Sidney Crosby’s Team Canada news raises Macklin Celebrini question originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Sidney Crosby wasn’t going to play at the IIHF World Championships. It looked like Macklin Celebrini was going to be the only guy who represented Team Canada at the Olympics earlier in the year who would also go to this tournament.
But earlier this week, the federation announced Crosby will indeed be suiting up. And it raises a question about the captaincy.
The Canadian decision makers had already given Celebrini the captain’s ‘C’ for the tournament, in part because he’s the only Olympian participating, and in part because he’s the rising leader of the next generation of Team Canada.
Celebrini already led Canada in goals at the 2026 Olympics, so he’s clearly up to the task ability-wise, even at just 19 years old.
He actually just finished his NHL campaign with the Sharks with the third-most points ever by a 19-year old, behind just Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby.
So now, will Canada take the ‘C’ away from Celebrini and give it to Crosby?
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It may come down to what Crosby thinks, and he’s a big fan of Celebrini, having made sure he played with him at the last World Championships on the same line.
Crosby has been Canada’s captain since the 2014 Olympics, and he’s one of the greatest players in the nation’s history, including that historic game-winning goal in 2010 in Vancouver.
He was the captain at this year’s Olympics, although injury kept him out of the final two rounds as Canada only claimed silver.
The World Championships get underway soon, so Canada’s captain decision will likely come in short order. Either way, it’s not a bad call.