Crosby: No problem with Pens medical staff, encouraged by latest diagnosis

Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby and general manager Ray Shero met with the media this evening to address today’s team press release that stated Crosby “is suffering from a soft-tissue injury of the neck” and that there was “no evidence of a past or present neck fracture.”

Here are some notes from the press conference, which we’ll embed as soon as it’s available:

—- Shero said it’s impossible to say for certain when the soft-tissue injury occurred. It might’ve been last season, or it might’ve been during the eight games Crosby played in November and December.

—- Crosby said he isn’t upset with the Penguins’ medical staff. He said the team has encouraged him to seek outside opinions to gather all the information possible.

—-Shero praised the team’s medical staff and confirmed that the Penguins urge all their players to seek second and third opinions.

—-Crosby is pleased with the diagnosis of a soft-tissue injury, as it allows a plan of attack to be formulated and carried out. Otherwise he was just sitting around waiting for the symptoms to go away. ”I think the biggest thing to take from it is that it’s something I can work on. I can come in and get my neck worked on.”

—- Regarding reports that Crosby had cracked his C1 and C2 vertebrae, Shero didn’t say that’s what Dr. Robert S. Bray diagnosed, only that Bray sought out a second opinion after seeing Crosby. This led to the diagnosis of a soft-tissue injury of the neck.

—-When asked how he felt while skating, Crosby said, “pretty good,” and that he felt better than he did a couple of weeks ago. However, he acknowledged he was “still dealing with some symptoms” and wasn’t yet where he wanted to be.

—-Shero said there’s never been any indication from doctors that Crosby would have to be shut down for the season or retire.

Update: here’s the video: