Sidney Crosby could only watch as Canada lost 2-1 in overtime to the U.S. in Sunday's gold medal game in Milan, sidelined by his knee injury sustained in the quarterfinals.

"Knowing him, it must have been hard," Kris Letang said. "He probably sat in the locker with his gear on and watched it on TV."

Rickard Rakell called it a "shame" to see Crosby's tournament end the way it did, saying, "all you want is for him to get a chance to be on the ice and compete for the gold. He deserves everything."

Crosby said after Canada's loss that he was "pretty close" to being able to play, but ultimately made the decision to sit on his own, because he didn't feel like he was as effective as he needed to be to help the team.

"That's just a high-character play," Bryan Rust said of Crosby's decision. "I think every player in that situation, but especially him, wanting to play in that game, but to know that he wasn't going to be able to help his team to the best of his ability, or even to an ability that he thinks was acceptable, I think it shows a lot of self-awareness, and it's an extremely high-character play."

Letang added that Crosby choosing to sit shows how selfless he is.

"He's a guy that worries more about winning more than anything," Letang said.