Wednesday, January 23, 2008
By Dave Molinari, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette
Sidney Crosby -- without crutches or a walking boot -- leaves the news conference yesterday at Mellon Arena, where he discussed the injury that will likely keep him out of action until sometime in March.
The Penguins will not have Sidney Crosby for the next six or eight weeks.
It's hard to imagine anything much worse for them in losing their captain and leading scorer.
Unless you're general manager Ray Shero, who initially feared the time Crosby will need to recover from a high ankle sprain affecting his right foot would be longer.
"To a certain extent, [the prognosis] is better than I originally thought," Shero said. "There was probably less damage than [the medical staff] thought."
Crosby apparently was unaware of those concerns, however, because he said he "was hoping three to four weeks" would be a worst-case scenario for how long he would be out of the lineup.
The timetable for the center's return was determined after an examination yesterday by Dr. Charles Burke, the Penguins' team physician. When Crosby met with reporters in late morning, he still seemed a bit numbed by the news.
"I don't know if it's really set in yet, to be honest with you," he said.
Crosby had missed only four games in his previous two seasons with the Penguins -- one game because of illness, three because of a sore groin -- before being injured when he slid into the boards at Mellon Arena in a 3-0 loss Friday to Tampa Bay.
This is, he said, easily his most severe injury, surpassing a shoulder problem that forced him to miss two weeks when he played junior hockey.
The Penguins have not set a target date for his return, although Crosby said he has "somewhat" decided the game in which he hopes to resume playing. He declined to divulge it, however, and added that "I don't think you want to get caught looking at a certain date."
Crosby expects to wear a boot to immobilize his right foot for the next two weeks, then move on to what he described as "typical rehab stuff."
Unfortunately for Crosby and the Penguins, the most effective treatment for his injury is time to allow the damaged ligaments to mend. Resisting the temptation to do too much too quickly will be critical because of the nature of the injury and the risk of aggravating it.
"It's one of those things that lingers," Crosby said. "You have to be careful. I want to make sure that when I do come back, it's healed enough where, if I do tweak it a bit, it's not going to take it back to square one. That's something I don't want to go through."
Bob Donaldson/Post-Gazette
Sidney Crosby -- "I want to make sure that when I do come back, it's healed enough where, if I do tweak it a bit, it's not going to take it back to square one. That's something I don't want to go through."
Shero didn't want to go through trying to find a replacement for Crosby, either, but was lucky enough to have Evgeni Malkin on the payroll already. Malkin has been a dominant presence in the two games the Penguins have played without Crosby since the injury.
"We're very fortunate to have a guy like Malkin who can step in and step up," Shero said. "[Most] teams really can't fill like that."
Malkin, who was tied for ninth among the NHL's top scorers through Monday, also will fill in for Crosby at the league's All-Star Game Sunday in Atlanta, having been named to the Eastern Conference squad yesterday.
Crosby isn't the only player whose spot in the lineup has come open lately. The Penguins were missing seven regulars -- forwards Crosby, Gary Roberts, Colby Armstrong, Tyler Kennedy and Adam Hall, defenseman Mark Eaton and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury -- when they lost to Washington, 6-5, in a shootout Monday at Mellon Arena.
Shero was noncommittal about what impact, if any, the Penguins' glut of health problems would have on his approach to personnel moves between now and the Feb. 26 trade deadline.
"I just want to evaluate and continue to talk to teams," he said. "See what's available and what the cost is."
While allowing that "we need to be open to anything to try to improve our team," he pointed out that Eaton is the only player whose injury was season-ending.
Knowing that nearly all of the team's ill and injured players should return eventually lessens the likelihood of a high-profile trade.
"Ideally, the shorter-term solutions come from within," Shero said.
Even though he probably won't be in uniform until sometime in March, Crosby made it clear that he plans to spend a lot of time with his teammates in coming weeks.
"I'm hurt, but that doesn't mean I'm gone," he said. "I have to be there to support the team."
And however down he is about being unable to play for so long, Crosby was adamant that "I'm not going to come into the dressing room pouting or in a grumpy mood."
And certainly not wallowing in self-pity.
"I don't feel sorry for myself," Crosby said. "And I don't expect anyone else to."
Dave Molinari can be reached at DWMolinari@Yahoo.com.
First published on January 23, 2008 at 12:00 am
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