Sidney Crosby says his concussion could keep him out for the rest of the year, which would be a devastating blow to the Pens, if not necessarily a surprising one.
"You know what? That could happen," Crosby said of missing the rest of the season. "But am I sitting here packing it in? No. I hope I'm back and, geez, I hope I play this year.
"But that's the thing with these things. You don't know. There's no time frame. I'm expecting to play this year. I'm sure there's a thousand different things being said out there, and [him being out for the season] is one of them, but I expect to be playing."
I say that Crosby missing the rest of the season wouldn't be surprising simply because it's very hard to tell how long concussion symptoms will last. That he's been out this long already, and that there's been no real indication of when he'll be back, both make it plausible to me that he could be out the rest of the year. It's not that unusual for a concussion to keep an athlete for a very long time - see, for example, the cases of baseball players Justin Morneau and Corey Koskie (whose plight is detailed here). I'm hoping for a quick return for Crosby, but I'm not holding my breath.
In other Penguins injury news, Evgeni Malkin had surgery on his right knee today (but should still be out the rest of the season), and Chris Kunitz should be back within a week or so.