Crosby named captain of Canada’s men’s Olympic hockey team
Hockey Canada announced its leadership group for the 2026 Winter Olympics at Milano-Cortina, naming Sidney Crosby as the captain, with Connor McDavid and Cale Makar serving as his alternates.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to represent Canada at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games, and it is an honour to be named captain of Canada’s men’s hockey team, which has so many great players and leaders,” Crosby said in a Hockey Canada release. “Connor and Cale, along with our entire group, provide incredible leadership, and I am happy to represent Canada together on the same team. We are all proud to wear the Maple Leaf and compete with Team Canada in Milan.”
Meet the captains! / Voici nos capitaines! 🇨🇦 C: Sidney Crosby (@HockeyNS) A: Connor McDavid (@OHFHockey) A: Cale Makar (@HockeyAlberta) #MilanoCortina2026
This is the third time in Crosby’s three appearances for Canada at the Winter Olympics in which he has served on the leadership group. Crosby was an alternate captain alongside Chris Pronger and Jarome Iginla in support of Scott Niedermayer in 2010 in Vancouver. In 2014, he was named captain with Jonathan Toews and Shea Weber serving as his alternates.
Canada won the gold medal on both of those occasions, the last two times in which NHL players participated in the event.
Crosby, who is unquestionably the defining figure of this era of Canadian hockey, also captained the team at the 4 Nations Face-Off event last February, helping lead Canada to the championship with an overtime victory over the United States. He also captained the Canadian squad in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey, another championship for the Canadians in international best-on-best competition.
Team Canada is in Group A for the tournament along with Czechia, Switzerland and France. Canada’s schedule for the group stage is as follows:
- Thursday, Feb. 12 – Czechia vs. Canada, 10:40 AM EST
- Friday, Feb. 13 – Canada vs. Switzerland, 3:10 PM EST
- Sunday, Feb. 15 – Canada vs. France, 10:40 AM EST