An Injury Update

First, here's the most recent report from The Associated Press regarding Sid's high ankle sprain, which he sustained in last night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning:

The Pittsburgh Penguins won't know for at least a few more days how long star center Sidney Crosby will be out of their lineup with a high ankle sprain.

Crosby's sprained and swollen right ankle was re-examined Saturday by the team's medical staff, a day after he was injured, but no prognosis for his return will be made until the swelling subsides. Penguins doctors plan to examine the ankle again sometime early in the week.

Because such sprains commonly sideline an athlete for a month or more, Crosby is all but certain to miss the Jan. 27 NHL All-Star game in Atlanta.

The following is a clip of the incident. Make sure you haven't eaten for at least a half an hour before viewing the clip or else you may end up with a terrible case of indigestion:

The Penguins all realize that they'll all have to work a little bit harder in Sidney's absence. Here's what the Coach and some of Sid's teammates had to say about it:

"It's a huge loss," coach Michel Therrien said of Crosby. "He's the heart, our leader. We are going to face adversity and we are going to have to battle through it. A lot of guys are going to have to pick it up."


"I have been trying as hard as I can, but I'm going to try my best," a downcast Evgeni Malkin said, speaking through an interpreter. "Right now, since we lost our leader and our captain, I am going to try to do maybe a little bit more and make sure we are winning games. I will try to be the leader of this team."


"He's the best player in the world. You can't replace him," defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "He takes a lot of abuse the way he plays and battles right through it. We knew when he didn't come back it had to be something rather serious. But you can't feel sorry for yourselves. You have to move on and battle through it."


"He can expect frustration," Maxime Talbot said of Crosby, who was not available for comment. "Some days you wake up and it feels good, others it hurts. It is a bad injury because you can do as much rehab as you want, but you just have to wait. There is no miracle cure for this injury."

(Quotes taken from The Associated Press, CBC Sports, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.)