Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain Sidney Crosby’s NHL season may have ended when his team were eliminated from playoff contention, but he still has hockey to play. Best-on-best hockey is on the upsurge, with the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Championship being played from May 9-25, 2025, concurrently with the playoffs. The NHL has also allowed league players who will not feature in the postseason to participate in the international tournament.
Sidney Crosby’s Devastating Sucker Punch Against Latvia Player
Canada faced Latvia during the IIHF World Championship on Sunday, May 11. During the game, Crosby took exception to Latvian forward Martins Dzierkals barging into him after a stoppage of play was called, and the 37-year-old Canadian player let loose with a couple of short-arm jabs, the second of which knocked Dzierkals’s helmet off. The referee stepped in and broke up the tussle.
We got bad ass Sidney Crosby at World’s punching guys buckets off 🍿 pic.twitter.com/ghY4cs9s3B
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets)
This was not the only incident involving the two players. A short while later, Crosby was assessed a penalty for allegedly slashing at Dzierkals while the latter skated past, although to commentators it looked more like a light tap.
Crosby had three assists during the game as Canada thumped Latvia 7-1 to go 2-0 in the tournament. Travis Konecny and Kent Johnson scored two goals each, while Macklin Celebrini, Nathan MacKinnon, and Barrett Hayton scored a goal apiece.
Veteran Canadian goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who announced his NHL retirement this season, started in the crease. The 40-year-old became the oldest netminder to play for his country. He stopped 16 of 17 shots and picked up his first win for Team Canada since January 2004, when he was part of the international team that defeated the Czech Republic at the World Junior Championship.
“Time flies,” Fleury said via IIHF.com. “It’s crazy. But I’m lucky to be able to put the jersey on and represent my country. Every time you play you want to win; you want to do well. You want to help the team. I haven’t played a game in a while. It wasn’t the start I wanted either, but after that things got better.”
Crosby, Celebrini, and Konecny Involved in Scrum With Latvian Players
Crosby, Konecny, and 18-year-old rookie Celebrini got involved in a huge pile-up with Latvian players during the game. The incident began when Konecny barged a Latvian player into the boards while the latter was trying to control the puck. Konecny’s hit angered other Latvian players, who started a shoving match on the ice.
Celebrini skated in to come to his teammate’s aid only to be dragged into the pile of bodies that was growing by the second. Crosby stepped in to try and protect his teammates and was surrounded by even more players from both teams.
At one point, nearly 10 players were involved in the scrum. Ultimately, Konecny was assessed a two-minute penalty for boarding and Latvia’s Roberts Mamcics got two minutes for roughing.