Head Cases, Rumors, Logic and Sidney Crosby

At around 11:30 on Sunday night, a friend texted me that Rob Rossi from the Tribune-Review had just Tweeted a message not to go to bed because he had news on Sidney Crosby to release. 11:30 p.m. on a Sunday? Did Crosby kill a family member of Osama bin Laden? I lazily logged into Twitter from my BlackBerry, ready to watch the frenzy. An hour later, the news came, and it confirmed two things I already knew: 1. that Rossi loves attention and 2. that Crosby is working out.

Penguins General Manager Ray Shero had released a statement, which detailed more of the same. Crosby has been working out this summer, but there is no timeline on his return to the game.

I think it is safe to assume that Pens fans who hold a thorough understanding of hockey know one thing for certain: In 49 days, we will find out if Crosby is ready to lace up and hit the ice in our season opener against the Vancouver Canucks.

We should not know a day sooner than that day if Crosby is ready to play. Ever since he sustained season-ending concussions in January, one from an open-ice hit (video) at the Winter Classic by David Steckel, the other from a nasty hit into the boards (video) by Victor Hedman a few days later, rumors have spread around the hockey world like a disease. We have heard everything. Crosby had a spinal injury, a brain bleed, he was announcing his retirement after the playoffs.

In March, Pens fans held out hope as Sid took the ice again for short conditioning sessions before the Pens' regular team practices. We watched video of Sid exploding a water bottle with the same excitement we felt when he lifted the Stanley Cup for the first time. It was magic. It made a half-season of shootouts and endless injuries disappear for 1 minute and 32 seconds.

The rumors that Sid had just been resting himself up for the playoffs surfaced. I remember telling someone who kept insisting at first that he was retiring and THEN that he was playing in the playoffs that unless word came from the Pens organization or Crosby himself to stop believing such nonsense. We have seen concussions end the careers of great players like Eric Lindros and Marc Savard. I hoped over and over that the Pens would NOT allow Crosby to return last season for his own health and safety. He suffered two concussions in less than a week. It can take a year or more to fully recover. Why would you expose him to the amped-up physicality and intense playing style of what could be almost three months of playoff hockey?

What many fans fail to realize is that the NHL, while serving an entertainment function, is first and foremost a business. This is how thousands of people, from the board down to the referees and ice crews, make a living. Crosby has been the best-selling jersey league-wide for the past six seasons. Sidney Crosby equals money to the Penguins and to the league. You would be a fool to mess with his health and safety, whether you care about him as a person or because you are protecting your assets.

Love him or hate him, Crosby is important to hockey as a sport. Since his rookie year, he has brought new life to the game for people not only in Pittsburgh but all over the world. He has reminded us of the days of Mario Lemieux with his insane skating and puck-handling ability and impossible shots on the net that turn into goals. He is the guy hanging on your bedroom wall that you pray every night you will be as good as one day. He is the guy you pretend to be as your run down your driveway and shoot a one-timer into a garbage can with a hand-me-down stick from an older sibling. He is the guy in your community that inspires children and adults alike to keep pushing no matter how awful and unfair life can seem. There is more than hockey to Sidney Crosby, and the people of Pittsburgh know this and love him for it.

Stop with the rumors and the idle chatter. We all want Crosby to take the ice this season, but we want him to play when he is back to 110 percent. If that means he misses the opening of the season, then that is what must happen.