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Sidney Crosby expands on recovery process: ‘I can’t wait to just get back out there’

Sidney Crosby

Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, talks during an NHL hockey news conference about his recovery from a concussion he suffered in January 2011 during an NHL hockey news conference in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

AP

While Sidney Crosby’s big press conference took place on Wednesday, Crosby spoke a little bit more about what he’s been going through during the 2011 Player Media Tour today.

Dan Rosen described Crosby’s mood as generally informal on Thursday, as Crosby “essentially kicked up his heels” while he spent the day discussing hockey. One can imagine that the Pittsburgh Penguins star probably felt a sense of relief after stemming some - but probably not all - of the tide of speculation about his struggles with post-concussion syndrome.

To little surprise, Crosby admits that he’s been chomping at the bit to return to NHL action since he took that second hit on January 5, which makes the process that much more draining. That being said, he reiterated yesterday’s message that such a desire won’t force him to return before the time is right.
“I can’t wait just to get back out there,” Crosby said Thursday from the Prudential Center, where he spent his portion of the Player Media Tour. “I know when that time comes I’m going to be confident and ready for that. I don’t think there is going to be any doubt in my mind about whether I’m going to be able to do that. That’s why it’s important to make sure when I do come back that everything is right.”

Some might have been frustrated that Crosby didn’t break his silence earlier, but the high-profile center’s reasoning for keeping quiet was sound. The fuzzy nature of concussions means that updates aren’t always very concrete or consistent.

“It’s nice just to let everyone know that it’s not always consistent, that there are good days and bad days throughout the healing process,” Crosby said. “It’s good to educate and have people realize the way it’s been. If anything, things are progressing well and I’m excited to get back on the ice.”

Asked why he didn’t talk earlier this offseason about his recovery, Crosby said he couldn’t because “there would have been a different story on most days.”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to say anything; it was making sure what I was saying was completely right,” he continued. “With this injury, it’s not always clear cut. There is a lot of unknown. There are good days and after those good days I could say everything is great. Then there are bad days and everything is not so great. It’s just a matter of waiting until things change a bit.”

While there is still a lot that is unknown about head injuries, there are also examples of NHL players who dealt with similar issues. Some are cautionary tales, such as the (seemingly) hasty returns of Eric Lindros and Marc Savard, which many believe contributed to their premature retirements and/or on-ice declines. That being said, Crosby could look to his frequent Team Canada linemate Patrice Bergeron as an example that these situations aren’t always dead ends, either.
“Bergie is a guy that I played with and he’s someone who came back this year and won the Cup after going through a pretty tough ordeal with his concussion,” Crosby said. “That’s pretty encouraging to me to see someone who has gone through something very similar. He’s out there playing the exact same way. He won the Stanley Cup and things are much, much better. That’s encouraging.”

Bergeron’s uneven path also provides evidence that it’s not always a straightforward process, either. We’ll just have to wait and see how the process goes, but it seems like there are signs of optimism that Crosby will be back on the ice at some point - let’s just hope that optimism is met with the proper amount of caution. Every indication is that should be the case.