on the bench, Crosby left for the locker room, where he had a heavy limp.
Sidney Crosby leaves Canada quarterfinal game vs. Czechia with apparent leg injury
This is the last thing that Penguins fans needed to see. Their star player exiting with an apparent leg injury in the Winter Olympics.
The Penguins have been one of the big surprises of the 2025-26 season, as they had little playoff expectations. They were expected to be one of the teams potentially rebuilding, with Crosby being named in trade rumors, despite his insistence on remaining in Pittsburgh. Instead, entering the Olympic break, the Penguins are sitting in second place in the Metropolitan Division with 29-15-12 record for 70 points through 56 games.
This season, Crosby recorded 27 goals and 32 assists through 56 games played. In these Olympics, Crosby had six points in three group stage games, good enough to tie for second-most among all ice hockey players in the Olympics.
UPDATE (12:38 p.m. ET): Just before the start of the third period, Canada officially ruled out Crosby for the remainder of the game due to a lower body injury. For now, there are no additional details on the severity of his injury.
UPDATE (2:19 p.m. ET): After Canada picked up the 4-3 overtime win over Czechia, head coach Jon Cooper said he didn't have an update on Crosby's injury. He did say the message among players in the Canada locker room was that "This will not be Sid's last game at the Olympics."
Jon Cooper didn’t have an update on Crosby but he did say much of the talk in the room in the 2nd intermission among the players was:
— Kyle Bukauskas (@sportsnetkyle) February 18, 2026
“This will not be Sid’s last game at the Olympics.”
We will continue to keep you update on Crosby's status once additional details are provided.