'Tried to maintain hope': NHL stars poised for Olympic return in 2026 after long wait

Sidney Crosby always held out hope.

The two-time Olympic gold medallist also tried to keep a level head.

His name already etched in Canada's sporting lore after scoring the spine-tingling overtime winner in the men's hockey final on home soil at the 2010 Vancouver Games, Crosby followed that up by leading a dominant, second podium-topping performance four years later.

Another chance at international glory, however, was far from certain for No. 87.

The NHL first skipped the 2018 Games in South Korea for financial reasons following a run of five straight tournaments between 1998 and 2014. The league was then forced to pull the plug on its 2022 participation in China because of COVID-19 concerns.

An athlete's time is finite. Despite still being an awe-inspiring force two decades into what is surely a Hall of Fame career, Crosby wasn't sure if his opportunity to compete on the sporting world's biggest stage had already come and gone.

"It's just one of those things you can't really control," the Pittsburgh Penguins captain and centre said at the recent NHL/NHLPA pre-season player media tour in Las Vegas. "But I like to think I'm an optimistic person ... I tried to maintain hope that it would work out. It's one of those things, how are you going to control that?

"You really can't."

Crosby, a three-time Stanley Cup champion, and the rest of the NHL's biggest stars stayed patient.

Now they're poised to head back under the brightest lights this winter when the league makes its Games' return — thanks to agreements between the NHL, NHL Players' Association, International Olympic Committee and International Ice Hockey Federation — at February's 2026 Milan-Cortina showcase in Italy, ending a 12-year absence.

"Very excited," Toronto