Sidney Crosby will have to settle for one scoring title this season.

The NHL’s Art Ross Trophy winner will not defend his World Championship scoring title for Team Canada at this year’s tournament in Moscow.

Crosby will sit out the tournament to let a broken bone in his left foot heal.

“It would have been a huge thrill for me to play for Team Canada again, especially in Moscow, which is a place I’ve always wanted to play,” he said.

A bone was broken in Crosby’s left foot when he blocked a shot in a game about a month ago. He played through the injury to become the youngest player in NHL history to win a scoring title with 120 points (36+84).

“It’s been a month. The first two weeks were pretty sore,” he said. “After a couple weeks, it starts to heal and it got a little better after that. It just needs time.

“I think it happened when we played Montreal [March 16],” he continued. “It didn’t really affect my play. Maybe the first couple weeks, on the perimeter not blocking shots, but after the first couple weeks, it didn’t have any effect.”

With the Penguins locked in a push for the playoffs, Crosby did not want to watch from the sidelines. So, he persevered with the assurance the injury would not have an effect on his future.

“I made sure. Obviously, I hope to play for a long time, but at the same time, I also want to help the team, but you have to make sure you understand what is going on,” he said. “I made sure if I played through it, it wasn’t going to get any worse.”

The 19-year-old star says the injury will not impact his preparation for the 2007-08 season.

“It doesn’t change anything,” he said. “I am going to get a good month of rest and I am pretty confident I will be fine after that.”

At last year’s World Championships in Latvia, Crosby became the youngest player to win a scoring title at the tournament as he tallied 16 points (8+8) in nine games for Canada.

so he's been playing playoff caliber hockey with broken bone in foot since mid march ... his respect factor just went up a few points in my book