Crosby Leaves Practice Early

Here's a bit of breaking news for you that comes to us by way of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

WEST POINT, N.Y. -- Penguins captain Sidney Crosby left practice early today because of soreness in his groin. His status is day-to-day.

Crosby said he is hopeful he can still take part in the team-building exercises and maneuvers between today and Wednesday. He said the soreness is not as severe as his groin injury last season.

I'll bring you more on this story, if it even becomes an issue. He may have left for precautionary reasons (let's hope!).

HOLY CRAP!!! The Pens are playing with guns.

As you'll recall, the Penguins are in West Point this week for an intense training session at the military academy of the same name as the town. Last year's activities included "three grueling days of trudging through swamps, pushing cars up hills [ ← snoop: WHAT?!], and various other field exercises." A West Point Preview video can be found on the Penguins website (at the top of the article). Crosby had the following to say about their West Point "trainer" (pictured above):

Once again, First Sergeant J.B. Spisso, a former Army Ranger and current member of the New York National Guard, will oversee the Penguins’ training. He is a native of Greensburg.

“He’s the ultimate leader. He could be on our team and not even play and just be in the dressing room between periods. He’s the kind of guy who can motivate anyone to do anything,” Crosby said. “He really left a good impression from everyone. He showed a lot of care in what we did and followed us through the year. I think he was an inspiration to us to keep going and hopefully he’ll have the same effect this year.”

It's one thing for Sgt. Spisso to take the time to train these players for a couple of days; after all, he's more than likely being compensated handsomely for doing so. But for him to keep track of the team all year says a lot about how much he must have genuinely liked these young men. Anyone who watches the season ticket delivery videos can see that all of these guys - not just Sid - have great personalities. It truly seems like they all really care about the fans, and in my opinion, that's just one more reason Pittsburgh has such a great team.

Just a reminder to vote for Sid in AskMen.com's Top 49 poll. I told you about it last month, but I figured I should remind you again since voting ends soon. Expect results in October. Just click the banner below: