The real Crosby return date?

[egstud19]

What is the more realistic return date for Crosby?

[andrewklassen]

Nobody can truly tell you this...especially the way last season went when everyone assumed he'd only be out of the lineup for 7-10 days...not so as it turned out.

All signs point to him being cleared for contact soon. We know he won't play on PIT's opening road trip and won't be cleared for contact until after that [as he's traveling with the team and won't see any of his doctor's until he returns to PIT].

With this in mind the best case scenario has him cleared for contact about 1 week into the season. I would expect a minimum of 1 week [maybe 2 weeks given how cautious the organization has been with his injury] of taking contact and not experiencing any symptoms for him to get clearance to play.

Best case scenario [by which I mean my best and happiest guess] has him back in the lineup during the last week of October.

What I shouldn't need to tell you is how off I could be if he suffers any kind of a setback...we could be talking months.

[fungchen3]

No one knows for sure - I just drafted him Saturday in a weekly H2H so I'm hoping soon. if I had to guess, I would say the 2nd week of November - but I'm just pulling that out of my rear.

[93213]

Best case scenario is October 25 against the Isles.

[fungchen3]

Best case scenario is October 25 against the Isles.

9

Was that date reported anywhere? If so, I totally missed it.

[letangerang58]

I'm thinkin early december. The pens will want to get him lots of contact practice before they put him back out there. Remember that they are being super cautious about this.

[A Watch]

I am hoping for Oct 25th... If I had to put money on it, I would guess his first game to be Dec. 1 against Washington.

[93213]

9

Was that date reported anywhere? If so, I totally missed it.

It just follows a perfect case timeline. If he gets cleared for contact next week. Likely they'll be more cautious, but it's a date that is the earliest possible date he could play. My guess is that they'll take it slow though.

[Shenanigans]

I tried out this question with a dozen shakes of the "Magic 8 Ball" that I keep on my desk for just these situations.

2 replies of "Outlook Good"

2 replies of "Don't Count on It"

1 reply of "Better Not Tell You Now"

and an astonishing 7 replies of:

"Reply Hazy, Try Again."

I suspect there is a lesson to be learned from the hated 8-Ball.

*run-on sentence warning*
ie: The only guy who can definitively answer this question is Crosby's best friend who is also dating his sister and has a medical degree in brain trauma and knows what the Penguins brass are thinking while also being psychic enough to know where Pittsburgh will be in the standings in December, and is also the only one close enough to Sid to know anything... while being willing to open his fat yap wide enough to make a noteworthy comment.


Sarcastic yes...but not directed at you OP. The most closely guarded secret in hockey right now is anybody's guess, methinks. I gave up worrying on it.



.

[kevinsrangers]

my guess is middle of november.

[A Watch]

http://twitter.com/#!/JoshYohe_Trib

Sid says he has been symptom free for less than a month.

Not as long as I had hoped....

[93213]

my guess is middle of november.

I think that's a reasonable expectation. Let's all cross our fingers.

[bertle]

What is the timeline for return once he's cleared for contact? I haven't heard any sort of timeline from that point onwards.

To come to think about it, I don't recall exactly hearing when Matthew Lombardi was cleared for contact, and how long it was until he played a regular pre-season game. It certainly doesn't seem to have been very long, and Lombardi looked very cautious and not willing to get dirty right away (understandably).

Contrast that with how Crosby has looked in practice and many reports of him practicing at a very high level, and it seems he would be more prepared to step into game mode.

[93213]

It would not surprise me if they cleared him for contact and then monitored him for 2-3 days before letting him do it again. Then if all goes well expect another 1-2 weeks of contact practice before he plays in a game.

They're going to be as cautious as they can be. With Malkin back there's no reason to rush him.

[mister_mcgoo]

my best guess is mid-Nov