Sidney Crosby kicking off long 2025-26 season later this month with Team Canada

Sidney Crosby extended his 2024-25 season by playing in the World Championships, and he’s going to be getting a de facto early start on 2025-26 in Calgary at the end of this month.

Crosby was included in the 42 players invited to Team Canada’s Olympic orientation camp in Calgary from August 26-28. That’s no surprise, since Crosby was already named in the first six players to the Canadian national team and is again expected to captain his homeland for the 2026 Olympics in Milan.

Kyle Dubas is also involved with Team Canada, serving as their director of player personnel. There won’t be any other Penguins headed that way.

Of course, when it’s Sidney Crosby the training never ends and one season just blends into the next seamlessly. Crosby was photographed with Nathan MacKinnon at his fellow Nova Scotian Brad Marchand’s Stanley Cup party last week but the two also got their work on the ice in — with young San Jose stars Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini training with the former MVPs.

In game six of the 1999 Stanley Cup Finals, the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Dallas Stars and no one was aware how long of a night they were in for, nor how controversial the finish would be.

Celebrini is also going to the Team Canada orientation and drew rave reviews from Crosby and MacKinnon from their time at Worlds together earlier in the spring. Celebrini, the 2024 first overall pick, is already quickly getting to the verge of making the big national teams — depending on how his season begins he might even make it to Italy. No doubt his new off-season training partner in Crosby will be tracking how it goes for the youngster.