Sidney Crosby Says His Concussion Symptoms Continue
“Mentally, I feel good — the last three weeks it’s the best I’ve felt so far,” Crosby said at a news conference in Pittsburgh 10 days before the start of training camp. “It’s been a tough road, but retirement? No.”
Crosby did not put a date on his return to the Penguins, and could miss the season opener on Oct. 6. He has been working out and skating over the summer at his home in Nova Scotia, but his headaches return when he reaches 90 percent of his workout capacity, he said.
“Maybe I can get by with 90 percent, maybe I couldn’t, but I’m not going to roll the dice with that,” Crosby said.
“It’s important to get back to where I need to be and if not, we’ve seen it many times, you can get recurring issues,” Crosby said. “You’ve got to listen to your body. You’ve got to listen to your doctors.”
Sitting alongside Crosby at the news conference were Penguins General Manager Ray Shero, a leading voice among the few N.H.L. executives calling for a complete ban on all checks to the head, and two concussion specialists who have been monitoring Crosby’s recovery.
“He will not return until he is 100 percent,” Shero said. “There is no 90 percent returning from a concussion.”
Asked if N.H.L. should ban all head contact, a step the league has been reluctant to take, Crosby assented, saying, “We’ve got to adjust.”
Crosby was struck in the head in a collision with Washington’s David Steckel during the Winter Classic in Pittsburgh on Jan. 2, and again on a check by Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman on Jan. 5. He has since been sidelined with concussion symptoms.
Crosby said Wednesday that the initial symptoms were so severe he could not drive, watch television or listen to music. He said he had migraine headaches that have continued into the summer, although he said his condition was improving.
“I first saw Sid on Jan. 6,” said Dr. Michael Collins, a concussion specialist who works with the Penguins and who noted Crosby’s consistent symptoms of headaches, dizziness and nausea. “I knew he was in for a long recovery.”
Another specialist working with Crosby, Dr. Ted Carrick, said Crosby’s spatial sense had been affected but was improving.
“We’re going to introduce contact with Sid very carefully,” Collins said when asked about when Crosby would experience body contact in practice., “And we’re not even close to that.”
Asked whether there is a chance he may never play again, Crosby smiled and said, “It’s a pretty slight one,” adding, “I wouldn’t bet on that.”
He called his eight-month concussion ordeal a “roller coaster” and “a scary thing.” But, he said, “I’m lucky — I feel like I’m in pretty good shape and on the right end of things right now.”