Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby has been one of the most reliable superstars in NHL history. But in this feature story from The Hockey News’ April 30, 2012 edition – Volume 65, Issue 23 – contributing writer Rob Rossi profiled Crosby as he returned to action after a lengthy absence due to concussions.
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Multiple head injuries kept Crosby on the sidelines for all but 22 games of the 2011-12 regular season, threatening to derail the young star’s NHL career before he reached his peak years. So when he was able to get back to action in time for the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs, Crosby was raring to go.
“I’m even more excited if that’s possible,” Crosby said of returning to the playoffs. “Having watched (on the sidelines) last year, it’s fair to say there’s a little extra motivation and a little extra excitement about being able to be a part of it this year.”
Crosby’s Pens teammates knew full well they needed him healthy and in a good place if they were going to win a Cup. Just getting back to some sense of normalcy was half the battle for Crosby and his teammates, and more Cup glory for them would come in the years that followed.
“He’s been able to be Sid, just go on the ice and show the guys how to play the right way,” Penguins winger Chris Kunitz said of Crosby. “That’s Sid, just taking what is there and making guys better. And then you see the energy everybody else gets from those plays he makes, even letting a puck go by him to an open guy, and suddenly we’re playing with speed up and down the lineup. That’s what Sid brings, that’s what we missed, that’s what makes him, you know, Sid. And it’s how he’s looked on this comeback.”
SIDNEY CROSBY
By Rob Rossi
April 30, 2012
For Sidney Crosby, the Stanley Cup playoffs began with him having played fewer than 25 games over a span of 15 months. Another way of looking at it is that he missed more than 100 games played by the Pittsburgh Penguins from Jan. 6, 2011 until Game 1 of this post-season.
Seven of those absences weighed on him most, those being the three wins and four losses by the Penguins in Round 1 of the 2011 playoffs.
A long concussion ordeal seemingly behind him – Crosby finished this regular season having appeared in the Penguins’ final 16 games – another chance to chase the Cup was front-and-center on the mind of a player long considered the face of his franchise, if not the sport. “I’m even more excited if that’s possible,” Crosby said of returning to the playoffs for the first time since the Penguins closed Civic Arena with a Game 7 loss at home to Montreal in Round 2 of the 2010 post-season.
“Having watched last year, it’s fair to say there’s a little extra motivation and a little extra excitement about being able to be a part of it this year.”
Crosby has always thrived in the postseason pressure cooker. His career playoff numbers are impressive: 30 goals and 82 points in 62 games. And, of course, there are the trips to the Cup final in 2008 and 2009 – the latter a playoff run that ended with him being the youngest captain to raise the chalice.
Concussion symptoms that first arose in January 2011 and prevented him from playing for 11 months, then another three after a three-week return in November 2012, appeared behind him as the regular season wrapped.
Crosby, who returned from that second concussion-symptom absence in March, finished on a 1.7 points-per-game pace. That was better than his track for his in spiring pre-concussion run of 41 games in 2011-12. Then, Crosby had 66 points in 41 games, a 1.61 pace.
Statistics did not tell the story of Crosby’s return to form, however.
The eye test did.
Upon his first return in November 2011, Crosby relied heavily on his trusted backhand and often sought contact – as if to prove to himself he could take that anticipated first big hit. Upon the second comeback three months later Crosby acknowledged he had let the game “come to him” more.
Long-time linemate and Penguins winger Chris Kunitz noticed the same thing. Kunitz said Crosby’s first game back, when Crosby scored two goals and racked four points against the New York Islanders on Nov. 21, was “something to write stories about.” But the season-closing stretch by Crosby was more, well, Crosby-like. “His mental state in the locker room was a positive push we really needed,” Kunitz said. “He’s been able to be Sid, just go on the ice and show the guys how to play the right way, not only say the words but be the guy that goes out and shows it.
“There was a game when (winger Steve Sullivan) had a couple of goals, you could see Sid drawing guys towards him, pucks going by him to another guy in the slot and another guy sitting in the slot waiting for it. That’s Sid, just taking what is there and making guys better. And then you see the energy everybody else gets from those plays he makes, even letting a puck go by him to an open guy, and suddenly we’re playing with speed up and down the lineup.
“That’s what Sid brings, that’s what we missed, that’s what makes him, you know, Sid. And it’s how he’s looked on this comeback.”
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- Archive: In Spring Of 2012, Penguins Were Thrilled, Relieved To Get Superstar Crosby Back After Concussion Woes
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