{"id":467667,"date":"2026-02-23T03:10:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/467667\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T03:10:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:10:14","slug":"reaction-to-crosby-gold-and-getting-back-to-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/467667\/","title":{"rendered":"Reaction to Crosby, Gold, and Getting Back to Reality"},"content":{"rendered":"

CRANBERRY TWP., Pa. \u2014 \u201cKnowing (Sidney Crosby<\/a>), it must have been hard. He probably sat in the locker room with his gear on and watched it on TV. You know, a guy like that wants the puck on his stick to try to make a difference to help his team win the gold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Penguins defenseman Kris Letang<\/a> has been Crosby\u2019s teammate for most of 20 years. He succinctly and with a touch of dark humor summed up Crosby\u2019s agonizing decision to admit he wasn\u2019t healthy enough to play in Sunday\u2019s historical gold medal game and the frustration of watching Team Canada dominate Team USA<\/a> but lose the ultimate prize 2-1 in overtime at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan.<\/p>\n

Crosby suffered a lower-body injury in the quarterfinal win over Czechia on Wednesday and was unable to play in the semifinal Friday against Team Finland and the gold medal game Sunday. <\/p>\n

He tried. Special braces. Extra work. Perhaps with one more day, he could have played, as reports Saturday indicated he had a 70% chance to play. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just a high character player,\u201d Penguins winger Bryan Rust<\/a> said. \u201cI think every player in that situation, but especially (Crosby), wants to play in that game, but to know that he wasn\u2019t going to be able to help his team to the ability that he thinks was acceptable\u2013I think it shows a lot of self-awareness and extremely high character.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crosby\u2019s status with the Penguins also remains unknown. <\/p>\n

Penguins coach Dan Muse<\/a> confirmed the team does not know the severity or prognosis and how it might relate to the resumed regular season that begins Thursday against Team USA hero Jack Hughes and the New Jersey Devils. The Penguins won\u2019t know more until Crosby returns and the Penguins\u2019 staff evaluates him. <\/p>\n

Many Penguins had dual rooting interests Sunday. Their friend and captain Crosby is a central figure on Team Canada, but there are plenty of Americans in the Penguins dressing room, too. <\/p>\n

For the USA, it was the first gold medal since 1980, and in fact was 46 years to the day since the Miracle on Ice. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a win-win (for me). Yeah, I\u2019m just happy no one stole the Golden Goal from Canada,\u201d said forward Kevin Hayes<\/a>. \u201cYeah. It was a win-win. A lot of friends on USA, and Sid is on (Team) Canada. I thought it was one of the better games I\u2019ve ever watched.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hayes also had a special interest in the postgame celebration, too. Team USA honored Hayes\u2019s best friend, Johnny Gaudreau, wha drunk driver tragically killeder in August of 2024. Gaudreau perennially played for Team USA in World Championships, the World Junior Championships, and was likely going to be part of the Four Nations tournament one year ago. <\/p>\n

Hayes keeps a photo of Gaudreau in his dressing stall at PPG Paints Arena. <\/p>\n

In the on-ice celebration, USA players held up Gaudreau\u2019s No. 13 jersey. They raced to Gaudreau\u2019s widow, Meredith, bringing Gaudreau\u2019s young children onto the ice to be included in the team photo with Gaudreau\u2019s jersey. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really cool. Johnny would\u2019ve been on that team. It was little Johnny\u2019s (second) birthday. Really cool story,\u201d said Hayes. \u201cI\u2019m happy that Meredith (and Gaudreau\u2019s parents) got to go over there. I\u2019m sure the USA staff kind of did it to the nines and did it the right way, deservedly so. Johnny was a huge part of USA Hockey. Every chance he had to play\u2013World Juniors, World Championships. Every American team, he was a stud every time. It was a really cool moment to watch them skate out there and take the picture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Touch of class by Team USA \ud83d\udc99 pic.twitter.com\/v5CF1VImaQ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) February 22, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Olympic Reactions<\/p>\n

Two of the three Olympians who weren\u2019t playing Sunday were at Penguins practice. Swedish defenseman Erik Karlsson<\/a> was absent, but winger Rickard Rakell returned from Team Sweden, and goalie Arturs Silovs from Team Latvia. Both performed well on the international stage. <\/p>\n

Rakell had one assist in five games of the relatively low-scoring tournament. But after carrying much of the play, Sweden lost in overtime to Team USA in the quarterfinal. <\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it was a fun experience representing my country, even though our goals, we didn\u2019t live up to the expectations,\u201d said Rakell. \u201cSo that\u2019s going to take a lot of time to digest, but it feels good being back here with my teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silovs was 1-1-0, but didn\u2019t play in the first-round loss to Sweden. Tiny Latvia has a population of only 1.8 million, but it\u2019s made a big dent in international competition, even if they still lag slightly behind the major hockey powers. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s what a lot of athletes are trying for. Not a lot of guys can get an opportunity like that, and I have to be grateful for it,\u201d Silovs said. \u201cAnd the country I play for, yeah, for sure, you want to play more games and make quarterfinals and see what\u2019s going to happen there. But didn\u2019t happen this time for us. So, I think it\u2019s taking pride in playing every single game with the national team jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back to Life, Back to Reality<\/p>\n

Sunday was the final practice for the team during the Olympic break. The roster freeze ends at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, and the final players will trickle back for practice this week, perhaps including Crosby. <\/p>\n

After a week off and a week of high-energy practices, Muse is looking forward to getting back to NHL games. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, for sure. I\u2019m excited for it. We\u2019ve had a unique time, even going back this last week and just being able to get some quality practices is something we haven\u2019t been able to do in quite some time,\u201d said Muse. \u201cGetting the practices that are as long as they\u2019ve gone, and I think the guys have really been excited. Just to see the energy that they\u2019ve brought in every practice that we\u2019ve had\u2013They put in the work. It\u2019s been a long break, and I\u2019m definitely ready to get back to the games and get back to the grind.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will be go-time for the second-place Penguins, and soon, the gold medal game will be a memory; perhaps the subject of a few documentaries, but a memory nonetheless. The chase for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs awaits. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Penguins Practice<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> <\/p>\n

Categorized:Penguins Notebook<\/a><\/p>\n

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