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Sidney Crosby speaks about his progress after his first skate since January

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Penguins fans and fans around the NHL were thrilled this morning when news of Sidney Crosby taking to the ice for the first time since going down with a concussion in early January came out. Crosby getting back on the ice is tremendous news because there’s been zero updates as far as how he’s been progressing in his recovery from the concussion suffered after a hit from Victor Hedman.

After today’s skate, Crosby spoke with the press and gave his take on how he thought things went and where his mind is at now.
“I’ve had some good days here the last few, and I was able to get on a bike and exercise a bit. I didn’t have any symptoms doing that. I was given the opportunity to skate, the doctors said I could give it a try and see how I feel. So I did that today, and we’ll see moving forward how it goes.”

With the GM meeting going on in Florida and concussions being a major talking point, Crosby didn’t take the opportunity out to give his thoughts on what the league could and should be doing to help players out. Crosby was a bit more careful with what he thinks. Whether or not head shots should be banned has been asked, and when Crosby was asked about that today, he was careful in his take.

“That’s a great question. I mean, I’d like to say yes, but it’s more than just saying that. There’s got to be obviously some clarity and everything’s got to be looked at as far as how you do that. It’s a pretty fast game and there may be times when guys don’t target the head and they may come in contact with the head, so what do you do in that situation? So banning them would be the easiest, I guess, and the safest route. But at the same time, there are times when there is going to be accidental contact and how do you deal with that. That’s something that they have to work out. But as far as targeting the head, yeah. No matter if it’s from the blindside or straight on, if someone targets the head, then yeah, I think that should be banned. But when you’re looking at accidental contact and stuff, well, that’s going to be up to people making those disciplinary decisions whether or not it was targeted and things like that. But that’s kind of what needs to be talked about.

“But as far as deliberate head shots, yeah. You’re not going to lose anything from the game if you take that away. I don’t think you’re going to lose anything at all. I mean, if a guy has enough time to line someone up, then he’s got enough time to decide whether he can hit him in the head or not. I think that’s pretty realistic. But it’s whether or not it’s intentional, sometimes that’s tough to really know when you’re talking about a fast game like hockey. So that’s something they have to discuss. The easy answer is yes, but it’s just finding out how to do it the right way so that you still have that physical element but at the same time, guys are a little bit safer too.”


Even when you’re the best player in the game and you’ve dealt with a pair of rough head shots of your own, answering the question of what the best way to eliminate that stuff from the game is is extremely difficult to do. We are a bit surprised that Crosby didn’t take the opportunity to make a case to lay the hammer down to the GMs to get it right and get it done fast. Whether Crosby is comfortable with being the figurehead for this hot topic in the game or not, it’s on him to carry the flag for it since those around the league are finally coming around on player safety because of what’s happened to him.

We understand that it’s tough to be “the man” and have all of this stuff thrown in your lap, but whether he likes it or not, Crosby is the guy that will help guide the NHL to change the game for the players’ benefit and health. Taking a moment out here to make his case would’ve gone over huge and had a profound effect on the discussions in Boca Raton. That said, if you think this is the last we’ll hear from Crosby on this matter you’d be wrong. He will be playing a role in all this when it’s said and done, just not hearing a bit from him today is a bit of a surprise.

As for if or when he thinks he’ll be back, Crosby is very hesitant to give any kind of timeline.

“I have no clue. I’m not thinking too far ahead as far as a time frame. I just want to get better. This is part of the way to do that. I’m just kind of taking that step and seeing how it goes.”

The Penguins would, of course, love to have him back for the playoffs and improve the Pens chances to win the Stanley Cup, but making sure he’s 100% right before doing that is far more important.