Nothing Can Stop Sidney Crosby

There is apparently nothing that can hold the world’s best hockey player back, not even the dirtiest word in sports—concussions.

Sidney Crosby was back in the lineup Tuesday after missing the first six games of the season with the third serious head injury of his career. While recording a nasty first goal of the season and leading the Pens to a comeback victory over the Panthers, it looked as though Sid was returning fresh off a relaxing Caribbean vacation rather than from a traumatic brain injury. The Penguins’ star centre picked up right where he left off at last month’s World Cup, when he scored a tournament-high 10 points for the undefeated Canadians.

Aside from the not-so-small feat of captaining Canada’s last two Olympic gold medal-winning teams, Crosby is the only player in NHL history to lead teams to a Stanley Cup and World Cup championship while capturing the Conn Smythe Trophy (NHL playoff MVP) and World Cup MVP awards in the same year.

Add in his two Stanley Cups and multiple league MVP and scoring titles, and it becomes increasingly difficult to classify Crosby as anything other than the best hockey player on the planet. Unfortunately for everyone in hockey, the best player in the game has a scary injury history—one closely linked to the most polarizing topic in sports the past several years, concussions and brain injuries.

It all started New Year’s Day in 2011, when Crosby was hit with a late hit to the head by David Steckel of the Washington Capitals during the Winter Classic. Although noticeably shaken as he limped off to the dressing room, Crosby returned to the game in the third period. Five days later, Lightning defenceman Victor Hedman drove Crosby headfirst into the boards.

On Jan. 7, the Penguins announced that Crosby was diagnosed with his first career concussion. After several setbacks, Crosby ended up missing the rest of the 2011 season, and was not cleared to skate until training camp and did not play another game until Nov. 21 of the following season. He played only eight games before experiencing symptoms again, and was subsequently sidelined until mid-March 2012.

After suffering several other injuries that caused him to miss time (including a broken jaw in 2013 and a case of the mumps in 2014), Crosby’s most recent concussion, reportedly suffered during practice on Oct. 10, is the latest to send an unsettling sense of cautious fear to the hockey community.

Despite raising the anxiety levels of Pittsburgh fans and hockey lovers every time a report of a new Crosby injury pokes its way into the news cycle, he seemingly puts any concerns for his well-being to rest immediately.

After returning from his first concussion in 2012, Crosby put up two goals and four points in his first game back. He captained Canada to gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics after missing extended time due to injuries, and his stellar performance in his season opener Tuesday night reinforced that when he’s on the ice, there’s no one better.

So far, Crosby has narrowly escaped the plight of career-ending injuries that so many all-time greats succumb to. And if he continues to, something we can only hope for, at 29 years old he has plenty of time to further cement himself as one of the greatest players in history.