Sidney Crosby was unable to play in the Olympic final due to injury. Now, his teammate Brad Marchand has opened up about what it felt like to be without Crosby on the ice—and about the heartbreaking loss.
The Olympic hockey final became a true heartbreak for Team Canada and all its fans. After tying the game 1–1 in the second period, Team USA captured the gold medal with an overtime goal from Jack Hughes.
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Heartbroken Canadian fans
The loss stung deeply for Canadian fans, many of whom believed Canada would once again prevail—just as they did in the Four Nations Face-Off tournament a year earlier. In that event, Connor McDavid delivered an overtime winner against Team USA. This time, however, Canada had to compete without its captain, Sidney Crosby.
Sidney Crosby’s words
Crosby suffered his injury in the semifinal after a hit from Czechia’s Radko Gudas. Despite his best efforts, he wasn’t able to recover in time to skate in the final. After the loss, Crosby praised his teammates for their performance.
“I thought we played an incredible game. The guys competed so hard, did so many things right, and I thought we were going to find a way. It’s too bad we didn’t get the result. Everybody played so well. It’s tough. We played the right way. We were physical, we created scoring chances,” Crosby said.
Praised by Brad Marchand
Now, teammate Brad Marchand has expressed his emotions about falling short without their injured captain.
“You feel bad letting a guy like that down. One of the best ever to play. One of the best leaders to ever play the game. Wish we could have got it done for him,” Marchand told Sportsnet.
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