Crosby practices, but return murky
Might come on road trip next week
Midway through a practice Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Sidney Crosby, skating with his healthy Penguins teammates for the second time in three days, headed over to the bench for a quick wardrobe change.
The captain, now seven weeks removed from sports hernia surgery, pulled his gray non-contact jersey over his shoulder pads in favor of a black one. He coasted over to join Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and other pals in a power-play drill.
Finally, it looked as if Crosby was ready to practice without contact restrictions, a big step in his return to the lineup. Hey, maybe he plays in Montreal?
Not so fast, Crosby cautioned reporters after skating for nearly 90 minutes. The black jersey was apparently donned to avoid confusion in that drill.
“I just have to be able to do contact . ... But I’m not ready for that yet,” he said. “Until then, I’ll probably flip-flop between doing my own stuff [or] skating with the injured guys and going with the team, depending on the practice.”
It was the second time this week that Crosby pumped the brakes on a potential return, reiterating that there is still no timetable for his return to game action.
Asked if it was fun at least to tinker around in that powerplay drill, he responded wistfully, “Yeah, it’s OK. … To get in the power play and that kind of thing, it helps just to have a few bodies out there and more game-like [situations] opposed to skating by yourself. But it’s also a bit of a tease, too, you know?”
Oh yeah, all those fans buzzing in the bleachers Friday know the feeling, Sid.
Crosby will not travel to Montreal Saturday for a game against the Canadiens. A home game Sunday against the
Florida Panthers is off the table, too. He is not even sure if he would travel with the Penguins at the start of next week’s road trip to Vegas, Colorado and Arizona, though he would love to be with the guys.
“We’re going to figure it out over the weekend here,” Crosby said. “I’ll be skating over the weekend while the team’s gone. It would be great to be around the group. It’s been a while. But whatever’s best as far as me getting back.”
Crosby had been dealing with his injury since training camp and still led the Penguins with 17 points in 17 games before aggravating his injury in a Nov. 9 win against Chicago. After weighing his options, he opted to have surgery.
The Penguins initially stated after Crosby’s surgery Nov. 14 that he would miss at least six weeks. Realistically, they knew it could take a while longer.
Crosby and the Penguins are likely just being cautious with his recovery, a tricky one because an athlete working his or her way back from sports hernia surgery might feel little to no pain and therefore may want to push it. That could lead to a setback. By all accounts, Crosby hasn’t had one of those.
“I think I’ve been progressing each week. I’m happy about that. Obviously, I’d love to be out there right now,” he said. “When it’s time, I’ll be out there.”
And with the team playing so well over the past month, what’s the rush?
The Penguins are 14-5-4 without Crosby, outscoring opponents by 17 goals over that span. They are among the NHL’s league-leaders in man games lost. Those injuries have hit all their top players. The latest was Jake Guentzel, who will miss at least the rest of the regular season following shoulder surgery.
They lost, 3-2, Thursday in overtime to the San Jose Sharks. But it was yet another hard-fought setback that had coach Mike Sullivan mentioning silver linings.
“From watching, I don’t see us letting up anytime soon,” Crosby said. “With the way we work and the way we compete for each other, I don’t see that changing. But I think we have to continue to have that mentality to have success.”
Unfortunately, for at least two more games, Crosby will continue watching.
In the meantime, Sullivan said the Penguins are pumped to have Crosby at any practice, even if it feels like a tease for
Crosby and most of Pittsburgh.
“It’s great. It’s great for our team morale. Our guys love it when he’s out there,” he said. “He’s obviously making progress. We’re excited about that.”
Matt Vensel: mvensel@postgazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel.