After 12 years away from the Olympics, Sidney Crosby is 'motivated' for another shot at gold

to the highest degree people think back the call in for Jarome Iginla to make it the robin goodfellow, the moment when the young star put the puck in the net, and the jubilation that followed.

A country erupted when a 22-year-old Sidney Crosby scored the overtime winner at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. Nearly 16 years later, Crosby remembers winning gold on home soil as one of the best moments in what has been a storied hockey career.

But Crosby also remembers the devastation he felt when the Canadians, who were less than 30 seconds away from a regulation win, yielded the tying goal to American forward Zach Parise. That feeling of being so close to what he dreamed about as a boy in Cole Harbour, N.S., and then having it disappear through his fingers like quicksand, will probably stay with him for the rest of his life.

Inside the locker room before overtime, the Canadian players were rattled. Not veteran defenceman Scott Niedermayer. He was poised, unshaken in his belief in their team. So was head coach Mike Babcock, who called for someone to turn the page, step up and become the overtime hero.

Crosby felt devastation turn to determination and intensity. They were at home. It was an opportunity they wouldn’t let slip away, and a moment Crosby was ready to meet.

No longer Sid the kid at 38, Crosby has another opportunity to create a magical Olympic moment in Italy in February. On Tuesday, Lululemon unveiled the kit that athletes will wear at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and Crosby was named a Team Canada ambassador.

Exclusive: Sidney Crosby on chasing 3rd Olympic gold, Canadian pride and 2010 Golden Goal

There’s little doubt it will be Crosby wearing the C on his jersey when the Canadian men begin play against the Czech Republic on Feb. 12. No one would be surprised if he carried Canada’s flag at the opening ceremony, either.

But all of that seems far off in the distance for him. For now, Crosby — who was named to the team along with five other players back in June — is just happy to be going back to the Olympics.

He’s also motivated. In his 21st professional season, Crosby is still one of the best players in the NHL. As of Tuesday, Crosby had 12 goals in 19 games, only two goals behind the league leader, Colorado Avalanche forward and fellow Nova Scotian, Nathan MacKinnon.

Along the way, Crosby has led his Pittsburgh Penguins to third place in the Eastern Conference, despite low expectations for the team going into the season.

Going back to the Olympics is an opportunity Crosby has waited 12 years to get, and one he wasn’t sure would ever come. It could have been that we've already seen Crosby's final Olympic appearance at the Sochi Winter Games, without knowing it at the time. Nothing was guaranteed, not the NHL players’ return to the Games, not Crosby’s health or longevity.

Instead, there’s at least one more episode to watch from one of the best to ever play the game.

“To miss them and to not know what was going to happen, and now to know that we're finally going back, that's motivation in itself,” Crosby said. “That's kind of on my mind the most. It's just making the most of this opportunity here.”

We’ll never know what the hockey world lost in those 12 years without Crosby and his NHL brethren at the Olympics.

But the 4 Nations Face-Off gave us an idea of what we’ve been missing. The intensity ratcheted up when Canada and the United States faced off in the preliminary round, and up a notch again when they met in the championship game.

The moment was about more than best-on-best hockey, though it was definitely a great display of that, too. It was about national pride, at a moment when it felt like more was at stake than the outcome of a hockey game. When Connor McDavid scored in overtime, the country breathed a sigh of relief.

“I don't know if anyone predicted that it would have had the momentum that it did,” Crosby said. “We knew going in, it was going to be competitive just because when you collect all those players and you have the countries that were involved, it was going to be great hockey. It just was one of those things that it picked up a lot of momentum and it was intense. The hockey was incredible.”

Winning in Milano Cortina would give Crosby his third Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey, something no other Canadian man has accomplished. That was news to him.

“I didn't know that and I'm a long ways away from that, so a lot of work to be done before I even want to talk about the potential of that,” he said. “But it would be special.”

The bigger opportunity in his mind is the chance to win alongside players from that 4 Nations team, stars like McDavid, MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who’ve never gotten to experience an Olympic stage. They’ve never had the chance to seize the moment quite like Crosby did in front of a home crowd, backs against the wall, in overtime in 2010.

“It would be special to do it with them,” Crosby said.

There’s lots of hockey to be played between now and then. With a condensed NHL schedule ahead of the Olympic break, the season is gruelling and requires focus. Still, the Olympics are in the back of Crosby’s mind, something that will only feel more real as the rest of the Canadian roster is revealed in the weeks to come.

When a teenaged Crosby debuted in the NHL two decades ago, there were players he looked up to and worked to get to their level. Now, there are younger players pushing him, continuing to motivate him to be better.

Throughout it all, not much has changed for Crosby. He's not on social media. His approach to hockey hasn't changed. He wants to try his best and see where it takes him.

“It all comes down to having a passion for it and trying to be the best that you can be,” he said. “I still love it, and I think that's probably the biggest part of it.”

Will it be his final Olympics? That question was harder for Crosby to answer.

“That's a tough one,” he said.

He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts.

“I hope it's not. But if it is, I hope that I can make the most of this great opportunity. But who knows? I want to play as long as I can.”

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