Team Canada: Crosby to suit up
Team Canada’s entry to the world hockey championship got a huge boost Sunday when Pittsburgh Penguins captain and Olympic hero Sidney Crosby agreed to join the team.
“It’s been a while since I played in that (tournament), so I’m excited,” Crosby told reporters in Pittsburgh as the Penguins cleaned out their lockers after having been eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs in five games by the New York Rangers.
Crosby has represented Canada many times — twice leading Canada to gold at the Winter Olympics — but has only participated in the world championships once. That was in 2006, when he was 18. Canada won silver then, and Crosby was named one of the tournament’s top forwards.
Canada last won gold at the worlds in 2007 but hasn’t won a medal of any colour since 2009.
The tournament begins May 1 in Prague and Ostrava, Czech Republic, with Todd McLellan as coach.
So far, 21 players have been named, including five defencemen (Aaron Ekblad, Tyson Barrie, Brent Burns, Jake Muzzin and David Savard) and two goalies (Martin Jones and Mike Smith).
At forward, Canada is deep with Crosby, Sean Couturier, Matt Duchene, Cody Eakin, Jordan Eberle, Tyler Ennis, Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Schenn, Ryan O’Rielly, Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza and Tyler Toffoli.
The 27-year-old Crosby finished third in NHL scoring in the regular season with 84 points.
This is the seventh time Crosby has represented Canada, captaining Canada to gold at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and scoring the golden goal at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.