Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury to join Team Canada at men's world hockey championship

Sidney Crosby's hockey season isn't over after all.

The 37-year-old captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins, whose team failed to make the NHL playoffs, is joining Team Canada for the men's world hockey championship, according to a Sunday announcement by Hockey Canada.

Minnesota Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who has played his final NHL game after 21 seasons, revealed Monday during a season-ending interview in Minnesota he has agreed to join the Canadian squad.

Crosby joins Pittsburgh's Kyle Dubas, who is serving as the team's general manager.

Canada's first game in the international tournament is Saturday against Slovakia in Stockholm.. The tournament is scheduled to run from May 9 to 25 in Stockholm and Herning, Denmark.

It will be the first time since 2015 Crosby has played in the worlds. It will be his ninth time skating for Team Canada at the international level, most recently captaining Canada to the gold medal at the 4 Nations Face-Off in February when he led his team with four assists and five points.

This past season, his 20th in the NHL, Crosby had 33 goals and 91 points for the Penguins, who finished seventh in the Metropolitan Division and 11 points out of the playoffs.

Crosby led the Penguins in scoring for his franchise-record 15th time in his career and became the Penguins all-time assists leader, surpassing Mario Lemieux's 1,033 helpers.

Fleury is eager for more family time and an end to the on-ice tributes while fully accepting at age 40 that he's no longer at his best.

Excited to reunite with Crosby

With the Wild eliminated four days ago from the NHL playoffs, Fleury's calendar is wide open.

"Just a little longer, right? I went home, my kids were crazy, I was like, 'Geez, I've got to keep playing,'" Fleury said jokingly.

After apologizing aloud if he wasn't supposed to announce his participation yet, Fleury said he was looking forward to reuniting with Crosby, his former Pittsburgh teammate.

"I think it'll be fun to go spend some time together and yell at him in practice a bit, keep him honest," said Fleury, whose post-season action was limited to the third period and overtime of Game 5 against Vegas when an illness forced Wild starter Filip Gustavsson out.

Canada will be coached by Dean Evason, Fleury's former bench boss with the Wild who's now with Columbus.

The only goalie who'd been announced previously was New York Rangers prospect Dylan Garand, though another regular NHL netminder surely will be next.

Those who go deep into the NHL playoffs can't participate in the world championship, obviously, which is largely why this will be Fleury's first time on the roster. He played in 170 post-season games, playing on three Stanley Cup winners with the Penguins and reaching a fourth finals with the Vegas Golden Knights.

Fleury played in the Olympics for Team Canada in 2010, as the third-stringer behind Roberto Luongo and Martin Brodeur.