The Come-Back Kid

  The importance of Sidney Crosby to the Pittsburgh Penguins and the whole of the NHL is no secret. His absence has left a huge void in the sport, and a great worry amongst hockey enthusiasts in the wake of his post concussion symptoms, as no one seems to know if, or when he’ll be back.

  Crosby suffered a concussion during the Winter Classic last year on New Year’s Day, against the Washington Capitals on home soil. He attempted a return four days later but was taken out after being hit along the boards against the Tampa Bay Lightning on January 5th. He did not return for the remainder of the season, nor did he make a single game in the post season.

  This past Friday seemed to shed a somewhat positive light on his ambitious return, as he was cleared by team doctors to practice without contact.

  The first full practice showed the type of player Crosby is as he pushed hard at full speed the entire time. The eight month recovery hasn’t seen Crosby lose a step.

"I worked as hard as I possibly could out there," a visibly fatigued Crosby said. "That's the longest I went at that pace. It felt good."

"It's a day-to-day thing, and I'll talk to coach (Dan Bylsma) and see what he thinks. This is camp and guys need to work on being physical, so it doesn't make sense for me to be in certain drills, but we'll communicate through that process.”

  Crosby remains at no contact status, but he must be able to play a physical game before even entertaining the thought of a return. Crosby has acknowledged the fact that he has made progress and is feeling much further along in his recovery, never having considered retirement.

"It's a difficult thing to go though and trust me, I'd love to have answers myself sometimes when I was going through that but it's not as easy as that," said Crosby.

  The fact that retirement is a live issue with the face of the National Hockey League’s young superstar is stomach turning. Whether you’re a fan or not; there’s no denying that Crosby is one of the best things to ever happen to the NHL.

  After being drafted 1st overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2005, dubbed as ‘the next one’ Crosby has captured trophies and awards with ease. He opened up his career with 102 points, then posting 120 points the following year, capturing the Art Ross Trophy, the Lester B. Pearson Award, and the Hart Trophy as MVP. In 2008-2009 Crosby captured Lord Stanley’s Cup, and in 2009-2010 he secured the Maurice Rocket Richard Trophy in a tie with Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos. 2010 brought ‘Sid the kid’ yet another illustrious trophy as he won the Gold Medal in the Olympics on home soil with an overtime goal giving Canada the win. Through six years with the Penguins the 24 year-old has achieved mega-star status, notching 215 goals and 357 assists for 572 points in 412 games. The dynamic centerman was on his way to quite possibly having his best year yet as he had appeared in 41 games, having scored 32 goals and 34 assists for 66 points and a +20 rating prior to his concussion.

  Since his injury, the NHL hasn’t been the same. It’s not just the team that’s missing him, every facet of the league is. Crosby’s injury adds to the ever-growing and seemingly unchangeable problem of concussions. Now it has affected the NHL’s most elite.

"It'd be tough, we need him. He's the face of the NHL," said Steven Stamkos in August. "It obviously would take away from our game not having him in the lineup, so hopefully everything goes well."

"It's scary with the amount of concussions, not only with him, over the past couple years," Stamkos said. "As a fellow player in the league, you want to prevent that sort of thing."

"Who knows how he's feeling? He's got to be the judge of that. You just hope that guys are smart when it comes to their health because that's definitely more important than the game," Stamkos said. "Everyone's competitive — you want to be able to get back out there and play the game that you love. Hopefully he's OK and good to go for the season."

  Crosby stepped foot on the ice to a standing ovation from the thousands of fans that took advantage of being able to see him back on the ice for the first time in eight months. Crosby has taken a vocal stance on the matter of headshots, having now seen the effects first hand, something that Montreal Canadiens’ forward Mike Cammalleri believes will be a great help to finding a solution.

"What the immediate effect is for me is that it allows other players now to come out and say 'OK, it's not uncool to say what I really believe, and that I'm not a soft player because I don't think we should have headshots. I'm not a player a general manager won't want on his team. I'm now going to voice that opinion,"' Cammalleri said Wednesday.

"I think it's very good of Sid to be able to do that. He's under a big microscope, the biggest in our game, and I commend him for doing that. I think that it's important that we don't be ignorant to what's going on in our game."

  Thankfully the team and player have been sensitive in this case not having rushed him back, and they are very clear when asked that this procedure will be carried through until Crosby is %100 healthy. Ted Carrick, a part of the neurological medical team that has treated Crosby, has stated that he is healthy enough for contact, but there is no doubt that every single precaution will be taken in Sidney’s case.

"As far as the final say, that will be our team doctor (Charles Burke)," Crosby said. "At the end of the day, he's got to be the one who clears me to play. It will be up to him. There is constant communication. Everyone will be well aware of everything before each step is made."

  And good on them for making this tough call. We can only hope that more players are treated with such steps. When you look at a player like Marc Savard, whos’ career is likely over due to the concussion issues he has had through his career, you have to wonder if the outcome could have been better if these steps had been taken.

  I truly wish the young man well, and hope that his delayed return is for the sake of safety, and that his career is very far away from being over. Such news would be a tragedy in the hockey world.

- Kendall Grubbs