Crosby suffers a setback

Everyone noticed this past week or two when Sidney Crosby's on ice workouts seemed to fade away, but with no formal word on his condition, spirits stayed high that he was still progressing. As the team gathered at the Consol Energy Center this afternoon to clean out their lockers and meet with coaches and the media one final time, we learned what's really been going on.




"Yeah, I started to get some symptoms, probably a week and a half ago, whenever I stopped skating," Sidney Crosby told the media this afternoon on the Penguins official last day of the season, "I started trying to ramp things up a bit as far as working out and skating, and I got a little bit of symptoms. So I had a setback, (headaches) and all the stuff that goes along with it. The progression had gone pretty well, but at the same time I still wasn’t ready."


It was apparent that Crosby was making a decent run at getting back to normal in the last several weeks. In early March he took the ice for the first time since suffering what was only thought to be a mild concussion. He was soon cleared to participate in non-contact, non-game day skates with the team. He was progressing pretty quickly and continued to amaze people with his natural abilities on the ice. The anticipation was high among the public that he was gearing up for a near return.


"The fact that I was able to do some things, even though that didn’t allow me to get back," Crosby said " in my mind that was a small victory to get on the ice a bit and feel like an athlete again. That was nice."


The early end to the Penguins season may have a silver lining, in that it will give the 23 year old captain a chance to heal fully, without any induced pressure to return in a later round of the playoffs. He can take the next several months and relax, until he's ready to move ahead.


written by Lori Pometo