Sidney Crosby leads Canada Olympic men's hockey team first six players for 2026
Sidney Crosby is going to his third Olympics in 2026, and he'll be joined by a decorated Canadian cast of Olympic rookies.
Crosby, a gold medalist in 2010 and 2014, headlines the first six players named to the Canada men's hockey roster for the Milan Cortina Games.
The others: Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Brayden Point and Sam Reinhart.
All 12 Olympic men's hockey teams are naming their first six players on Monday.
Nick Zaccardi,
Crosby, 37, can become the first men's hockey player to win a third Olympic gold medal since the NHL began participating in 1998.
Other Canadians who won gold in 2010 and 2014 are still active and could also be named to the final 25-man roster closer to the Games.
The rest of Canada's first six, though, are going to their first Olympics as the NHL participates for the first time since 2014.
McDavid, a three-time Hart Trophy winner as NHL MVP, is the most decorated active player yet to play at an Olympics. The Edmonton Oilers forward scored the golden goal in February's 4 Nations Face-Off final against the U.S.
MacKinnon, the 2024 Hart Trophy winner for the Colorado Avalanche, makes it two Halifax-born players among the first six along with Crosby.
Makar, MacKinnon's teammate on the Avs, is the two-time and reigning Norris Trophy winner as the NHL's top defenseman.
Point is a Stanley Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning, whose coach, Jon Cooper, will be Canada's Olympic head coach.
The Florida Panthers' Reinhart is already a gold medalist at the junior and senior World Championships, plus a Stanley Cup champion. He will be looking to join the Triple Gold Club, of which Crosby is one of the 30 current members.
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