In perhaps the least shocking news of the week, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will, once again, be given a great honor by Team Canada.
For the second time in three months, Crosby will be donning the “C” for Canada, as he was officially named team captain for the Canadians at the IIHF Men’s World Championship in Sweden and Denmark.
Crosby also captained Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-off in February, leading the Canadians to gold over Team USA. He had a goal and five points in five games, which was tied for second in tournament scoring among all skaters.
The Penguins’ captain has an impressive international resume, as he has won six gold medals spread across international competition since 2005, when he won gold at the World Junior Championship. Since then, he has two Olympic golds (2010, 2014), a World Championship gold (2015), a World Cup of Hockey gold (2016), and a 4 Nations Face-off gold (2025).
He is a member of the Triple Gold Club and the only member of the unofficial Quintuple Gold Club. In addition, Crosby’s 48-6-1 record in international is unmatched by any international player in hockey history.
Crosby will be joined by former teammate and future hall-of-fame goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who dressed for his final NHL game in a first-round Game 6 loss for the Minnesota Wild last week. Good friend and fellow Nova Scotian Nathan MacKinnon – star forward for the Colorado Avalanche, who were eliminated from postseason contention – will also be joining Crosby in Sweden and Denmark.
In practice on Friday, Crosby skated on a line with youngsters Adam Fantilli of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Macklin Celebrini of the San Jose Sharks.
MacKinnon and Nashville Predators forward Ryan O’Reilly were named alternate captains for the tournament. Crosby’s teammate in Pittsburgh – defensive prospect Harrison Brunicke – dressed for Team Canada during pre-tournament play but ultimately did not make the final roster cut.
Canada will play its first game of the tournament on Saturday, when they take on Slovenia.
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