MILAN — A nation is holding its breath for news on Sidney Crosby’s status in the gold-medal game, but Canada will need to wait for something definitive.

Crosby, who missed the semifinal game at the Olympics after suffering a lower-body injury against Czechia in the quarters, skated in practice Saturday morning with Team Canada, but no determination has been made yet on his status for Sunday’s match against the United States, coach Jon Cooper said.

Team Canada closed its practice to reporters, so there was no chance to see what Crosby looked like on the ice or with whom he skated with.

“I thought he looked really good out there on the ice today,” Nick Suzuki said, and you will have to take his word for it.

Cooper did confirm that Canada will be without defenseman Josh Morrissey, who suffered an upper-body injury in the first game of the tournament.

He deflected when asked whether Morrissey — who practiced fully before Canada’s preliminary-round finale against France and looked set to return — suffered a setback.

“Josh, in the end, he just wouldn’t be able to perform at what he could,” Cooper said. “We made the decision.”

As for Crosby, though, nothing has been decided as yet.

“I haven’t spoken to him yet,” Cooper said. “We’re gonna met tonight and have a determination of what’s gonna happen tomorrow. He won’t put himself in harm’s way and he’s not gonna put the team in harm’s way. Obviously we’d love to have him. That determination will be made tonight.”

Cooper said Crosby will not dress in a limited role, or to serve as an inspiration, a la Victor Hedman in Sweden’s quarterfinal game.

“It’s too important,” Cooper said. “We don’t want to have somebody in there as an inspiration when we could have a player that could be capable of helping. You never know if guys are gonna get hurt in the game. He wouldn’t want to do that either.”

Connor McDavid wore the ‘C’ in Crosby’s absence against Finland on Friday, and would presumably do so again if No. 87 can’t go in the final.

Whether he plays or not, Crosby will serve as a rallying cry for the Canadians, who desperately want to get the 2010 golden goal-scorer a third gold medal.

“It’d mean a lot to him and probably us,” Suzuki said. “He’s such a big leader, big voice. Everyone looks up to him.”

It is hard to describe what Crosby means both in Canada and to Team Canada. Nearly the entire roster grew up idolizing him. Macklin Celebrini was three years old when Crosby scored against Team USA to give Canada gold in Vancouver, and is now learning lessons in leadership from him to bring back to San Jose.

“All the stuff off the ice that you hear about now,” Celebrini said. “Obviously we don’t have to talk about his on-ice because that speaks for itself, but the kind of person he is, the way he treats people. He’s just one of the guys who wants to be around all of us. Every guy in this locker room looks up to him.”

Cooper even fielded a question about whether it was allowed for Crosby to be behind the bench as a de facto assistant coach, saying he didn’t know, but it won’t happen.

Either way, Crosby will have a presence of some kind on Sunday.

“He’s been around a lot,” McDavid said. “Obviously he’s been extremely positive. Still contributing, even though he didn’t play the last game, but still being the leader he is.”