When Sidney Crosby was weighing whether to play in the gold medal game in Milan on Sunday, the impact his decision could have on his availability for the remainder of the season wasn't a factor in the slightest.

"I'll be honest with you, all I cared about was playing that game and focusing on that," he said. "That's not any disrespect to our team, or what I feel about this season, or anything like that. We all put a lot of work in to try to be as successful as possible here. But given the opportunity to play in the Olympics and in that game, trying to play was all my focus was on. ... Ultimately, it came down to not being able to do it."

Crosby is 38 years old. If he plays in the 2030 Games in the French Alps, that would make him 42. It's not out of the question that Crosby's Olympic career ended with Radko Gudas' hit in the quarterfinals. Crosby tried to not let that affect his decision, too.

"My mind was just on trying to play, and you can't let that creep into your head," he said. "When you're trying to overcome something, or you have something that's challenging, I think the worst thing you can do is think about worst case scenarios. I was just trying to be positive and try to focus on playing and find a way to overcome that, and unfortunately, it didn't happen. But (2030) is still a long ways away. But that wasn't really something I tried to think about too much."

Asked if the benefits of playing in the Olympics outweigh the risks, Crosby shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's the Olympics ... injuries are part of the game." But even though the Olympics were something that mean a lot to him, his focus now is on getting healthy for a playoff run. 

"Obviously, the Olympics is a great opportunity and an experience," he said. "But I think you shift your focus to playing in the playoffs. It's so special and so fun to be in those big games and play for that. That's where my mind's at."