Conventional wisdom on Sidney Crosby's recovery from post-concussion symptoms was that he'd miss parts (or all) of camp and that the start of his season was in jeopardy.
So naturally, Crosby goes and offers a tantalizing update on his status that (a) has him ready for the start of camp, but not for contact and (b) plants the seeds, in our minds at least, that the Kid might be ready by opening night.
From Sam Kasan of the Penguins, Friday morning at camp physicals:
"I'm cleared to practice without contact. That's good news for me. I'm excited to get going," said Crosby, who continues to recover from a concussion suffered in early January. "Whatever symptoms I've had have been pretty minimal. To be able to get cleared to do this is good."
"In terms of seeing Sidney Crosby on the ice in that jersey and participating in practice, it's always good to see that," head coach Bylsma said. "He'll be out there with his teammates and participating.
"A lot of what he's doing will be what he is comfortable with. He'll be at the same pace and tempo as the other guys. Some of the contact drills he may not participate in."
Since Crosby's press conference last week (in which it was revealed he's actually a high-end Italian sports car), there's been some discussion in hockey circles about who's making the call for Crosby's comeback. The doctors? The team? Crosby himself? It could be a case where his medical staff green-lights him but Sidney (and his reps) want to continue down a more conservative path with this rehab.
To that end, Crosby said on Friday:
"As far as communication with doctors and things like that, I've been just kind of waiting to see what's going to be Day 1 of camp and what their feeling was and telling them how I feel. So I haven't gotten that far. I hope that everything goes well the next little bit and I'm not ruling [contact] out at all."
As we've said many times before: Contact is the key.
So given this news, does this adjust your Sid-o-meter? Crosby on opening night in Vancouver on Oct. 6? Opening night on Pittsburgh on Oct. 11? Or back later in the season?
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