Sidney Crosby’s Concussion Saga: Comprehensive Coverage

Here’s a look at Crosby’s helper, via NHL.com:

For more on the Pens, check in with SB Nation Pittsburgh and Pensburgh. For more on the Rangers, check in with Blueshirt Banter and SB Nation New York.

Steve Lepore at Puck The Media has the details.

The NBC Sports Network broadcast (7 p.m. ET) will be blacked out in both Pittsburgh and New York City.

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For more on Sidney Crosby’s concussion recovery, stick with our StoryStream. For more on the Penguins, check in with SB Nation Pittsburgh and Pens blog Pensburgh.

With Crosby back in the lineup, the Penguins have to be considered the favorites in the Eastern Conference. They’ve been red-hot of late as winners of nine straight games, and inserting the best player in the world back into the lineup should do nothing to hurt that. It’s perfect timing, too, as the Rangers sit just four points up on Pittsburgh for the top spot in both the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.

For more on Sidney Crosby’s concussion recovery, stick with our StoryStream. For more on the Penguins, check in with SB Nation Pittsburgh and Pens blog Pensburgh.

Crosby certainly has been through this before. He made a triumphant return to the Penguins lineup back in October, but played only a handful of games before returning to the sidelines with concussion symptoms. Doctors seemed puzzled as to what ailed Crosby, and there were serious concerns about his status for several months.

There still are concerns, of course. After his brief return to action earlier in the season, those concerns will still exist even after he returns to the Penguins lineup -- whether that’s next week, in the first round of the playoffs or next season. But in this case, the news is good. The best player in the world has been cleared for contact once again. Let’s just hope there’s not another setback.

And when he stepped down 20 minutes later, shaking hands with one cameraman as he left the room, it seemed almost like that guy was his last connection with the outside world. Like he was going away for a long time again, maybe to prison or on a long vacation. Crosby was walking back behind the curtain -- a curtain that represents all the frustration, cluelessness and confusion that’s surrounded his head/neck injury since January 2011.

Neither Crosby or Shero told us anything new while at the podium. More “we’ll keep working at it.” More “I still have symptoms, but I’m feeling better.” More “Sidney won’t return until he’s completely symptom-free.”

The statement also explains that Crosby’s agent, Pat Brisson, Penguins owner Mario Lemieux and Penguins CEO David Morehouse were in Philadelphia Monday to review the diagnosis made by Dr. Robert S. Bray.

They added that Vaccaro, Bray and UPMC doctors all agree that Crosby’s injury is treatable and that he will return to action when he is symptom-free, though no timetable was added.

In addition to a concussion, Sidney Crosby did suffer a neck injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins confirmed on Saturday. Earlier in the day, reports surfaced indicating a second doctor had found Crosby suffered C1 and C2 vertebrae damage, possibly fractures, a diagnosis the Penguins confirmed had been made shortly thereafter.

Here’s the statement in full:

The CBC’s Friedman spoke with Crosby’s agent, Pat Brisson, who confirmed the injury and added that a third opinion is being sought.

Via @FriedgeHNIC:

Crosby has not played since Dec. 5 after he once again started feeling the symptoms that had kept him out for 10 months previously. There were positive signs, recently, when he skated with his teammates on Friday, the first time he’d done so since Dec. 5. He has since been complaining of dizziness and headaches and has had a hard time exerting himself at a high level.

“Sidney has made a lot of progress but he is still having some symptoms, so this is the next step in his recovery,” Penguins general manager Ray Shero said to NHL.com. “Obviously he won’t be back in the lineup until he is symptom-free.”

On that front, Crosby is still experiencing symptoms, although he’s been allowed to exert lightly, which is why he was able to skate at BankAtlantic Center on Friday. In his own words, via George Richards of the Miami Herald:

The highlights:

The team had allegedly held a team meeting to discuss a temporary captaincy, with some players saying they didn’t totally believe that Crosby’s symptoms had returned. Never mind if that doesn’t make all that much sense. It painted a picture of a disjointed team going through some very difficult struggles, perhaps covertly blaming the injury of their best player as to why they’ve fallen out of playoff position.

But on Friday morning at practice, they tried to send a different message.

Things are bad, and they don’t seem to be getting better any time soon. That’s turning Penguins fans against each other and in some cases, against their team and their star player. Dean Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote about these issues in a Friday column.

It’s one thing for fans to be doing such things, but wait, did he say in the Penguins’ locker room?! Yes, he did.

The clarification from Shero shouldn’t really be necessary, but there are some around Pittsburgh who have questioned Crosby’s desire to be around his teammates and on the ice.

Columnist Dean Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review wrote about those concerns Friday morning. They’re wide-ranging, from fans questioning his desire to remain in Pittsburgh to teammates apparently discussing a temporary captaincy. It’s all a little silly, considering the topic of debate is the best hockey player in the world, and the point Kovacevic tries to make is that the speculation is unfounded.

Said Bylsma, about the trip and Crosby’s rehab:

Crosby missed the second half of last season and the beginning of this season with a serious concussion. He returned on Nov. 21 and played eight games before he took another blow to the head, putting him right back on injured reserve with another concussion.

The Penguins have no timetable for Crosby’s return, and the center, who has missed eight straight games with this condition, has not spoken to the media since December 12. He is taking part in light workouts, much like he did last season while dealing with the aftermath of his concussion. Crosby played in just 41 games in 2010-11.

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By doing this, the team was hoping he’d lack the susceptibility to future concussions that many similar patients carry through the remainder of their careers. Well, we don’t know if Crosby’s return to the sidelines is related to his prior concussion or not, but we do know that he’s been having similar symptoms, and now, he’s been placed on the injured reserve yet again.

The Penguins announced the news late Saturday on their website and via Twitter.

The NHL was already missing enough men to concussions.

Bouchard has a history of concussions, having missed 81 games a year ago because of one.

Via PensInsideScoop on Twitter, here’s Crosby speaking with the media in Pittsburgh:

Hopefully. Hopefully not as long. Ugh.

Hope it’s not more serious.

Can’t believe the Pens rushed Sid back.

He’s not in bad shape and it doesn’t appear to be a serious setback in his concussion recovery, but they’re playing things safe here. Via a team press release, here’s general manager Ray Shero on Crosby’s injury setback:

For more on Crosby and the Pens, check in with SB Nation Pittsburgh and Penguins blog Pensburgh. For up-to-date updates on No. 87’s status, stick with this StoryStream.

There are a few absolutes we need to get out of the way.

But when it comes to the NHL, there’s Sid, and there’s everyone else.

Yes, indeed, it was a Hollywood-like night at the CONSOL Energy Center from the moment Sid stepped on the ice in warmups -- to a standing ovation (in warmups!) -- to the moment he scored that first goal to the moment he stepped away from the podium after the game. He proved exactly what we should be thankful for as hockey fans this Thanksgiving: the best hockey player in the world is back in action, and damn, he’s fun to watch.

But Crosby’s (literally) unbelievable return wasn’t the only crazy that happened in hockey last night. Crosby’s return overshadowed six other games in the NHL on Monday night, and most of them came with their own dose of crazy as well.

Crosby’s been skating in full-contact practice for some time now, so it was just a matter of when the Penguins thought he was ready for full game speed, not if he would return soon. Not to disrespect the New York Islanders organization or fans, but this game probably did not just coincidentally fall on the day Dan Bylsma and Ray Shero thought Crosby was ready to go. A home game against a struggling opponent was always going to be the best game for Crosby to return in.

For more on the return of Sidney Crosby from the fans who care about him most, check in with Penguins blog Pensburgh.