Most people remember Jarome Iginla's call to pass the puck, the moment the young star put the puck in the net, and the jubilation that followed.
The country erupted when 22-year-old Sidney Crosby scored the game-winning goal in overtime at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Nearly 16 years later, Crosby looks back on winning gold on home soil as one of the best moments of his storied hockey career.
But Crosby also remembers the devastation he felt when the Canadians, less than 30 seconds away from winning the game, surrendered the tying goal to American forward Zach Parise. That feeling of being close to what he dreamed of as a child in Cole Harbor, North Carolina, and then it slipped through his fingers like quicksand, will likely stay with him for the rest of his life.
In the locker room before overtime, the Canadian players were in disarray. Not veteran defenseman Scott Niedermayer. He was level-headed and unwavering in his belief in his team. So did head coach Mike Babcock, who challenged someone to turn the page, step up and become the overtime hero.
Crosby felt devastation give way to determination and intensity. They were at home. This was an opportunity they couldn't pass up, and Crosby was ready to meet it.
“That confidence and that everyone believes in it, I think was pretty clear when we went into overtime,” Crosby told CBC Olympics host Ariel Helwani in an exclusive interview. “I think even as a young guy I felt it and it was really cool to be a part of it and then go out and do it.”
At 38, Sid is no longer a child, Crosby has another opportunity to create a magical Olympic moment in Italy in February. On Tuesday, Lululemon unveiled the uniforms athletes will wear at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and Crosby was named Team Canada ambassador.
Sidney Crosby sits down with Ariel Helwani to talk about his motivation this season as the 2026 Winter Olympics approach, what it takes to compete for Canada on the world stage again and the untold stories of the iconic 2010 golden goal.
There is no doubt that Crosby will be the one wearing the C on his jersey when the Canadian men begin play against the Czech Republic on February 12th. No one will be surprised if he also carries the Canadian flag at the opening ceremony.
But for him all this seems far away. For now, Crosby, who was named to the team along with five other players back in June, is simply happy to be back at the Olympics.
He is also motivated. In his 21st professional season, Crosby continues to be one of the best players in the NHL. As of Tuesday, Crosby had 12 goals in 19 games, just two behind the league leader, Colorado Avalanche forward, and fellow Nova Scotian Nathan MacKinnon.
Along the way, Crosby led his Pittsburgh Penguins to third place in the Eastern Conference, despite low expectations for the team before the start of the season.
Returning to the Olympics was an opportunity Crosby had been waiting 12 years for, and one he wasn't sure would ever come. We may have already seen Crosby's last Olympic performance at the Sochi Winter Games without even realizing it at the time. Nothing was guaranteed: not the return of NHL players to the Games, nor Crosby's health and longevity.
Instead, there's at least one more episode of one of the best games ever played.
“Missing them and not knowing what was going to happen, and now knowing that we're finally coming back, that's motivation in itself,” Crosby said. “That's what I think about the most. I'm just making the most of this opportunity here.”
“I still love it”
We will never know what the hockey world lost in those 12 years without Crosby and his NHL brethren at the Olympics.
But the meeting of the four nations gave us an idea of what we are missing. Tensions rose when Canada and the United States met in the preliminary round and rose again when they met in the championship match.
It wasn't just about best-on-best hockey at that point, although that was definitely a great showcase too. It was about national pride at a time when it seemed like more than the outcome of a hockey game was at stake. When Connor McDavid scored in overtime, the country breathed a sigh of relief.
“I don't know if anyone predicted it would have the momentum it has,” Crosby said. “We knew it was going to be a competition because when you get all these players and countries participating, it's going to be great hockey. It was one of those things that had a lot of momentum and was intense. The hockey was incredible.”
Victory in Milan-Cortina would give Crosby his third Olympic gold medal in men's hockey, something no other Canadian had achieved. This was news to him.
“I didn't know that, and I'm still a long way from that, so there's a lot of work to be done before I'd even want to talk about the potential of it,” he said. “But it would be something special.”
The biggest opportunity, he believes, is the chance to win with players from this Four Nations team, stars like McDavid, MacKinnon and Cale Makar, who have never been to the Olympics. They've never had the opportunity to seize a moment the way Crosby did in front of fans with his back against the wall in overtime in 2010.
“It would be something special to do this with them,” Crosby said.
There's a lot of hockey to be played from time to time. With the NHL's condensed schedule ahead of the Olympic break, the season is grueling and requires focus. However, the Olympics are in the back of Crosby's mind and that will become even more of a reality when the rest of the Canadian roster is revealed in the coming weeks.
When a teenage Crosby made his NHL debut two decades ago, there were players he looked up to and worked to reach their level. He is now being pushed by younger players who continue to motivate him to improve.
In all this time, little has changed for Crosby. He is not on social networks. His approach to hockey hasn't changed. He wants to give it his best shot and see where it takes him.
“It all comes down to having a passion for it and trying to be the best you can be,” he said. “I still love it, and I think that’s probably the biggest part of it.”
Will this be his last Olympics? This was a harder question for Crosby to answer.
“It's a difficult question,” he said.
He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts.
“I hope that's not the case. But if it is, I hope I can make the most of this great opportunity. But who knows? I want to play as long as possible.”
